Moving On With You
by AmbroseLover01
Summary: Sequel to Getting Over You. Iris and Seth are finally together! They've decided to give their relationship another go. They head over to meet Seth's family and introduce their son to everyone. But what happens when there's plans afoot to separate them? Will they be able to stick together? Will their relationship survive? Or will the past affect the present?
1. Travelling to Iowa

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **First of all, I would like to apologise. I accidentally put up the last chapter to Picking Up The Pieces and then realised. My bad.**

 **That's right, I'm back with the sequel! Right, the most important thing to discuss first is when I'm gonna update this story. I'm gonna go for twice a week but that may be hard so sometimes it might only be once a week. But nevertheless, I will tell you in each chapter when the next update will be.**

 **Now, I had a lot of lovely reviewers for my last chapter of Getting Over You so you know what's next right? Replying to those reviews of course! Everybody else, keep on scrolling. I hope you like it! By the way, I have sort of summarized the other story at the start to remind everyone what happened. It was a good idea given to me by my good friend A Wrestling God who's stories you should definitely check out.**

 **Ayesha: Thank you for your continued support. I have been thinking about your idea but as I have mentioned before I can;t just copy someone else's fanfic so I've made sure not to read it. However, I have come up with some of my own ideas so it is something I will definitely be doing in the future :)**

 **CiCix3: Your welcome! Ha ha ha, read this one and then maybe you'll find out if they are :)**

 **Shaq Gaddy: Aw, I just love reading your reviews. I'm so glad that you're so happy about the sequel Xx :)**

 **Calwitch: I like your description of me. Thank you for leaving such nice reviews, believe me I continued taking bows for a week after I finished the story. Lol :)**

 **Becky: Oh my gosh, thanks! I hope you like what I have come up with next :)**

 **caz21: Thanks, I hope you enjoy it! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Wait no longer :)**

 **Jade: You're still sort of disappeared but I know you're reading. Don't worry about it though, if anyone understands how busy people get it's me. I'm sure it was definitely your banner that did the trick ;) Thanks! As one of the first to review you made me feel like I was on cloud nine by all the nice comments you made. Love ya too! :)**

 **Camilla: You don't have to review all the time so no need to apologize. You put a smile on my face with all your nice words. And yes, it's a good thing you know English because then I wouldn't have gotten your reviews for my story and that would have been a total shame. And I hope you read and enjoy the sequel :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Yes they are! :)**

 **Nina Ross: Why thank you very much! And your welcome. Enjoy the sequel :)**

 **Paisley2: I did not! That is exactly where I wanted to end it. Because the next part of the story wouldn't have fitted in Getting Over You. It's a whole new story now. I actually think your idea about the whole Randy thing was interesting. But I couldn't do much more in the last one because let's just say I want things to blow up later. I thought I wrapped up the whole Kane plot thing, obviously I didn't do a very good job. But don't worry, I've actually gotten an idea from it now. Oh, you're too kind on the forgiveness ;)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1:**

Life has a funny way of giving you everything you want. You think you have it all but it's just an illusion you're under. That illusion breaks when you actually see the reality of things. But then life also has a funny way of giving you back the things you lost. Things you never realised you could have. I suppose there are those people who keep their head in the clouds like I always did and don't even realise what they have isn't real. But it keeps them happy. It also breaks them when they realise the truth. There are also those people who always think about reality. Kind of like my best friend Ariana. She's a realist alright. But then when life throws something unexpected at her, I think it gives her the chance to actually be like me for once. To dream about things that she never thought were possible.

That's kind of what happened to me. I first met Seth and for me it was the whole 'love at first sight' thing. I've always been a big believer of it, unlike my best friend. So when the first sign of trouble came I just ignored it. I don't even think I knew I was doing it. For me, Seth was on this pedestal that I put him on. I guess you could say I like seeing the best in people. I always knew he was good at heart. When he cheated on me, I forgave him. I mean, he was drunk so it can happen right? The he told me he loves me and I played right into it. For me, nothing mattered as long as he loved me.

But that was just a dream. Me doing my 'head in the clouds' thing. Of course he started to fall for my best friend. He was just with me because he had no one better to chase. At times I try to think of whether he was just with me because he wanted to get close to Ariana. Which if course is probably true at one point. The day my dream was broken was when I saw him make a move on her. I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't want to believe it. How could I? When a person says they love you, you don't instantly think they're lying. You believe them because you love them too.

I shouldn't have believed him, but I did. I've always taken every break up seriously but they were never anything that couldn't be fixed with ice cream and a few crappy movies. This break up was by far the worst. I loved Seth more than any other guy I had ever known. But he didn't feel the same. He was playing games behind my back. Manipulating me probably half the time.

So I left. I packed my bags, talked to the bosses and tried to live a life outside the wrestling world. That didn't work though because I fell pregnant. Technically I was already pregnant when I left the company but I didn't find out till afterwards. I found out my pregnancy was life threatening but that didn't scare me. My baby meant everything to me so I hid the truth. I was with Rick at the time and he wanted me to have an abortion. So I did what I do best and left him too.

The more I thought about things though, the more I realised that I couldn't leave things the way they were. If it wasn't for me getting friendly with the guys, Ariana and Dean wouldn't have started dating. Seth wouldn't have put the moves on Ariana. And he and Dean would still have been great friends. But that's stupid in a way because I can't think of a more perfect couple than Ariana and Dean. They're made for each other.

I came back, at first to patch things up with everybody. To make sure there were no loose ends. I didn't talk to any of them whilst I was away. Not Ariana, not Roman, not Dean and especially not Seth. I didn't want things to stay like that. And I needed somebody to take care of my baby after I was gone. Of course I knew it had to be Ariana and I felt content knowing that Dean was still with her. They would make the perfect family. With Roman's help. They just didn't know it.

Now Seth, he was a different story. After I came back he kept trying to apologise, all I wanted to do was get over him. But the more I saw him the more I realised just how deep my feelings had gotten for him. They never left. They never shrunk. If anything, his niceness made me fall for him deeper. Thinking about leaving this world without patching things would be horrible. But I could never find it in myself to forgive him. I don't know why.

Slowly though, he became friends with everyone once again. It was a long road and it wasn't easy considering how difficult Ariana and Dean were but he got there. He got there because despite what everybody thought there was one thing that he possessed that none of them thought of before. Something which I already knew. He has a good heart. People make bad decisions all the time and asking repeatedly for forgiveness is a hard task. Especially when those you seek it from are two stubborn hotheads. That doesn't mean you can take anything away from Dean and Ariana. Being able to forgive is a hard task. But holding onto the past is just painful.

It seemed things were looking up. But that wouldn't last for long. Despite all the problems in between, Evan's paternity is the last thing I would have thought would be a problem. But when your ex turns up, invited by your other ex might I add, and wants to take care of the baby he thinks is his? Well then you reach a breaking point. I accidentally let it slip Rick wasn't the Father. For a long time I was in denial myself that the baby I was carrying was Seth's. I guess a part of me didn't want him to be the Father. If he couldn't love me how on earth could he love our baby? The baby that's partly mine? I didn't think it was possible. I thought as long I believed Rick was the Father then it wouldn't be a problem. But you can only ignore reality for a certain amount of time before it hits you and everyone else.

I really thought that was the end for me. Giving birth in an elevator? Has anyone heard of anything more bizarre? I certainly haven't. I really thought it was the end. I said goodbye to everyone. The only regret I had was not being able to tell Seth how much I love him till this day. Nothing could change my feelings, the love I held for him. I didn't manage to tell him though. And the next time I woke up, I found out I had been in a coma. It was horrible to hear about how I'd been missing out on Evan's life. How the guys had found out Seth was the real Father. But as always, we managed to stick by each other and get passed that.

The last hurdle? Well that was trying to figure out what relationship me and Seth shared. We had shared kisses a few times but never got the chance to talk. I was paranoid about him returning my feelings and he felt the same after everything we had been through. Even though Cody and Ted were idiots and nearly ruined the whole thing, we finally got together.

Hearing Seth say that he loved me was probably the greatest moment in my life. Because as I stood there questioning him, looking into his eyes I knew it was real. He'd proven time and again he was a true friend and there was no reason for me to doubt that he loved me. And now, well I'm probably starting the happiest part of my life. I have a son that I adore and a boyfriend who's just showering me with love ever since he told me how he feels. So, life really has a funny way of giving you back the things you thought you'd lost and could never regain.

* * *

"Ugh, I can't believe you're going," says Ariana, hugging me for the fifth time as we stand in the airport trying to say goodbye. It's been like this for the past 15 minutes. I can't say I blame her though, we've been pretty much inseparable since we became friends. The longest time we were away was when I left after everything that happened with Seth. And from our discussions I know how hard it was on her. It was on me too.

"Relax, it's only for 2 weeks," I remind her. "Then me and Evan will come straight back to you," I say with a smile. I don't know if I'm reassuring her or myself at this point. I'm always up for trying something new but this is about meeting Seth's parents. A critical point in my life.

"What about Seth? Are you planning on stranding him there?" asks Ariana, poking my ribs and making me laugh. "How's everything between you guys?" she then asks and the funny thing is I can tell she's genuinely interested.

"It's great, I finally have everything I've ever wanted," I say, looking over to where Seth was standing with Dean and Roman who were making him laugh. "And I couldn't have done it without you, you know?" I say and this time it's me hugging her tightly.

"Are you guys still not done?" asks Seth and I shake my head as I once again pull away from Ariana but keep an arm around her as she does me. "Well you'll be glad to know that you get another ten minutes because Dean refuses to hand over Evan," he says and I look at Dean who's got Evan held closely to him. Oh brother.

"You're taking him away for 2 weeks!" exclaims Dean, keeping Evan even closer is that's possible. I don't understand how Dean is so attached to Evan. It's funny and cute at the same time.

"Dean, just give Evan to them," says Ariana, standing at his side as he looks at her horrified which just makes me laugh. She might as well have told him to hand Evan over to total strangers because that's the way he's acting right now.

"No," says Dean, bouncing Evan up and down. "He wants to stay with his Uncle Dean," he says stubbornly, acting like a child who's being asked to give up his candy. Or his most prized **possession**. But if anyone can get him to give Evan up it is Ariana.

"Dean, it's their kid! Do you want to get done for kidnapping?" says Ariana. She didn't think that through did she? This is Dean Ambrose. I'm pretty sure he's kidnapped puppies in the past.

"It's not kidnapping if I'm his uncle and his parents are right there," says Dean, I knew he was good with kids but who would have thought he'd get so attached to Evan? And I was worried about leaving Evan with a Father like Dean. Seems to me he's got the protective factor nailed.

"Exactly, they're the parents so let him go," says Ariana, keeping a hand on his arm.

"It's not fair," Dean then complains and, is that a pout I see? Well it's the beginning of one for sure. "They're taking him away for a whole 2 weeks!" he exclaims dramatically. And here I thought I was the dramatic one.

"Ok," I say and move over to stand in front of Dean. I think I need to bring out the big guns. "I get that you're upset but he'll be back before you know it! Then you two can hang out, all by yourself for a whole day," I say, kind of like waving a different type of candy in front of him. He doesn't look convinced so I say, "Don't you think Evan will love to come back and spend a whole day with Godfather Dean?"

"Godfather?" asks Dean and I nod my head seeing the look in his eyes.

"What? You can't do this!" Roman intervenes but this could have been avoided if he'd tried to help. Then again, if Dean wasn't made to be Godfather then we would never hear the end of it.

"Shut up man, you serious?" asks Dean and I nod my head, glancing at Seth. We talked about this before. I know Roman might be a little upset but not as much as Dean would have been. Plus, unlike Dean Roman is more mature in this situation and won't get petty. If I told Roman he was Godfather, I would have snide remarks hitting me left, right and centre.

"Me and Seth were talking about it and it seemed right," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders. "The way you and Evan have bonded, there's no one else who could fit the role more perfectly," I then say. "Especially since your fiancée is Godmother," I add on, winking at Ariana.

"Seriously?" asks Ariana and I nod my head. There's no one else who can be godmother for Evan. I get along with all the Divas but none of them have the title of my best friend. And since I was willing to give Evan to Ariana to look after then it's obvious right? At least I thought it was.

"Of course, that's a given considering you're my best friend," I let her know.

"Hey, what about me?" asks Roman, looking upset. There's too many of them. You can keep everybody happy.

"You can be Godfather to the next one, alright?" I say without thinking, biting down on my tongue when I realise what I just said.

"So you've already started planning for more kids?" asks Roman which makes me blush profusely as I try not to look at everyone. "Seth, I didn't know you guys started to think about having more," he comments to tease me of course but I just try and ignore him, feeling hotter by the minute.

"Iris has it all planned out, don't you cutie pie?" says Seth, throwing a wink in my direction.

"Can you please give me my kid now?" I say to Dean, changing the subject before my face resembles that of a tomato.

"Alright," says Dean and finally hands Evan over to me. "But when he comes back he and his _**Godfather**_ will tear up the town!" he says, placing emphasis on the word 'Godfather' to rub it in Roman's face of course. I don't understand why he can't just have the title and be happy with it.

"Keep pushing my buttons and you'll earn a superman punch," comments Roman unhappily. They better play nice whilst I'm away/

"Will you guys stop acting like kids?" says Ariana, glaring at them both. "Take care of my Godson Iris," she then says, stepping forward and placing a kiss on Evan's forehead. "And yourself," she says, giving me a side hug.

"I will take care of them both," says Seth, not giving me a chance to speak. Ariana chuckles and ruffles his hair before putting her arm around Dean's torso. "And you guys stop keeping Roman awake," he says to Ariana.

"Sorry dude, can't promise that," says Dean, shaking his head. "I can't under perform to give Roman some sleep. Maybe he should bring back a certain Diva to pass the time," he then comments, obviously referring to Paige. They're gonna tease him to no end now. That's what he did to Dean when him and Ariana first started dating. Endless teasing.

"You're such a dick," comments Roman, making us all laugh. I get hugs from Dean and Roman before they all finally let us go and we get onto the plane. The closer we get to Iowa, the more nervous I start to feel though. The anticipation of meeting all of Seth's family was building up inside of me. I feel really nervous cause all I want is for them to like me. But they might not. And that particular thought terrifies me.

"How does this look?" I ask Seth and turn to him, after trying to fix my hair for the last ten minutes. In the end I decided to comb back the front of my hair and pin it. I mean, I have short hair so there's not a lot that I can do with it.

"Iris, will you stop worrying?" says Seth and I frown because he didn't answer my question. "No one's going to care what your hair looks like," he then tells me. Of course that's a standard guy's response.

"That's what Janet's boyfriend said and then a week after his Mother was cackling about her hair to a woman at a till register in the supermarket," I say, remembering how I should never have been eavesdropping on that conversation but I was 14 and very curious.

"Who the heck is Janet?" asks Seth but I just roll my eyes and go back to looking at myself in the hand held mirror I had.

"A 14 year old who cried out her eyes," I answer him, pondering what else I could do with my hair. To be fair, I think it looks cute the way I've done. Maybe I should just leave it like that then.

"Forget her, we're talking about you," says Seth, bringing us back to the situation at hand.

"You know we can't stay together if your family don't approve," I let him know but he just sighs and rests his head against the back of the seat.

"Why is that?" asks Seth, keeping his eyes on me and looking amused. I don't know why he looks amused though, nothing about this is funny. It's serious business.

"Like as if you're going to continue dating someone who your Mother or Father don't like or approve of," I comment. I know Seth is close to his parents. From Dean's remarks he's a Mommy's boy. But I'll find out just how much in a while.

"Like I haven't done that before," says Seth and I give him a questioning look. "I've dated tonnes of girls my Mum hated, all throughout my life," she tells me. That must surely have been a teenage rebellion phase right?

"And I might be one of them," I remind him, although him dating tonnes of girls doesn't sit well with me. Tonnes, that's an odd word. How many girls has he dated? Then again, dated doesn't mean relationships. Ok, now I'm being stupid.

"You won't be," says Seth and I lean back, keeping the mirror in my lap. He says this now but how can I be sure? There I go with the stupidity. This happens when I get nervous too. My brain starts to shut down like this.

"Why?" I question, leaning my head back and looking at him in the eyes.

"Because I love you," says Seth, the grin on my face appearing out of nowhere whenever he says those words to me. "I never said that to those girls, maybe that's the secret," he then says which makes me laugh and I lean forward and peck his lips. He can be so sweet when I least expect it.

"That's sweet Seth but its not going to work," I tell him. "What if your parents hate me?" I question.

"Then they'll have to deal with the fact that I'm with you for life," replies Seth casually. "Nothing we've dealt with so far has made me not want to be with you so what makes you think something as trivial as this will?" he says which I guess makes sense.

"But-" I start, however he cuts me off.

"But nothing," says Seth and places a hand on the side of my cheek. "I love you, you love me and we have our son," he says and we both glance at Evan in Seth's lap. "That's all I want and need," he reassures me and I nod my head. Maybe it won't be so bad after all. "You look beautiful by the way," he adds on which makes me chuckle. "Doesn't she?" he then says to Evan. "Yes, we both think Mama looks hot," he says which makes me laugh. The rest of the plane ride goes down fine and I feel a bit better after Seth talked to me. I know what Ariana would say right now, 'Grow some balls and meet them, if they don't like you then tough'. I guess its something I need to take into consideration.

* * *

"Hey cutie pie," says Seth, using his nickname for me as he comes over and places a kiss on my lips. "Shall we get going? I got us a cab," he then tells me, taking the duty of pushing the stroller Evan's in.

"A cab? I thought your family would be here to greet us, considering you're all so close," I tell him, picking up Evan as Seth folds the stroller and sets it in the boot.

"Yes but I deliberately didn't tell them when our flight was because I didn't want you to get so overwhelmed at the airport," says Seth, getting into the back and sitting next to me.

"Oh, look Evan, your Daddy is very sly," I say with a smile. He's being very considerate. I hope they don't mind.

"Hey, you're the one freaking out," Seth reminds me which is true, I probably would have had a heart attack if his family picked us up from the airport. I know it's quite a big family.

"Ok, you're right," I say, nodding my head and appreciating what he's done for me. "Thank you," I say and lean into this side as he puts an arm around me. "Ok, so lets go over who's in your family," I then say. Seth never mentioned them when we were first dating so on the flight over here it's been information overload.

"Alright, so we have Mom and Dad," starts Seth. "Mom's called Anne and Dad is called Nick," he says as I nod my head. Anne and Nick, not so hard. The most important ones. "Then I have two sisters, Angelina but we all call her Angie, and Rose. Angie is a bit, like Ariana lets say. She acts like she hates everyone but once in a while you see she does have feelings and isn't made of stone," he says which makes me laugh. "Rose is, well more like you. She enjoys doing anything and everything so I think you'll really hit it off with her," he goes on as I nod my head. I have a feeling Angie will be hard to please.

"And let me guess, Angie has hated all the girls you've dated before just like Anne and Rose has just welcomed them all even though she may have hated them?" I ask him as he stares at me.

"Maybe," says Seth which just makes it seem harder. "But Rose is more like my Dad in that respect so if you win her over then you're pretty much set. She's a right Daddy's girl and my Mom and Dad's views match on people they do and don't like," he explains.

"Ok, so impress Rose and Nick," I say as if it's a mission which makes Seth chuckle.

"Then I have a younger brother, Nicky," says Seth and I know instantly he must be named after his Father.

"How'd that happen?" I question, I'm sure Anne sounds like a woman who would want a different name for her son. If she wanted a son named Nick then Seth would be called Nick.

"Mom was out for a few hours," answers Seth. "Gave Dad the opportunity and beating of a lifetime," he says which makes me laugh. "Ok, so that's my family," he then states. "Then there's Lily and Lacey, they're Rose's daughters, they're six years old and twins," he goes on as I dread about all this extra stuff I have to know. "Her husband is called Damien but you don't have to worry about him. He's easy to talk to and he's not much of a bother. Probably the only guy I would have let my sister marry," he tells me.

"What about Angie? Does she have a husband or boyfriend?" I ask in curiosity.

"No, she uh, she went through a heartbreak a while back and hasn't ever fully recovered," replies Seth which makes me feel sad. But I also know exactly how she must be feeling. "She hates people pestering her about dating so keep that out of conversation," he advises. "Although, you will meet her best friend Neil. He's always there for her," he adds on.

"Ok, and Nicky? He's twenty two right?" I ask him and Seth nods his head.

"He has a girlfriend called Macy," says Seth and rolls his eyes. "None of us like her, she acts as if she's got a stick up her ass," he comments and I slap his arm.

"I don't want to hear those sort of comments," I tell him. "Nicky likes her so you're going to like her too and not talk about her behind her back in this disrespectful manner, understood?" I reprimand him and he nods his head.

"Ok, Nicky is going to love you," comments Seth, making me smile once again. "Then we have Uncle Mason, my Dad's brother," he starts again and I sigh. He has more people in his immediate family than I have put together! "He's all fun and games, really laid back so he's not a problem. Although, he does get a bit touchy some times with us youngsters which other girls haven't really liked. He's like, Dean in that aspect. He'll play around or just tickle you for no reason all of a sudden, like I said really playful," he explains. "His wife, Marie, she just laughs on. She's laid back too and very welcoming as well".

"Ok, so all I need to really do is impress your Mother and Angie?" I ask for clarification.

"No, um, you need to also impress Mom's twin sister Annette," says Seth, looking like as if he's in deep thought. "For twin sisters, they couldn't be more different. She's widowed so don't bring that up. Also, don't bring up kids in front of Uncle Mason and Aunt Marie, they can't have kids so it's really a touchy subject," he then explains which makes me feel sad. There's quite a few sad stories in Seth's family that I've noticed. "Mom's sister Annette also has a son, Mark. But he's never really been around since his Dad died and I think that's why Aunt Annette is sad all the time, more so than she should be. Which is why when we all get together, it's good for her," he says which makes me smile. I guess I have one mission, making Aunt Annette smile and laugh. Maybe that's the way to get her to like me.

"Ok, gosh I feel sick already," I comment, placing a hand on my stomach.

"I know you want another kid, but I didn't expect it to happen this fast," jokes Seth but I just hit his chest. "Alright, alright I'm sorry," he then apologises.

"By the way, that isn't happening any time soon," I clarify for him, just in case. His smile drops so I explain, "We've only just gotten back together. I think we need to take things slowly".

"You know, I actually agree with you," says Seth which surprises me. "But watch out, depending on how they feel about you they're going to tease you about much more than just kids," he warns me.

"Thanks for making me feel better (!)" I comment, shaking my head.

"Oh and one more thing, my best friend Anna," says Seth as if he had completely forgotten about her till a few seconds ago. "I grew up with her. Known her since elementary school. But you don't need to worry about her, she's probably one of the easiest to get by," he explains. Like that makes me feel any better. Just another person I have to impress. This is so not fair.

"Here we are," says Seth as the cab pulls to a stop and I see a big house. Wow, that looks like a mansion. It looks like the cousin of the fricking white house!

"What the…your family is rich?" I question, in a daze as the big gates open and allow us to come in.

"Oops, did I forget to mention that," says Seth with a guilty look on his face. He did that on purpose didn't he?

"I know your 'accidentally on purpose' face Mister Rollins," I remind him. "Why didn't you tell me?" I question him but he laughs nervously and gets out of the cab. I follow suit and get out as well, Seth pays the driver and then takes out our stuff as well as the stroller, putting it together again. "You know, if you continue to ignore me then it won't lead to anything good," I state.

"It's not something I usually tell girls that I date," says Seth and I tilt my head with a questioning look on my face as he continues to set up the stroller. "Girls know I'm a wrestler and that I do have money. If they find out I have even more money then how do I know if they like me because of me?" I certainly hope he never thought like that of me. Then again he couldn't all of a sudden just say his family's rich.

"I thought when you were sleeping around that that didn't matter?" I question and feel bad straight away. "I'm sorry," I then say and he takes Evan off of me, tying him into the stroller.

"Iris, I know I used to sleep around but even I wanted to find someone special," explains Seth and I bite down on my lip. "I wanted someone that I could bring home to my Mother who I could be proud of to introduce, and I knew that me having so much money would do the job but then it wouldn't be real," he says, getting up and looking at me. "I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you but I thought it would be weird to bring up since we've known each other for such a long time," he says and I step forward towards him.

"You don't have to apologize," I tell him, shaking my head. I put my arms around his neck and say, "I should just be glad that I'm the girl you're bringing home to meet your family".

"You're the only girl worthy enough," says Seth, placing his arms around my waist.

"So you've never brought a girl home before?" I ask him. "Because you did say just before your parents haven't ever approved of the girls you've dated," I then remind him.

"Well I have brought them to parties and stuff, but never to my actual house. I knew Mum and Angie would never behave decently with any of those girls. Plus this is my parent's house and whenever I introduced them to someone knew they'd come up to my apartment," says Seth which explains how he's introduced girls to his family but never brought them here. "So, we ok?" he then asks me.

"We're more than ok, we're a family," I say and lean in to peck his lips but it seems Seth has other ideas because he captures my lips in a searing kiss which makes me moan. "Don't do that when your parents are around, I won't be able to control myself," I say after he pulls away which makes him chuckle.

"I love you," says Seth, my heart beating a hundred miles an hour as usual.

"I love you too," I say and we manage to pull away from each other. I push the stroller and Seth walks besides me, keeping his hand on my waist. Instead of knocking on the door, he opens it and goes right in, shouting to get everyone's attention. I end up a bit behind and when I step into the hallway, I see him greeting all his family. Wow, there's a lot of them. I knew there was a lot of them but they seem a lot more now that I'm actually seeing them all together.

"You stupid boy, why don't you ever call?!" shouts a woman at Seth as she pulls his ear which can only mean one thing, that lady is his Mom Anne.

"Ow, sorry ma I've been busy," says Seth, wincing as her grip on his ear tightens.

"Busy, was I too busy to give birth to you? I think not!" she says which makes me laugh. When I look at them again I see everyone staring at me and my laughter disappears as does my smile. I try not to feel intimidated as they all stare at me. All standing in a line, a million eyes on me. Crap, I think I'm having a heart attack.

* * *

 **I appreciate reviews as you all know :)**


	2. Meeting The Family

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I'm glad you're all reading this sequel. I know in the last story most of it wasn't played out as Seth and Iris as a couple but in this one it will be fluffiness galore! On to the next chapter then :)**

 **BrookelynnMV27: Thanks! Aw, I'm really happy knowing that :)**

 **A Wrestling God: Yeah yeah Dan, smartass. But I gave you credit. I know you will. Besides, we write for ourselves and not others right?  
Thanks! I actually feel more comfortable writing in first person, I feel like I'm in my element. Third person is tricky but you always manage to do it so well. Ha ha, I agree :)**

 **Ayesha: Yes I know, you have a very busy life my love! I kind of saw the whole 1D break coming through. And I see we're back to the caps lock ;)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2:**

"Um, guys this is Iris," introduces Seth as the uncomfortable silence follows. Yeah, this isn't weird. All of them staring at me. Do they even know I'm nervous? Holy crap, is it my hair? I knew I shouldn't have trusted a guy's judgement!

"H-hi," I say with a wave and I feel my palms start to get sweaty. Why Isn't anyone saying anything? My grip on the stroller tightens and I start panicking on the inside. Seth, do something. Oh god, I wish Ariana was here. Or even Dean. At least Dean could break the silence.

"Ma," says Seth through clenched teeth who seems to snap out of some sort of daze. Does she not like my hair? Why the hell am I thinking so much about my hair? It's hair! Now the word 'hair' sounds really weird. And as always, I'm over-analysing things again.

"Why Seth, she's even more prettier than you described," says Anne and I immediately feel myself relax as a small smile makes its way onto my face. She thinks I'm pretty? Cool! Ok, now I'm jumping up and down inside my head. "Iris right? Nice to meet you, I'm Anne," she says, walking over to me. I put out my hand to shake hers but she puts her arms around me in a tight hug.

"It's so nice to meet you too," I say and realize I had the wrong opinion about her. She's so nice. Or maybe I should talk to Seth since he made me feel like she's going to be jumping down my throat.

"And this must be little Evan," says Anne, bending down to get a closer look at Evan. "Oh my, he's so adorable. How long as he been asleep?" she asks me.

"He, uh, he fell asleep on the car ride over," I answer her at which she frowns.

"Oh, so I have to wait a good couple of hours before I see him properly," says Anne. "It doesn't matter though, why don't you and Seth go to your room and freshen up, you can be introduced to everyone later," she says and I nod my head liking that idea. To get away from the gazillion eyes that were still on me. Do they know they look intimidating when they do that? "Seth, why don't you show Iris up to your room?" she suggests and Seth nods his head. He comes over and takes Evan out of the seat, careful not to wake him and gestures for me to follow him.

"Thank you," I say to Anne who smiles at me and I go with Seth to our room.

"We'll send your things up!" calls Anne after us both. After a few turns, Seth opens the door to the bedroom. It's nothing too fancy, just a bed at one end, a wardrobe and some cupboards.

"This is your room isn't it?" I ask Seth, looking at the video games piled up in one corner.

"Yep, ever since I was a little kid," says Seth, settling Evan on the bed and placing pillows on either side. "But," he says and places his arms around me from behind. "It's ours now so anything you want to change, you can," he says, placing a kiss in the crook of my neck. Did he really just say that or was I dreaming?

"Really? You're giving me that much power?" I ask him and feel him nod his head. That's new. When we were together before he got annoyed if I moved his things around in the hotel room but now he's giving me free reign over his bedroom at his parent's house? "Think about it again Mister Rollins, you just might regret that," I warn him but feel him shake his head.

"I don't need anything in this room except for my son and my girlfriend," he says, nibbling on my ear which makes me giggle. "Oh, you like that do you?" he asks and I slap him away when his tongue makes an entry.

"We are not doing this with all your family downstairs and our son right there!" I say with a horrified look on my face and Seth lets out a loud groan. "Hey, what's all this?" I then ask, noticing a bunch of stuff wrapped up in boxes all put to the side in one corner. They're wrapped in gift paper. I hope they didn't buy all this stuff for us. I wouldn't be able to take it.

"I have no idea," says Seth, coming over and having a look for himself.

"Knock knock," says a voice and we both turn around. I see a young girl standing there with a Rose in her hair, that must be Rose.

"Hey Rose," says Seth, gesturing for his sister to come in. She comes and gives Seth a hug and he keeps an arm around her. "So, why have you decided to bother us?" he then asks, earning an ear pull off of her.

"Seth!" I say with a glare, that's not how he should talk to her.

"Fine, why have you decided to come and…see us?" he asks again which I nod my head at in approval. Rose doesn't say anything but just looks between us.

"Glad you've got him on a leash," comments Rose which makes me laugh as she does as well.

"Uh, excuse me girls, I am not on a leash," says Seth but Rose moves away from him and comes and stands before me, ignoring Seth completely.

"Hi, I'm Rose. This idiot's sister," says Rose and I nod my head at her. She gives me a hug, just like Anne did. Is it weird that I already love her? Because I so do! Now I sound like I'm in high school. Then again, I've always instantly liked people that are polite. Ariana lists it as another annoying quality of mine. But I can't help it. I'm wired totally different compared to her. She trusts nobody.

"Nice to know," I say and then pull away.

"Ok, so I bet you're wondering what all this stuff is," says Rose and we both nod our heads. "Mom has gift wrapped each one for you, it's all of Seth's things from when he was a baby. She figured Evan could put them to good use, we know you have your own stuff so you don't have to use it…" she trails off but I give her a grateful smile.

"No, no that's wonderful," I say, shaking my head. "I can't wait to see what things Seth had when he was a baby," I say excitedly which makes Seth and Rose chuckle.

"Cool, I'll leave you guys to it," says Rose but all of a sudden Evan starts crying and we all look at him. I'm about to go over to him but then Rose says, "May I?"

"Sure," I say and she goes over to him. She picks him up carefully and holds him just right, of course she'd know how to do everything since she has twin girls. As soon as Rose sways him gently, Evan stops crying. "Aw, he likes you," I comment and go over to them, looking down at my son.

"Yeah, I think he just wants some attention," Rose coos which makes me laugh. "Mind if I take him down? Everyone's dying to see him up close," she says with a pleading look.

"Hey, you're family so I can't stop you right?" I say and she smiles at me. "We'll be down in a sec anyway," I then say and she nods her head, pulling faces for Evan as she leaves the room. At least Seth was right about one person. I think we're gonna be great friends.

"Now that the son's gone," starts Seth, grabbing me and pulling me close. "We can get down to business," he says and starts to place soft kisses on my neck.

"Seth," I say but my eyes automatically close when his lips make their way further down. Before I know what's happening, Seth has me pinned against the wall and his hands move to pull down the straps of my dress. "Oh, hell," I say as he moves the fabric of my dress and discovers my breasts.

"Hmm, no bra," says Seth approvingly and I bite down on my lip as he teases me.

"Seth!" calls a voice which makes us both jump. I quickly pull up the straps to my dress and straighten my hair just in time to see some guy walk into the room. "You slick bastard, how are you?" says the guy and Seth immediately hugs him, both of them laughing.

"I'm alright, what about yourself?" says Seth as I stand to the side awkwardly. Don't you just feel weird when you're with someone and they meet someone they know but you don't know them so it makes you feel awkward as hell?

"I'm good, I just got back from work, Angie text me saying you'd arrived so I thought, what the hell, I'll just come over to your house for dinner," says the guy and I think he just might be Neil. Just then he looks at me and says, "Hi, you must be Iris, I'm Neil, Angie's friend".

"Oh, nice to meet you," I say, shaking his hand.

"Why don't you head on downstairs and we'll follow," suggests Seth and Neil nods his head, slapping Seth's back before leaving. "Now, where were we," he says but I duck and move away before he can grab me.

"You and your lips are staying away from me mister or we'll both get in trouble," I say, walking backwards to the door. "Come on, we've already said we're coming down like a gazillion times," I remind him and he groans before moving forward and taking my outstretched hand.

"Someone's eager to know my family," mumbles Seth and I feel that I really am. I was so nervous but after meeting Anne and Rose, I think I'll be just fine. We walk down the stairs and make our way to the living room where we hear a load of laughter. I still feel nerves but not as much as before.

"No, Seth's pooping face was more like this," I hear someone say and look to see Evan in Anne's hands. Everyone laughs at the imitation the man does and Seth coughs to let them know we're standing there.

"Oh grow up Nick," says Anne, realizing that I'm there. "Sorry Iris but my husband can be a bit too immature sometimes. It's the effect Mason has on him," she says.

"Me? I have no idea what you're talking about!" says another man and I assume that's Mason.

"Ok, now that you've witnessed the absolute low of my family, let me introduce you," starts Seth. He puts an arm around my waist and guides me to the man I assumed is Mason. "This is Uncle Mason and his wife Marie," he says and I shake both their hands.

"Young lady, I hope you know what you've done by coming into this family. Very soon you'll be one of us," says Mason and I put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

"Mason!" says his wife and slaps his arm. "I am sorry Iris, he always acts like a two year old," she says, glaring at him and I have to bite down on my tongue to make sure I don't burst out laughing.

"What? It was a test, the other girls just saw me as if I arrived from Pluto," justifies Mason, shrugging his shoulders. Why am I instantly reminded of Dean right now?

"That's a likely explanation," says Marie, their banter reminding me how Dean and Ariana's goes. Maybe that's how they'll end up, twenty years from now. Old and bickering as they always are.

"Moving on," says Seth and he takes me to a younger looking guy. "This is Nicky," he says and I shake his hand. "His girlfriend Macy couldn't make it," he then adds on but looks really happy about that little fact. A major difference between me and my boyfriend. I give people chances and he dislikes giving them any.

"Nope but don't act like you're not pleased about that," says Nicky as Seth gives off an innocent face. "I bet you're over the moon," he then comments, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Maybe," say Seth and I hit his chest with the back of my hand. Honestly. I never knew Seth would be like this. Then again, Dean and Seth are a whole different story too. Maybe I should expect something worse when it comes to Seth and his siblings.

"Be nice," I tell him. "I look forward to meeting her whenever I get the chance," I say to Nicky.

"Damn it, I like her!" exclaims Nicky and then walks off looking annoyed. Well that was very weird.

"Was it something I said?" I ask Seth with a confused look on my face. I thought I was being nice?

"Nope," says Seth with the biggest grin on his face. "He was hoping he didn't like you so he could say stuff about you like I do about Macy but he can't because you're awesome," he says, grinning like he's got a hold of some prize.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him, remember he's dating girls like you were once trying to find something real," I tell him and he gives me a look. "What?" I ask him.

"Nothing, I love you," says Seth instead and then pulls me with him. "You've already met Rose and this is her husband Damien," he introduces me and I shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you," I tell him and he says the same thing to me.

"Girls!" shouts Rose and two girls that were sitting with Anne and Frank come running over. "Girls, I'd like you to meet your Aunt Iris. She's Uncle Seth's girlfriend," she says and I smile down at them both. Being introduced as Seth's girlfriend makes me feel incredibly special. "Iris, these are my girls Lacey and Lily," she says.

"It's nice to meet you," they both say together which makes me chuckle. Twins and saying stuff at the same time though right?

"You too," I say and shake each one of their hands because they hold them out. "Wow, I love your ribbons," I compliment them, the purple ones on their ponies.

"Really? Thank you," says Lacey and I know its her because they both have necklaces with their names on. If it wasn't for that then I probably would never be able to tell them apart.

"You can borrow them if you like," offers Lily which warms my heart. I must be doing good. You don't offer to give your stuff to someone as a kid if you don't like them.

"Oh, I have my own," I tell them. "I used to intertwine them in my braids when I was a little girl such as yourselves but I don't need them anymore. Hey, maybe you guys would like to have them?" I suggest and they both look on eagerly.

"Really?" asks Lily and I nod my head. They are just buried underneath all my stuff but I never wanted to get rid of them because they were a part of me when I was younger. However, I don't need to hold onto physical things to remind me of the past. It's all stored up in my head.

"Will you braid them into our hair?" asks Lacey and I nod my head.

"Sure," I say enthusiastically and they both squeal, running off to tell Anne what just happened.

"That's very sweet of your Iris," says Rose and I smile at her. I love kids and anything that would make them smile would make me very happy too.

"This is my sister Angie, she used to give me wedgies as a kid," says Seth.

"You really needed to stop being an ass," says Angie and I'm guessing that's her way of defending herself. "It's Angelina by the way," she says, giving me an unhappy look. But still, I smile at her.

"Nice to meet you," I say but she just rolls her eyes and leaves from there, going over to Neil. "She doesn't like me, does she?" I ask Seth. I knew she would be tricky but I thought she'd at least be nice to my face which she wasn't.

"No, she just doesn't warm up to people as quickly as the others do," reassures Seth, taking my hand. "Ok and last but not least, this is my Aunt Annette," says Seth and moves to place a kiss on the side of her cheek as she looks on at him with suspicious eyes.

"You want something don't you?" asks Annette but Seth shakes his head.

"Just for you to tell me how I've done," says Seth, putting his arm around her as they both look me up and down. I put some hair behind my ear, feeling like I'm being inspected. She has those eyes where you're being scrutinised and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. Then again, maybe I'd do the same with Evan. Although that is years away.

"She's very pretty, I'll give you that," says Annette with a smirk on her face. "Time will tell how great she is though," she says and shakes my hand. "It's nice to meet you dear," she says.

"It's nice to meet you too," I say with a smile, not knowing why this woman was making me feel very nervous. I have to say though, she looks exactly like Seth's Mom. Not one wrinkle out of place that could help tell the difference between the two. But I think Annette looks kind of older, like she has more of a mature face.

"Hey Iris, come sit here," calls Anne, and I walk over and take a seat next to her. Lacey and Lily are sat on the floor in front, chatting away about something. "Seth, he has your eyes," she says.

"So I've been told," says Seth with a chuckle. Oh the eyes. They're a dead give away that Seth's the Father. Maybe I should be thankful for that though. If I'd woken up from the coma without these guys finding out Seth's the Father then I would have had to explain everything. I always wanted Evan to grow up with the love of both a Mother and Father and me living without revealing the paternity would mean no Father. I'm just glad Seth could look past it for me.

"But, he definitely has Iris's smile," Anne then says. "A fantastic one at that," she says, pinching my cheeks which makes me go red in embarrassment.

"Ma, stop it. Her cheeks will go even more red," comments Seth and laughs as he makes fun of me. Some of the others laugh too and I wish I could transport myself out of here. You'd think Seth would make sure no one teases me, especially himself. But no. He does this on purpose, I swear. He knows how easy it is for me to go red.

"Ok, whoever makes fun of this girl or laughs at anyone that does will not get served dinner, understood?" says Anne and everyone guilty of laughing nod their heads. "You let me know if my son gives you any more trouble, he's a moron quite a lot of the time," she says which makes me chuckle. I bet she and Dean get along great!

"So we can't laugh at Iris but she can laugh at me?" asks Seth for clarification, pointing to himself.

"Too right," says Nick, intervening. "She's given us this beautiful grandchild and what did you give us? Oh yes, 13 girls with no knowledge of anything unless it was shoes," he then says with a roll of his eyes. Wow, it sounds like Seth didn't have any standards back then. Yes! That's my comeback next time he teases me. It doesn't sound too mean though does it? I hope not. Why am I overthinking everything again?

"That's not a bad thing, I found some really cool stores," says Rose. Obviously referring to shoe stores. Maybe she can recommend some to me. Yep, I have a total girl's mind. Ariana's never understood my obsession with shoes. But I always tell her she's the one with the problem cause most girls do obsess over them.

"All I'm saying is that I would loved to have talked about something else other than shoes," says Nick as I start to feel nervous, I have bored Ariana in the past with shoe talk. And I know way too much about them than your average girl. "Now tell me love, do you have any knowledge of stock markets?" he asks me and a smile comes into my face. That couldn't have been a more perfect question.

"I took business and finance in college, ask me anything," I say and he nods his head in approval. What can I say? It wasn't because I wanted to really take it. I would have done something to do with Wrestling of course. But Mom insisted on me studying that. I never got it but it must have been another money-making scheme. After all, we needed to do something with the money she had me make from pageants. Invest it in something to keep the money rolling.

" _ **We**_ are going to have some great conversations," says Nick, pointing a finger in my direction. Now I feel really optimistic.

"Do you know anything about shoes?" asks Rose, giving me a stern look.

"Know them? Half the time she bores Ariana to death by talking about them!" exclaims Seth and then puts his hands up in surrender as Anne gives him a pointed look. He's talking as if I don't have a mouth. Then again, what would come out if they put me on the spot? I really don't want to end up a stuttering fool.

"What else do you know?" asks Damien with interest.

"I know everything there is to know about wrestling," I offer up, nothing else coming to mind. Well nothing the guys would probably approve of. If I even dare talk about dresses or handbags, I have a feeling they'd all just groan in frustration.

"Oh yeah, you're a wrestler too aren't you?" says Nicky and I nod my head. "Seth here says you're pretty good but we haven't seen you in any recent shows," he then says.

"Oh I obviously couldn't wrestle because of Evan," I tell him. "It's been close to a year since I last performed," I explain and he nods his head. I'm surprised Seth didn't make a joke then and there about Nicky being stupid. Since apparently that's what he does the most.

"We should have a wrestling match between you and Seth, finally a girl would kick his ass for being such a douche bag," comments Nicky making me burst out in laughter as does everyone else. Seth doesn't see the funny side though because he takes off after Nicky and they both run around the room throwing things at each other that wouldn't break as Anne shouts at them to grow up. I look around and realize that they're not all that bad. It's just Angie and Annette that I need to win over, everyone else seems very accepting and it looks like I'll be just fine.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"It's not fair," complains Dean for like the billionth time one our drive back from the airport to the hotel. Roman gives me another look, I don't know what for. I can't stop the miserable soul sitting in the back from being sad.

"Dean, they've not gone forever," says Roman for the billionth time too. Who knew my fiance would get so attacked to Evan? We didn't even realize till they were being parted. But at least the doubt in my mind has cleared up, Dean's gonna be a fantastic Father. So I don't need to worry about him choking our kids in the future.

"Might as well be," comments Dean, acting like a complete kid. I already know I will have to be the mature one when we have kids. They're gonna love Dean and hate me, I already know it. I'll have to be bad parent. I don't mind though, I think it will be fun.

"It's 2 weeks, you'll live," I say, my feet casually resting on the dashboard.

"We'll see," says Dean from the back. I can't imagine what would have happened if Iris never came back. Things would be a whole lot different. "Do you think Angie will get along with Iris?" he then asks out of the blue. Oh boy. I did not think about that. I think everyone will warm up to Iris but she'll be tough to crack. She makes her own judgment all the time and most of the time she dislikes people.

"I hope so, we all know she won't go easy on Iris," says Roman and I give him a look. What was the need to say that to Dean? He's already antsy about them all leaving.

"Maybe we should go rescue her?" suggests Dean, sitting forward, his head in between mine and Roman's.

"Nice try," I say, shaking my head at him. "While they're gone, we're gonna be focusing on our wedding," I say with a grin that shows all my teeth.

"Oh man," says Dean, moving to sit back once more, Roman snickering at my facial expression.

"Hey, if you didn't want the headache you shouldn't have gotten a ring and asked me," I remind him, knowing he's only messing around. If it was anyone else I would have gotten the impression they wouldn't want to marry me.

"I still say we could elope," says Dean and I'm very much inclined to agree with him. It would save a lot of money, headaches and all the blood and sweat that goes into planning and executing a wedding.

"Yeah but Iris is looking forward to being the Maid of Honor so we can't really disappoint her, she might never let us see Evan again," I make up some bullshit excuse. Dean's eyes widening at the last part.

"We are gonna have a huge wedding!" exclaims Dean, my smile widening at his change in attitude. I know me and Dean have always been really simple people. I've always wanted a small wedding as did he. And that's what we're going to do but we're still going to make sure we do it in style. Well I know that's how Iris will be planning it anyway.

"Sorry to be a downer guys but what if Iris finds out about what we did whilst her leg was healing after she took that nasty fall from the top rope?" asks Roman and I sit up straight. I didn't even think about that.

"Shit! Now my Godparent status will be revoked!" groans Dean in the back as my heart starts beating a little faster. I don't lie to Iris but I did at that time. I didn't know what else to do. I knew it would bother her so I kept it from her. Plus, Seth said he wanted it as an early birthday gift.

"Let's just hope no one mentions it," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. We should never have lied in the first place. Any of us. But Seth was quite convincing at the time. And as much as it wouldn't have been a big deal before it will be now. We're all screwed if they tell Iris.

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 **Please Review :)**


	3. Secrets

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I'm back with the next chapter. Chapter 4 will be posted in the weekend, I'm aiming for Sunday :) I know all the new characters are a lot to take in, believe me it was confusing me when I was writing it but don't worry, you'll get used to it. And I'm making sure to show what the rest of the gang are up to :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"I want chocolate cake," comments Dean, walking into our locker room, me and Roman just casually sitting around, taking a good old break.

"Dean, I am not driving around till we find a shop that serves chocolate cake the way you love it," says Roman and I nod my head in agreement. The last thing I need is to be taken for a spin with Dean eating chocolate cake from nearly all the shops that are close by. I want to go back to the hotel and take a nice bubble bath.

"No, for the wedding," corrects Dean, me and Roman looking up from the magazines we were reading.

"I'm sorry, did you just say wedding?" I ask Dean and he nods his head, looking kind of serious.

"Yeah, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting," answers Dean, coming over and sitting on the table in the middle. "Yum," he adds on and I can tell he's gone into dreamland so I click my fingers in front of his face.

"I think it's a great idea!" I state, leaning forward and pressing a kiss on his lips. "I'll put it in the list I'm gonna give Iris," I say, sitting back and putting my feet in Dean's lap.

"Why would you give it to Iris?" asks Dean with a confused look.

"Dude, she's my Maid of Honour so she's planning the whole thing. I don't even need to make any input because my best friend knows what we both like, dislike etcetera," I explain, looking through the magazine once more.

"I ran into Kane," Roman announces out of the blue, successful in getting both mine and Dean's attention.

"You better have punched the fucker Roman or I don't want to hear the rest of the story," says Dean, his hands in the air.

"All we did was walk past each other, hardly a story," says Roman. We all knew this was going to happen though. Iris didn't want to go through the stress of pressing charges and the company couldn't keep him suspended any longer. It's a good thing Iris isn't here though. We can test the waters and see if he's planning or plotting anything against any of us.

"You think he's going to be scheming again?" I ask Roman serious.

"Maybe, I don't know," answers Roman, shrugging his shoulders. "I still can't believe they let him keep his job," he comments but of course they have. Maybe they wouldn't have if Iris did press charges but she had her reasons and we can't argue with her on that.

"Believe me, people have done a whole lot worse and are still walking around thinking they own the building," says Dean, shaking his head. "Does this mean we have to hide another thing from her?" he then asks and lets out a sigh when I nod my head.

"That is if no one's already blabbed to her about the other thing," I say. That's not so much a huge issue as Kane. "Dean, is there any way you can make sure we have eyes on Kane at all times?" I ask my fiance because this is what we're gonna need right now.

"I already do, I texted my gang just after Roman told us," says Dean, being the sneaky fucker he is.

"Gang?" asks Roman and Dean nods his head, going on his phone once again. Roman looks to me as if needed some sort of an explanation but I just shake my head. Even I don't know how many people Dean knows or who he's on the phone to but as long as it can get our job done who cares right?

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I wake up the next morning and smile when I see Seth is still asleep. I look over at Evan and see he's awake but just playing by himself. I pull back the covers and get out of bed, changing into a yellow dress and combing my hair. I pick up Evan from his cot and hold him close. It's actually Seth's. We haven't opened all of the boxes but Rose did point out to us which one the cot was in so we could use that straight away. I pick up the baby seat that we unwrapped too and I head downstairs and don't see anybody around, they must still be asleep.

"You hungry baby boy?" I ask Evan as I make my way to the kitchen. Seth showed me around very briefly yesterday, he showed me all the basics knowing that if he showed me every single room then I'd be too overwhelmed and not remember where anything is. I place the seat on the counter and tie Evan up in it. Seth said he'd put together one of the high chairs today so Evan can sit comfortably during breakfast.

"Oh, sorry," I hear a voice and notice someone standing at the door.

"Oh, um, hi I'm Iris," I say, smiling over at the girl who can't be much older than me. She has short hair like me too.

"Hi, I'm Lucy," she says and I nod my head. "I actually do everything around here, breakfast, cleaning and all that. Did you want something?" she then asks me but I shake my head.

"No thank you, I was just making breakfast for us both," I say and then go over to the kettle, putting some water in there and leaving it to boil. I then grab the box of powdered milk and put a couple of spoons into Evan's bottle. "So how long have you worked here?" I ask her.

"Too long," says Lucy which makes me chuckle. "My Mom was working here and a few years ago she couldn't so I took over. It's actually the ideal job because of how nice everyone is, they make me feel like family and not a worker," she explains and I nod my head. I put the boiled water into Evan's bottle and mix with a spoon. I put the top back on and then run the bottle underneath cold water. "Um, how long have you been with Seth if you don't mind my asking," she says curiously and I know the answer will sound bonkers.

"Uh, two days," I say and she looks at me as if I'm mad.

"Are you pulling my leg? We all know Evan is a lot more older," comments Lucy which makes me laugh. She hovers over Evan and starts to play with him as I stop the tap and check if the milk is cool enough. I hand the bottle to Lucy who looks ecstatic that I'm allowing her to feed him.

"Actually we first got together about over a year ago," I start, thinking back to it. "We dated, became a couple instantly and everything was fine. Then, we uh, we broke up. After that I found out I was pregnant with Evan and very recently we both came to the conclusion that we wanted to be together again so here we are," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"So it's like rediscovering love?" questions Lucy and I chuckle.

"Something like that," I say with a smile.

"He's all done," announces Lucy with a big smile. "Oops, I better get started on my jobs. I know no one will be mad but it doesn't mean I should be sloppy," she says and quickly leaves from there.

"Ok, let's get a burp out of you big guy," I say and pick Evan up. After getting a burp out of him I put him back into his seat and start looking through the cupboards, wondering what I could make today for breakfast. I probably shouldn't be getting too comfortable but I can't help it. I don't think anyone will mind. "Hmm," I say, opening the fridge and jump when I feel arms around me. "I thought you were sleeping," I say, turning my head to look at Seth.

"I was," says Seth, pecking my lips in a good morning kiss. "And then I woke up," he says, acting like a wise ass. I continue looking and then get an idea.

"How do pancakes sound this morning to you?" I ask him.

"They sound amazing," says Seth, placing a soft kiss on my shoulder. "What do you need me to do?" he asks, letting me know he won't be just sitting back and watching the show.

"I'll handle the batter and you handle the pan?" I suggest, turning around in his arms.

"Sounds like a plan," says Seth and kisses me before going over to Evan and tickling him. Seth helps me in finding everything we need to make the pancakes. I find an apron and put it on, not wanting my dress to get spoilt. I start getting the batter together and mix it with a wooden spoon. "You're going to love this Iris, today is the day you shall be impressed," he says as I pour some batter onto the pan.

"Just don't screw it up," I tell him. As the pancake cooks, he turns it around and I stand there watching him, hoping he doesn't decide to do the flip because whenever he's done it in the past it never ends nicely.

"Ok, watch this," says Seth and throws it in the air, only for it to come back down and miss the pan, ending up all over the cooker.

"When you can't do it why do you try? Now I'll have to clean all this up," I say, shaking my head. One of the worst times was when he and Dean made up an excuse and got me out of the kitchen, when I came back there was pancake batter everywhere. Including on both of them!

"No, Lucy can do it," says Seth so I slap the back of his head. "Ow, that was that for?" he asks.

"Lucy is not your servant," I reprimand him. "Move over, I'll clean it. Take a good look at your Father Evan, don't ever act stupid like he does," I say, looking over at my son before I start cleaning the cooker. Once it gets all done Seth puts the batter into the pan and I cook the pancakes, laughing when he curses that I could flip it and get it in the pan. Once the pancakes are made, I put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I sit on the counter next to Evan and Seth leans against me.

"Are there any strawberries?" asks Seth and I nod my head, pointing over to the fridge. I'm sure I saw some in there earlier when I was getting the milk.

"Bring the blueberries as well," I say and finish off the pancake I was eating. He hands them to me and leans back against me as we continue eating and chatting.

"I have another idea what we could do with this honey," says Seth, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Mister Rollins, ever since I've become your girlfriend you are throwing out these comments left, right and centre," I say, eating some of the blueberries I ask him to get me.

"Well stop looking so damn hot all the time," says Seth which makes me red and laugh. It makes me wonder what thoughts were running through his mind during my pregnancy.

"Um, so I think its safe to say that your family is incredible," I say to Seth. "They're all so welcoming and have been lovely. And you were right about Rose, we're going shopping today," I then tell him.

"So that means I won't see you for a whole two days?" asks Seth with a horrified look on his face but I hit him on his back.

"Don't be so mean, I'm looking forward to it," I say, putting my plate down and wrapping my arms around Seth. "You know, I've always wanted a family like yours. Big, joyful and full of laughter".

"Which is why we should get started on baby number 2," comments Seth, putting his empty plate down and turning around, placing his hands on my waist.

"Not so fast, we have time," I tell him, reminding him that we're taking it slow. "Now come on, lets wash up," I say, pushing him away and picking up the plates.

"Just put them in the dishwasher," says Seth casually bit I grab his hand and take him to the sink.

"No, it's just a couple of plates and we have hands," I convince him and grab the sponge on the side along with the washing up liquid. "I never realized how lazy you are Mister Rollins," I then say.

"Only when one of my options is to spend time alone with you," says Seth as I turn on the tap and use the sponge to wash the plates. "I, uh, I heard what you said to Lucy," he then admits. "You know, about us," he says.

"Alright," I say, acknowledging what he said. "And why were you eavesdropping?" I question. I don't feel nervous at all about having to explain anything to Seth. He just makes me feel so comfortable that I can share things easily with him.

"I didn't want to interrupt you guys," says Seth, shrugging his shoulders as I hand him one of the plates and he starts to dry it with the dishcloth. "So we've discovered love again?" he asks.

"I think so," I say and yelp when Seth grabs me from behind. "Seth, stop it! Someone will come," I say, giggling when he starts placing kisses on my neck.

"Who cares, you're mine right? I can do whatever I want whenever I want," says Seth, nibbling on my ear.

"Seth, Evan is right there!" I exclaim but that doesn't seem to do much.

"So? You want your Dad to be happy, don't you Evan?" Seth says, stopping his attack on me for a second as he glances at Evan. "See? He wants us to be happy," he comments.

"Yes but I don't want anyone coming in here and seeing me like this? You know how embarrassing that would be?" I question but Seth doesn't really seem to care.

"So?" says Seth, continuing his attack with his lips.

"Seth, if you don't stop it then I swear to god this sponge will hit your face," I warn him and he spins me around, holding me close and a smirk on his face.

"You see, I don't think you will," says Seth and I give him a challenging look. "See? All threats and no action," he comments, leaning down and nuzzling my neck, his beard tickling my skin. Without warning I then use the sponge and hit it on his head, soap trickling down his face. "What the hell?" squeals Seth and jumps as I drop the sponge and hold my stomach in laughter. "Oh, you think that's funny do you?" he asks me and all of a sudden lifts me off my feet bridal style.

"Seth!" I say, hitting my hand on his chest. "Someone will come," I then say.

"I don't care, you need to be taught a lesson," says Seth, holding me closer to him as I place my arms around his neck. I'm about to say something when I look to the entrance and notice Rose, Angie and Anne standing there, amusement on Rose and Anne's faces.

"Seth put me down," I order him, any smile disappearing from my face.

"Why? So you can hit me with the sponge again? I think not," says Seth and leans down to nibble on my ear.

"Seth, your mother is right there!" I whisper yell, hitting him and pulling my head away from him.

"Yeah right, my mother (!)" Seth says loudly enough for them all to hear. "My Mother can't do anything. She doesn't even know half the stuff I get up to," he goes on as I close my eyes for a second. "She's so innocent you know but lets forget about her, I want to focus on you right now Cutie Pie," he goes on and I sigh, putting a hand on my face.

"Then I think we should leave, don't you Mom," says Rose which amazingly doesn't snap Seth out of it.

"Great, now I can hear them too (!)" says Seth, rolling his eyes. "As if their nagging isn't enough," he says and I swear I couldn't be more embarrassed right now.

"Seth, your Mom," I say, grabbing his chin and turning his face so he can see his Mother and sisters. After looking in that direction he looks straight back at me and his smile disappears as he looks back at the door to see his family.

"Ma," says Seth, putting me down instantly, my face as red as a tomato.

"It's about time you listened to that girl and put her down," says Anne as I place a hand over my mouth and try not to laugh at the horrified look on Seth's face. Well, this should be interesting. "What are you two doing in here anyway?" she then asks us.

"Oh, we were having breakfast," says Seth and then bends down to pick up the sponge. "We were washing up when Iris thought it would be fun to play about and you know once someone gets started with me I can't stop. But really Iris, we should finish washing up," he says the last part turning to me and I shake my head at him. Seth then turns around and starts to wash the dishes when I quickly stop him.

"You are not going to break all of Anne's plates, don't think I don't remember what you did at Roman's house," I remind him and push him away as I wash the second plate myself.

"Hey, now that was an accident," says Seth but I shake my head in disbelief.

"What was an accident?" I hear Rose ask and she appears next to Seth.

"I highly doubt breaking nine plates is an accident," I retort. "We were up at Roman's for Christmas last year and his Mother got gifted some new china, very expensive from what I could tell. And Mister Rollins here decided to wreck them," I explain with a smile.

"Yeah well Dean pushed me and they got knocked over from the table," defends Seth.

"That's because you were drunk, normally you wouldn't have even moved a muscle," I say.

"That sounds like him I tell you," says Anne and I look to the side to see her and Angie giving all their attention to Evan which makes me smile. My son is surely going to be loved by many.

"Hmm, we are _so_ going to share stories on our shopping trip!" exclaims Rose which makes me laugh. "I bet between us we have hundreds," she comments.

"No, no, no, no one's sharing stories," says Seth, shaking his finger in the air.

"Why? Worried Iris might find out something that'll make her run away?" questions Rose.

"Then she won't be much of a girlfriend, will she?" says Angie and I can see Seth roll his eyes. I can tell Angie not liking me is affecting him, despite him saying it doesn't matter. But I love Seth so if that means taking snide remarks then so be it. Nothing can drive me away at this point,

"I doubt anything like that would come out, I already know he hoards things in the back of his cupboard, most disgusting moment of my life," I say and we both laugh.

"I know! Ma once found a huge dust bunny back there once, it was traumatic to say the least," jokes Rose and I can't help but laugh, Seth's red face makes it even more hilarious.

"Don't worry, I haven't run away yet," I say to Seth, pinching his cheek.

"I doubt he will let you if what he was doing moments before is anything to go by," comments Rose with a wink.

"You girls are mean," says Seth, pouting and walking off. He jumps onto the counter and sits next to Evan, "Me and Evan are going to be talking about your faults all day," he says, pointing to us as I switch off the tap and dry my hands.

"I have faults?" I ask him with an innocent look on my face.

"Um, no?" asks Seth at which Angie scoffs but I just ignore her. It's not the first time I've experienced hostility and I'm pretty sure I can win her over. I have two weeks after all.

"Right answer," whispers Rose.

"You know, I'd much rather my boyfriend have a backbone," I then tell him. "I'll tell you my faults before Seth deceives you into thinking I'm perfect. I get way too excited about the little things," I say but Seth decides to give his two cents.

"I like that about you, it means you're looking forward to anything," comments Seth.

"I'm a bit of a clean freak," I tell her and again Seth gives his input.

"But that means I can eat off the floor," says Seth and I shake my head with a chuckle.

"I'll sometimes make the wrong decisions and bang on about me being right," I list off.

"Yeah but they're right in your opinion and your reasoning always shows you care about others," says Seth, biting into an apple as I sigh. He isn't helping, if anything he's showing Angie how I have him wrapped around my finger.

"Talk about whipped," says Rose with a laugh and I smile at her. I know she won't think what Angie's thinking which I can tell from her facial expression is nothing nice.

"A-and I shop way too much for Ariana's liking," I comment the last thing.

"No lady can ever shop too much," says Anne, obviously not knowing Ariana.

"Oh yeah, Ariana, how is she?" asks Rose which confuses me. How would she know Ariana? We've never come to their house. The only family we've ever met is Roman's.

"She's, uh, she's fine," I say and glance at Seth to see his whole face has fallen. He's hiding something from me, isn't he?

"Oh, good, I haven't seen or heard from her in a long time," says Rose and I smile at her, although it's fake. When did Ariana meet these guys? "Is she still with Dean?" she asks me.

"Yeah, they're engaged," I tell her and she squeals in delight.

"Oh my gosh, that is so great!" exclaims Rose. "Oh, it's about time too, I could tell they were going to get married one day," she then says and I nod my head. "That week we met her in the Summer was awesome, you wouldn't believe the amount of fun we had. It's a shame you couldn't come back then, would have been even more amazing," she says and I nod my head in agreement.

"Yeah," I say as I think about it. I'd broken my leg one Summer and was bed bound. But I know Ariana was working, except for when she went with Dean, Roman and Seth to Roman's house to visit his Mom. But as I think about it I realize that they didn't go to meet Roman's Mother, they came to meet Seth's Mother Anne. They all lied to me.

* * *

 **I appreciate any and all reviews! :)**


	4. Hurt

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you're liking the chapters so far :)**

 **Calwitch: Yeah, it was during that time. He wasn't serious about Iris and knew he'd be in too deep if he ever introduced her to his parents :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4:**

All four of them lied to me. They didn't go to Roman's house but came to Seth's house. I see Seth is struggling with whether he should say something but I know he can't say anything in front of his family. He wouldn't let me meet his family but of course he let Ariana come see them. He was probably checking if they'd approve of her if he ever managed to get with her. Despite the fact that was then...that hurts.

"What's that smell?!" shouts Lacey, running into the kitchen with Lily behind her.

"Oh, uh we made some pancakes," I answer her as Rose tells her daughter off for demanding an answer like that. But kids will be kids.

"Are there any left?" asks Lily, looking around the kitchen with an excited face. But her smile disappears when I shake my head letting her know we'd eaten them all.

"But I'm sure I can whip some more up in two minutes," I tell her and both girls look at each other.

"Yes!" they shout and come over, hugging me and then running off once again.

"Here, I'll do them," says Rose but I shake my head.

"No, it's just pancakes Rose, I'll do it," I say and start getting the dishes out of the dishwasher. "Um, do you guys have anymore flour?" I ask her, pointing to the nearly finished packet I was using.

"Yes, there's some in the store room," says Anne and picks up the seat Evan's in. "I'll send Lucy to come give it to you whilst I change Evan's nappy," she says.

"Oh no, I can do it," I say, about to move but she shakes her head.

"He's my grandson, I'll change his nappy like I used to change Seth's," says Anne.

"Right, um, his nappies are on the floor next to our bed," I let her know and she thanks me and leaves with Angie.

"Ok, so what do you need, let me know, I'll assist," says Rose with an excited expression on her face.

"Uh, ok, get any kind of fruit from the fridge and start cutting it in half," I instruct her, putting the apron back on and starting on a batter with the flour I had left. Seth stays sitting on the counter and I avoid looking at him. I don't know what to feel, he has admitted he was never serious about me back then but…it still hurts me that he did that. Moreover, he never came clean about it afterwards.

"Are they made yet?!" shouts Lily, coming in this time. I laugh and tell her it'll be a minute and instructs her to sit at the table that was there. The kitchen doesn't really have a door, it's an open kitchen. Then on the other side of one of the counters there is a table not too far, it's quite big as well but I assume that it's just big enough for the whole family to fit on.

"Honestly, these girls," says Rose which makes me chuckle.

"Uncle Seth, come sit with us!" shouts Lacey and I swear I will be deaf by the end of the day.

"Ok, lovely Lacey," says Seth, hopping off the counter but I can feel his eyes on me. Obviously we're going to need to talk about this but I won't be doing it in front of his family anytime soon. And I don't think I want to have this conversation, it is weird that something from before is going to affect us now. Why should it? We moved past all that. Great, the first hurdle (!) It makes me think what else Seth has done before that he might not have told me about.

"Uncle Seth, how much do you love Aunt Iris?" asks Lily and I can hear her and Lacey giggle.

"I love her a lot," I hear Seth say and can't help but look in his direction to see him looking at me. I can tell he's silently asking me if we're ok but I have to turn my attention back to the pancake and flip it over. After I finish making five pancakes at least, I grab the plate and walk over to the table, putting it down in front of Seth. He's sitting on one end of the table, each twin on either side.

"Thank you," both girls say at the same time and I give them a smile. Rose then comes over and puts down some fruit for them, plating up their food however it is they want it. I'm about to start putting everything away when a loud voice booms through the place.

"I smell pancakes!" shouts Mason, coming through with Marie not too far behind, chuckling. Lucy comes behind them with more flour and I thank her as she hands it to me, starting on another batter to make more pancakes as I'm sure Mason and Marie will want some.

"Pancakes!" shouts Nicky, running down as if he's a little kid just as I serve some to Mason and Marie. Marie offered to help but I declined it, I can make them by myself. Not exactly hard. Anne comes back with Evan and sits down as I continue to make Pancakes and Rose does anything extra to help me. It's not like I haven't done this with Dean and Roman before, and man can they eat so it feels like I'm right at home. Soon, the whole family is sitting at the table talking animatedly. I feel myself getting hot and open the window on the other side, allowing some cool air in.

"Iris, you ok there?" asks Anne and I turn around to see a look of concern on her face. I notice Angie smirk as she eats, probably hoping I'll fall flat on my face. But she doesn't know me. No matter what happens I'll pick myself back up and get on with things. It's who I am.

"Yes, it's just a bit hot in here," I tell her and go back to the cooker, mixing in some flour as I make more batter.

"Sweetheart, maybe you should take a break and let someone else take over," she says, Evan in her hands.

"No thanks, I'm fine," I say in a sweet voice with a reassuring smile. "I've had to cook breakfast for Roman and Dean before and believe me when I say they eat like elephants," I say which makes her laugh. After I spend, what feels like years, making pancakes I turn to everyone and ask, "Anyone want anymore?"

"Not me, I'm completely stuffed," says Nicky, looking like he's given up the will to live. To be fair he was downing them pretty fast. And Anne told him to slow down but he didn't listen.

"Me too," says Damien, patting Nicky's shoulder.

"Those pancakes were very delicious," compliments Nick and I nod my head appreciating it, thanking him.

"Anyone else?" I ask, holding up the wooden spoon in my hand but everyone seems to have had enough. I laugh and go back to where I was working, starting to clear everything up.

"Iris," I hear Seth whisper and realize he's stood right next to me. "Listen, about before-" he gets cut off though and doesn't get a chance to say what he wanted to.

"Step back Iris, we're doing the cleaning!" says Marie and gently pushes me to the side as she, Rose and Angie along with Lucy start clearing things up. "Go and get yourself cleaned up sweetheart, you've somehow managed to get some flower on that pretty dress of yours," she says and I nod my head not arguing with her. I take off the apron and put it to one side, heading up to our room. I go to the bathroom and use paper to get rid of the flour on my dress. Luckily it was the only thing that made its way onto my dress and is easy to get rid of. I turn around to leave only to bump into Seth.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" I ask him, not meeting his eyes as I tuck some hair behind my ear.

"You missed a spot," says Seth, moving his hand to the side of my face and using his thumb to gently wipe the side of my cheek. I didn't realize flour was on it and start rubbing at my whole face just in case.

"Thanks," I say and am about to move to the side but he grabs a hold of my arm.

"Are you mad?" asks Seth in a low voice, obviously feeling guilty.

"No," I say and turn around to look at him. "I'm just disappointed," I tell him truthfully.

"Look, I'm sorry," says Seth, apologizing. "I shouldn't have hid that from you and then I just sort of forgot about it, I really am sorry," he says but I shake my head.

"I'm not disappointed at you," I tell him as he raises his eyebrows in confusion. "I'm disappointed in myself," I admit to him. "That was the past, we both decided we'd forget about everything and try and move on but obviously I'm still having a hard time dealing with it. I, uh, that shouldn't upset me because since then you've become a great person. You're kind, caring and loving, you're not half careless anymore. But what you did it hurts me and I'm mad at myself for feeling that when I know now you wouldn't even think about doing something like that," I explain to him and then look up at him, meeting his eyes.

"You know," starts Seth, placing both hands on my cheek and resting his forehead against mine. "If you weren't at least a little hurt about what I did then I'd be worried. Iris, you have a right to get upset about things I've done before, because I know you've forgiven me for the biggest mistake of them all," he says and my eyes start to water. "I'm glad you're hurt but I'm hoping you're less hurt by my saying sorry," he says which makes me smile.

"I might be," I say and he leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips.

"How about now?" asks Seth, holding me close.

"A little less," I say and put my arms around him to hug him. "I love you Seth," I tell him.

"I love you too," says Seth and as always I feel overjoyed. I'm glad he told me that because I think guilt would have eaten away at me for feeling like I did but Seth telling me I have a right to just...makes me not feel like that. Yes, he let Ariana meet his family, not me. But right now, I'm the one he's introducing as his girlfriend, not her. He loves me and I just have to continue reminding myself that. Actually I don't since he keeps telling me.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"I understand your concerns Ariana, but me and Hunter are keeping an eye on him," Stephanie assures me but that doesn't help. He could literally be up to anything. Plus, he could already have someone else working for him. He's not so much of an idiot to not know everyone will keep an eye on him.

"No offence but I have a terrible feeling about this," I tell her, these feelings never ending in any good for anyone.

"Look Ariana, I have things handled on this side. Kane even looks at someone the wrong way and he's gone, alright?" says Stephanie, the wheels turning in my head. All he has to do is something for him to get out of here? "I talked to my Father and he's got the board on side. Right now, Kane is like on parole. He does anything and he's done for. All you need to focus on is your work and your wedding," she says, sending me a smile at the end.

"Alright, thanks," I say, leaving her office and walking down the hallways in the direction of catering.

"What did boss lady say?" asks Dean as I take a seat next to Roman and opposite Dean.

"If Kane does anything, then he's gone," I inform them both but I can tell even they're not that happy with it all. Why would they be? As long as he's walking he's a danger to all of us.

"At least we know he won't get away with anything like last time," comments Roman before heading off to go and see Paige. They're continuing to hit it off and she's actually becoming a regular of our group now. It's nice to see him happy.

"So, what are we going to do?" asks Dean, looking at me. Of course he can pick it up. I'm marrying him for a reason after all. "I know we're going to get him fired but how?" he then asks, reading my mind completely.

"That's for you to come up with," I say which makes me chuckle. I bet he has a million ideas floating around his mind, all I need is one. One idea, one plan and one incidence. Then Kane is out of here for good.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Roman? Hello? You listening?" says Paige, waving her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," apologise to her. We're supposed to be having a nice lunch but this whole situation with Kane is just not getting out of my mind. "You were saying?" I ask her, having some of my drink.

"It doesn't matter what I said, what are you thinking?" she asks me, leaning her arms on the table. I shake my head and sit back but she's unrelenting. "Roman, clearly something is bothering you," she then states.

"Kane is back," I state, telling her the bad news.

"That's it?" asks Paige and lets out a chuckle. "I thought you were going to say something death defying," she says, finding it amusing which I don't. "Don't give me that look pretty boy, what's the big problem? Iris isn't here and you guys can handle yourselves. What's the big deal?" she questions.

"What he's planning," I answer easily. "I can't work with someone who tried to hurt my little sister. Every time I see his face I want to punch him," I reveal, keeping my hands on the table. Paige places one of her hands on top of my clenched fists.

"Well right now she's safe and besides, when she's back she has you guys and everyone else on the roster. Why would we want him anywhere near her after what he did?" questions Paige which is true also. John actually came up to me the other day and said if we need anything then to let him know.

"I guess, I'm just a little worried that's all," I say after which Paige smiles and distracts me with something else. She really is something. We've been dating for a while now and I think it's the right time. I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend. It feels right. Now I just need to figure out when to ask her, how to ask her. Damn, I spend too much time with Iris.

Now the only thing to worry about is Dean. He may look like he's handling Kane being back but I wouldn't put anything past him. One wrong look or word from Kane and Dean will be off like a cannon. I should ask Ariana to keep a close eye on him. Something doesn't feel right. At all.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Ok, and we're all set," says Rose, picking up her handbag as she hugs her daughters and I keep Evan in my arms. "You ready to let go of him yet?" she asks me and I put Evan's cheek next to mine.

"Never," I say and she smiles. "Here, and take care of him," I say to Seth.

"With my life," says Seth, leaning and pecking my lips. "We'll have fun with Lacey and Lily, won't we Evan?" he says and both girls run over to him, talking fast about how much fun they'll have. Rose mouths 'thank you' to Seth, the girls weren't happy about being left at home but Rose didn't want to take them out. The weather wasn't so good and apparently they can pick up a cold really easily. We wave at them all and leave. I get into the passenger seat in Rose's car as she drives.

"So, how is my brother treating you?" asks Rose, making friendly conversation.

"Great," I tell her truthfully. "Ever since we've gotten back together, everything just seems…well perfect," I say with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Don't worry, you'll hit the bumps," says Rose and my eyebrows raise of their own accord. "Don't give me that look, things stay great for a while and then the arguments start. If you don't have arguments, then it's not healthy. Just give it a few days and you'll be arguing like a married couple," she says, her demeanour completely changing from this morning. She looks at me again and says, "Sorry, it's just no couple can live through life without arguments".

"Well me and Seth have had our fair share," I tell her. "I just don't think anything can top the ones we've already had," I say with a smile, looking at her carefully. Something is not right, I don't know what it is but it's not right. "Rose, is-is something wrong?" I ask her out rightly.

"It's that obvious is it?" asks Rose and before I know it she parks the car on the side of the street, bursting into tears. "It's just…looking at my relationship and yours…I can't take it," she says as I turn my body to face her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean? You and Damien look great together," I say to her.

"Yeah," says Rose, wiping her tears using the back of her hands. "We've been having some problems," she reveals and I can bet she hasn't told anyone in her family this. "Recently, I told Damien that I want more kids but he...he doesn't want anymore".

"Maybe it's not the right time," I tell her but she shakes her head. "Ok, I'm getting some coffee and we'll talk about it," I say, getting out of the car and going to the coffee shop there. I get two and then come back to the car. "So, you want more kids but he doesn't?" I ask, handing her her coffee and she nods her head, seeming to have calmed down. "Maybe he wants them later," I then offer as an explanation.

"He says he hasn't thought about kids since Lacey and Lily," says Rose, shaking her head. "He even once said that a third kid would be a nightmare," she says and that is the last thing Rose needed to hear off of Damien.

"Ok, well just give him some time. I'm sure you can convince him that it's not as bad as it sounds," I say to her and she starts crying again. "What did I say wrong?"

"He doesn't have the time," says Rose and then looks at me before revealing, "I'm pregnant," she reveals. Holy crap, she's right there isn't any time.

"Really? Congrats!" I say and that does it because she smiles and thanks me. "What are you going to do?" I ask her but she shrugs her shoulders.

"I would hate it if he ever told me to get rid of it," reveals Rose. "We would never be able to stay together, our marriage would hit rock bottom," she says, leaning back with a huge sigh.

"You're thinking about this all wrong," I say and she gives me a questioning look. "You're acting like there's only two options, have the kid and split from Damien or get rid of it and regret it for the rest of your life. But, what if he does want this kid?" I give her something else to think about.

"He doesn't," says Rose and I know the only way I can help her is tell her about me.

"When I first got pregnant with Evan," I start, noticing Rose look on in curiosity. "I didn't tell Seth it was his. But, the main reason was I thought he didn't want me so he might not want Evan. That was stupid though, anyway, when he first came asking questions what he said really hurt me," I explain and pause for a second as I see her give me a questioning look. "He barged into the hotel room wanting to know if it was his mistake," I finish.

"He said what?" asks Rose, looking angry. "Oh, that little airhead is going to get it," she says, about to pull her phone out but I stop her.

"Just listen for a sec, alright?" I ask her and she hesitantly puts her phone down. "Anyway, that comment really hurt me but I could see the relief in his eyes when he thought he wasn't the father. But that, it changed over time. Seth thought someone else was the Father and overtime, he found himself wanting to be the Father. And when he found out he was actually the Father, he was overjoyed," I tell her as she listens. "Now, they're two peas in a pod," I say with a smile. It would seem beyond wrong to even split them up.

"Wow, Seth can be a right douche sometimes," says Rose which makes me chuckle.

"The point is, overtime Damien's thoughts might change," I say, taking a sip of my coffee. "Maybe he'll have a 360 turn like Seth did," I say and she nods her head. "Now, wipe those tears and lets do a bit of shopping, I think you could use a pick-me-up," I tell her and she starts the car and drives to the mall. I try and make sure the conversation is filled with things to make her laugh because she really needs it right now.

* * *

"Looks like someone bought the whole store," comments Seth, being a wise ass as me and Rose walk into the living room. I don't miss the glance she sends in the direction of Lacey and Lily playing with Damien.

"Go, take him to the side and tell him," I whisper to Rose as we set the bags down. "Good luck," I add on and immediately go over to Seth, sitting down next to him and watching him feed Evan.

"How was your day?" asks Seth and I start talking really fast about all the fun things we did.

"What have you guys been up to?" I ask, laughing when Seth burps Evan and a big, loud one comes out. He then keeps Evan up on his shoulder and rocks him back and forth.

"We have been playing hide and seek," says Seth which I said sounded fun. "It was anything but fun, we kept losing because Evan here kept giving us away," he says.

"Don't blame anything on my son," I say, gently placing a hand over Evan's head. I notice Rose take Damien out of the room and hope to god everything works out well for her. I then realize that I'm technically keeping a secret from Seth, but it won't stay like that for long. I mean, I'm sure everyone else will be told soon.

"What happened?" asks Seth, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, uh, nothing," I say and see Seth but Evan into the basket that's on the floor. "I'm just thinking about how I still need to call Ari," I say, despite that being a partial lie I did need to call her.

"Ok, don't tell me but there's no reason to lie, is there?" says Seth, looking right into my eyes as he puts an arm around me and pulls me close.

"I-" Seth cuts me off by placing a finger on my lips.

"I know you always have a reason to hide some things," says Seth. "As long as its not another secret child, I'm alright," he says, making me chuckle and I use a cushion to hit him with it.

"Damien, wait!" we all hear Rose shout as she comes down the stairs after Damien. "Will you please hear me out?" she asks but Damien just walks straight out of the house and all of us stand up.

"Honey, what's the matter?" asks Anne, looking at Rose with curiosity.

"Iris, I told you," says Rose and runs back up the stairs, sobbing as she does so. Everyone then looks at me as I think of what I need to do next. I look at Seth and know what I have to do.

"Go up to Rose, she needs your perspective," I say to him, a hand on his shoulder. He gives me a confused look and I place a hand on his cheek, "You'll find out. I'm going to go after Damien," I say and he nods his head, following his sister. "Anne, will you please take care of Evan," I say and turn around, running out of there in the hopes of catching up with Damien.

"What the hell is she up to?" I hear Angie ask but open the door and leave. I run out and go down the street, seeing Damien go round into the garden and I follow him. I see him start pacing and sigh, what is it with these men and kids? Why can't they ever just be happy?

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated! :)**


	5. Resolving Issues

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter. It would have been posted earlier but I had the most horrid day and needed some relaxing time :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Aw, thanks! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5:**

"What is wrong with you?" I question Damien, walking up to him. I feel anger because he did what Seth did but the difference is he's married to Rose with two kids. He should know better. "When your wife asks for you to listen to her then you don't just walk away," I say, pointing a finger at him.

"You don't know what-" starts Damien but I shake my head and cut him off.

"I know exactly what's going on, we talked about it on our shopping trip," I reveal to him. "In fact I was the one that said she should come and talk to you but obviously I was wrong," I say, standing opposite him. "Do you have any idea how much you're hurting her?"

"I didn't mean to…I…I…" Damien trails off, scratching the back of his head. "I just don't know how to handle it," he says which in my opinion is a pathetic excuse.

"Handle it?" I ask. "Pointer number one, do not run off," I advise him. I don't even know why, it's a given. "What is so bad about having more kids? You have two beautiful girls, don't you want more?" I ask him.

"I…" Damien trails of and then looks at the floor, kicking his feet.

"What is it?" I ask, seeing the seriousness on Damien's face.

"I can't go through it again," says Damien and I give him a questioning look. "When Rose first got pregnant, yeah everything was great. But, uh, after she gave birth, things took a different turn," he says, finally looking up at me. "She wasn't my Rose anymore. The woman I married wasn't there," he says, not making any sense to me right now.

"What do you mean?" I ask him in a soft tone.

"After she gave birth, things seemed fine," starts Damien. "We had our girls, we were happy. But that soon changed, Rose's behaviour changed. She wasn't the same person, she was different".

"A lot of women change after giving birth," I tell him.

"Yeah, but not the way you're thinking," says Damien. "A few days after I took her home, Rose was just…sad. She wouldn't laugh at things she'd normally find amusing, she was tired all the time despite me being there and taking care of the girls too. She'd stay awake in the middle of the night and just…stare into space. I tried to support her best I could but she pulled away from me, she wouldn't even let me in the room if she was changing clothes. Whenever I tried to talk to her she'd just get irritated and start yelling at me," he explains as things start to become more clear. "I took her to the doctor and it turns out she'd got Postpartum Depression," he tells me.

"Does…everyone know?" I ask him. Everyone meaning all her family.

"No," says Damien, shaking his head. "She promised me not to tell anyone and once we got through it she was back to her old self. I would love to have another few kids with her but I can't go back to that," he says and I start to understand more and more why. "I love Rose, and the girls. They're my life. Heck, I didn't even realize how much I wanted more kids till you showed up with Evan," he says and I smile at him. "But not at the expense of losing my wife," he adds on.

"Who says you're going to lose her?" I ask, walking forward and standing right in front of him. "I admit, what you went through must have been difficult as hell but, you can't keep holding on to it. Yes, there's a chance that it'll happen again but all you have to do is stick by Rose," I explain. That same principal applying to me and Seth. Things might be different the second time round.

"That's what I did," says Damien with a sigh. "But it took her months to recover, I can't go through that again. We have two six year olds now, if they see Rose in that state? Who knows what it'll do to both of them. I can't be there for Rose and the new baby as well as the girls. It won't work and in the end I'll just blame myself," he explain as I nod my head at every single word.

"You can't stop your life because you _**think**_ something may happen," I try and make him see. "And you need to talk to her about this. There are many ways to make sure you guys don't go through that again," I explain to him.

"No one can guarantee it," says Damien and I feel sick of his attitude.

"Look, your wife is upstairs crying her eyes out because she thinks you don't want this baby," I tell him. "When you married her, you made her a promise so you need to stop acting like such a big baby. Man up and tell her the truth. No one can guarantee anything in this life but the one thing you guys know for sure is that you both want this baby and you both love each other," I explain to him. Those are the important things they need to hold on to right now.

"What if it all goes pear shaped?" asks Damien and I do a little victory dance in my head because he's coming around to the idea.

"Then put your foot down and tell her that her family needs to know everything," I state as he looks on at me in surprise. "Look, when I was pregnant with Evan there was so much crap going on in my life. I don't have any family and the only people there for me were my friends and Seth. You said it yourself, you have Lacey and Lily to think about. If anything happens, you'll need to involve everyone so that they can help," I explain, trying to get him to see the importance of it. "Yeah, Rose may get mad but how long can she stay mad for?" Damien continues looking at me before moving his feet.

"Thanks Iris," says Damien and walks off. I smile as I watch him walk off, I then jog behind him and catch up to him, we both enter the house and immediately everyone starts asking questions.

"What is going on Damien?" asks Anne in worry.

"You, what have you done to my sister?" asks Angie, looking kind of angry.

"Do you need a spare room to sleep in tonight?" jokes Mason, trying to keep the whole thing lighthearted. I think that's needed right now.

"Can we just take a break from the twenty questions?" asks Damien before running up the stairs himself. As soon as he goes, Seth comes down, walking right over to me. Crap, am in trouble? In my defence Rose only told me everything a couple of hours ago.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I sit there and listen to every word Rose tells me. How she wants more kids, how Damien doesn't want any and how she's pregnant and he's ran off. Trying to keep my anger in check, I stay sitting next to her on her bed with my arm around her. She doesn't need me to start going off on a tangent about how much of a douche her husband is right now.

"Oh, what am I going to do Seth?" asks Rose. "I want this baby but I know he won't stay with me if I do," she says as I try and think of the right thing to say. Iris said Rose needed my perspective, does that mean I have to defend the jackass that hurt my sister? I guess I should thank my lucky stars for Iris not having a brother like me, I would never have gotten within an inch of her.

"You know, sometimes us guys do really stupid things," I start. I can't believe that shit just came out of my mouth.

"Really? That's what you're going with?" she asks me, not sounding happy at all. How else can I defend Damien though? It was a total dick move.

"It's the only way I can think of right now," I tell her. "Ok, for a long while I thought that I didn't want anything to do with Evan," I start and she nods her head.

"Yeah, Iris told me," says Rose which surprises me.

"She did?" I ask her and she nods her head.

"She told me all about how you acted when you first found out she was pregnant," says Rose with a pointed look in my direction. I'm getting told off right now with that look aren't I?

"Not the best moment of my life," I tell her and she nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, so I just didn't want the responsibility of a kid. Especially since I hurt Iris so much, every time I looked at her I felt guilty. I didn't need a kid to make things more complicated. But as time went on, my view changed and I am so glad that Evan is mine," I explain to her. I was beyond relieved to find Evan didn't belong to Rick. He was always mine.

"It still doesn't explain why my husband ran off like I was having the baby right then and there," comments Rose.

"Maybe there's something stopping him from wanting to be a Father again," I offer as an explanation. "You did have twins first time round and this time it won't just be a baby, you'll have to take care of Lacey and Lily too, it is a lot of pressure so maybe that's why he was holding off on having kids for such a long time," I explain and she nods her head, looking deep in thought. I wonder what's going on in that mind of hers.

"Or its something else," states Rose, deeply thinking about something which she doesn't share with me.

"You guys just need to talk," I tell her. "It's the only way anything is going to get sorted," I say.

"I guess," says Rose with a sigh. "But how can I talk to him when he runs away like that?" she questions, bursting into fresh tears which makes me angry. Because of Damien, my sister is sitting here, crying her eyes out.

"Excuse me, I'm going to drag my brother-in-law by the collar," I say, standing up and leaving the room only to bump into Damien as soon as I get to the door. "You want to make her cry more?" I notice Rose look up from the corner of her eye.

"Seth go," orders Rose and I don't need to be told twice. She knows if she needs anything then she should come and get me. I head to the stairs and walk down them, seeing Iris at the entrance of the living room. So that's what she was hiding from me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Seth gets to the bottom of the stairs and stands right in front of me. The expression on his face is unreadable and starts to make me nervous which leads me to start twiddling my thumbs. All of a sudden he breaks into a smile and moves over, putting his arms around me in a hug.

"Glad to see you sorted him out," says Seth as I sigh in relief and a smile breaks out onto my face.

"Well, I couldn't let you beat him to a pulp. You're a very dangerous wrestler," I say, pulling back and he holds both of my hands in his.

"Thank you, for talking to Rose earlier and for talking to Damien," says Seth.

"They're family, right?" I say and he nods his head, placing a kiss on my cheek.

"Ok, what the fuck is happening?" asks Angie, not being able to stay quiet and interrupting our sweet moment. I can't blame her though, Rose is her sister after all. She must be getting ants.

"Language Angelina, there are kids around," Annette scolds her. "What is going on in this house?" I look at Seth unsure of what we can and can't tell them. What I don't know is whether Rose told Seth about her Postpartum Depression. But I doubt it'll ever come out again. We don't really need to talk about it, if I ask him then it'll be a little like gossiping and I don't do that. Not about situations like this at least. "Kids, why don't you go play somewhere more…appropriate," Anne suggests, glaring at her daughter.

"Seth, what the fuck?" asks Angie, as soon as Lacey and Lily have gone.

"Well," starts Seth but I place a hand on his arm to stop him. I don't think Rose would want everyone to know anything till she tells them, there certainly was a reason why I never told anyone.

"Rose will tell you herself," I say to Angie instead. "I don't think she'd want us to disclose it to anyone," I whisper to Seth and after thinking about it for a moment Seth nods his head in agreement.

"Why? Are your mouths broken?" questions Angie, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, it would just be best if Rose tells you herself," Seth tries to reason with her but she just rolls her eyes and glares in my direction. I think its safe to say she gets that glaring thing from her mother.

"Is that what you think or what _**she**_ thinks?" questions Angie bitterly, my voice said with venom lacing her tone. Ok, she's not a happy bunny.

"Angelina," says Anne in a strict tone, sounding just like Annette constantly does. No one says a word after that and everyone just sits down, waiting on Rose and Damien. Seth sends me an apologetic look but I just shake my head. Angie's worried about her sister so its understandable. Evan starts crying and I take him from Anne, his crying stopping all of a sudden which makes me smile, he missed me. He knows his mama. I decide to go feed him and head over to the kitchen. I use one hand to keep a hold of Evan and the other to get his milk ready. Although it proves difficult till I see hands taking over making the milk. I look up and smile when I see Seth's face.

"You alright?" I ask him, noticing he didn't look too happy.

"Fine," answers Seth, his tone giving away the fact that he's upset about something.

"Seth, I can read you like a book remember?" I remind him and he stops what he's doing. He keeps both his hands on the counter.

"I didn't like the way she talked to you," is all he says and suddenly his behaviour starts to make sense. "I'm sorry that she did," he adds on but I shake my head. He shouldn't have to apologise and it's not like she upset me.

"I'm not upset, why should you be?" I say which makes him look at me with surprise in his eyes. "She's your sister as well as Rose's. She's bound to be worried about her, it's natural," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders.

"Yeah she has a right to be worried but not like that," says Seth, shaking his head. "I'm gonna go talk to her," he says but I quickly stand in front of him to stop him from leaving. "Iris, move," orders Seth but I shake my head and stick to my ground.

"We have got enough to worry about than something silly as this," I tell him with a stern look. This is nothing compared to what Rose and Damien are going through. I refuse to let Seth go to Angie and cause a huge scene. I know that will happen, with the way Angie acts.

"Silly? Iris, it's not silly at all," argues Seth with a serious look. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone but she isn't respecting the fact that you're my girlfriend and you're important to me," he continues. I could just die when I hear him talk about me so affectionately. It's hot when he gets all defensive too.

"It was what, one comment?" I say. "Just leave it. Please?" I request of him, using one of my hands to play with the buttons on his shirt, his gaze straying to what I'm doing.

"Stop it," says Seth with a small smile, knowing exactly what I'm doing. "You're not going to take my mind off it with your cute and teasing ways," he says.

"Sounds to me like it's working," I tell him and lean forward, pecking his lips. "You went through Roman, Dean and Ariana for me. I'm sure I can return the favour with Angie, alright?" I say and he sighs but nods his head. It's because he knows that I'm right. It would be unreal if everyone loved me right away.

"For now," mutters Seth and then goes back to making the powdered milk for Evan. Making sure to keep Evan's head to the side I lean my head on Seth's back.

"I love you," I let him know and he chuckles.

"I love you too Cutie Pie," he says, not knowing that its put a big smile on my face. Once Seth gets the milk made he suddenly lifts me up by my hips and puts me onto the counter.

"Seth! What if I fell? Or even worse, what if something happened to Evan?" I ask him with a horrified look on my face.

"You wouldn't have fallen and nothing would have happened to him," says Seth with a smirk.

"Oh really? Why is that?" I question him, tilting my head to the side.

"Because I wouldn't let it happen," answers Seth, looking deep into my eyes.

"Good answer," I tell him before getting him to give me Evan's bottle. He is the sweetest guy in the whole world and I can't thank my lucky stars enough that I'm the girl he's in love with.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Roman, have you seen Dean?" I ask Roman who was sitting in the hotel room after our workout. Instead of relaxing, Dean has disappeared off somewhere and I don't know where. I can't find him anywhere.

"Uh, no," answers Roman, shaking his head. "I thought he was with you," he then says but I shake my head, sitting down on the couch with a sigh.

"No, after the workout I ran into Nikki and Brie, got talking to them and when I went to meet with him outside the gym, he wasn't there. Normally he's waiting there," I say with a sad face. This is really weird, even for Dean. If there's one thing that doesn't change, it's our routine. So you can understand why I'm concerned right now.

"Maybe you took too long," offers Roman as an explanation.

"Have you ever known Dean to take off without even trying to look for me?" I question and Roman shakes his head with a chuckle.

"Never, that lunatic worships the ground you walk on," comments Roman, putting a smile on my face. It's his way of saying Dean adores me I guess.

"Then where the fuck is he?" I question in annoyance.

"Have you tried calling him?" asks Roman and I give him a look that says that is a stupid question to ask. Of course that was the first thing that I did. "Oh boy, is he in trouble when he gets back," he says, an amusing smile settling on his lips. Not too long after Dean walks in to the hotel room in all his glory.

"Where the fuck have you been?" I ask Dean, standing up with my hands on my hips.

"I went for a run," answers Dean easily, Roman putting his feet on the coffee table. He probably thinks things will get interesting now. "Why? Miss me?" he then asks, walking over to me but I put my hand up and push him away. "Babe, what's wrong?" he then asks me.

"What's wrong is I've been looking for you for an hour and you didn't even have the audacity to pick up your phone, let alone let me know where the fuck you were going!" I snap at him before going into my room, slamming the door as I do so. That man angers me so much sometimes.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Dude, why do you even get her mad?" I ask Dean who stands there perplexed after Ariana had left.

"It's ok, I'll deal with her later," says Dean, waving a hand in the air and sitting down opposite me. Really? He doesn't care that his fiancée is upset right now. What the hell is wrong with him?

"Are you on crack?" I ask the most obvious question, my best friend letting out a laugh.

"No, I'd like to be though. Stupid fitness policy," comments Dean and I do hope he's joking. "She's made me wait ages before yet I never said anything. The one time I disappear and I get fury leashed upon me, literally," he then says, leaning back.

"Then why did you go off in the first place?" I ask the obvious question. It's kind of an idiotic move to do if he knows how Ariana will react. Kind of like hitting the hammer on his own foot. I really don't think he thinks things through sometimes. If he did, things would be a whole lot different.

"That's my business," says Dean, going to the bathroom to take a shower. Since when did he come out with lines like that? Oh boy, he's hiding something. Ariana isn't going to like this. Just a couple of hours with him and she'll know he's hiding something. I don't even want to know what it is. I refuse to get involved. I've spent too much time trying to sort Seth out that I need a break before I try sorting Dean out. Then again, he is about to get married. He should do this on his own. If things go too far, then I'll gladly step in. Till then, I hope he doesn't do anything that'll get him in any more trouble.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"Angelina, why can't you act your age?" asks Anne, her question directed towards her daughter. "Iris is our guest, not to mention the mother to my grandson, your nephew. You are not to make any snide remarks, are we clear?" she asks.

"Really?" asks Angie, getting annoyed. "Seth was all ready to tell us what's going on till _**she**_ stopped him. I will not have her manipulating my brother," she says with determination.

"She is so not manipulating him," intervenes Neil for which Angie sends him a death glare. "What? It's true. She is very nice, Seth is such a lucky bastard," he continues, taking a bite of the banana he was eating.

"I think she's a gem," Marie gives her input too at which Neil points towards her but Angie just rolls her eyes. Mason agrees with his wife as well as Nicky.

"You're all crazy, we have never approved any girl Seth has introduced us to and there's a good reason for that," Angie points out, hating every single girl she had ever had to talk to. They were all either after his money and if they weren't then when they found out who he was they definitely were. "He picks the hottest girl in the room and then just brings her home, just like that," she goes on to say.

"True," says Annette in agreement as Angie smiles and points to her Aunt.

"See?" asks Angie, walking over to her Aunt. "She agrees with me," she says.

"But," says Annette, Angie not liking the sound of that word. "He's never been in love before".

"Oh come on, he's claimed he's loved girls in the past," says Angie, not getting what he Aunt is saying.

"Yes but not 'real' love," says Annette, a small smile playing on her lips. "We can all be in the room but he'll keep staring at her. That's real love and we owe it to Seth as his family to give Iris a chance at least. We've only known her for a day after all," she then says, acting completely objective at which Angie shakes her head. She really didn't like Iris and hoped overtime everyone saw exactly why and agreed with her.

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated! :D**


	6. Chess

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you like the next one! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 6:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Whoa," I say as Evan lets out a huge burp as Seth holds him and rubs his back.

"That's my boy," says Seth with a smile on his face. "Maybe you should use this time to call Ariana," he then suggests at which I nod my head thinking that's a good idea. "I'll take this one back to the living room, come out when you're done," he says and I nod my head. Before he can leave I grab the back of his jeans and take out his phone. "If you want to see my butt, I'll be happy to let you see it later," he says, turning his head to wink at me which makes me blush.

"Go!" I say, pointing in the opposite direction and he just laughs but does leave. I go through his contacts list and click on Ariana's name, swinging my legs as it rings.

" _Hello Seth? Everything alright?"_ asks Ariana with worry in her tone.

"It's me Iris!" I exclaim in surprise which makes her laugh. "My phone's upstairs in our room so I'm using Seth's," I quickly explain to her.

" _Hmm, our room huh?"_ teases Ariana. _"Anyway, how's it going? The family being good to you?"_ she asks me and I can say for the most part they are. Unless they're chatting about me behind my back, but I doubt they would do that because I am Evan's mother after all.

"Oh, it's going great so far," I tell her honestly. "Everyone seems really nice and all…" I trail off.

" _But?"_ asks Ariana, encouraging me to tell her the bad side of things.

"But I'm having trouble with Angie," I tell her and then remember she doesn't know that I know about her little trip up here. "Oh and before you ask what she's like I know you know because you came up here," I say and hear her let out a sigh.

" _Seth finally buckled huh?"_ asks Ariana.

"Nope, Rose mentioned it," I tell her. "But just leave all that aside, you got on really well with Angie right? Can you give me some tips?" I then ask her as she gets to thinking.

" _Um,"_ says Ariana and I can sense she's thinking hard. _"Well she's like me, sort of,"_ she says.

"A little," I admit. "But you're more accepting of people. She's struck me off as soon as I got here," I say with a sigh, jumping off the counter and going over to the window, looking into the huge garden. "Is there anything we have in common?" I then ask her, desperate for some answers.

" _Not that I can think of,"_ says Ariana. _"She's pretty much a very closed off girl. She's never liked anyone Seth's dated,"_ she says which gives me such little reassurance. _"She just doesn't accept people easily,"_ she goes on to say.

"And that's why you got on with her so well?" I question without even thinking. "I'm sorry," I then say. "It's just, I know me winning over his family is important to Seth," I explain.

" _Ok, look,"_ starts Ariana and then I hear her tell Dean off about something. _"Angie is all about realism. The only thing you can earn from her without having anything in common is her respect. Don't try and be something you're not, she hates people who do that,"_ she explains as I nod my head and pace the kitchen. _"In the end, even if she doesn't like you, she respects you and will have accepted you which is kind of like winning her over right?"_ she asks me.

"Yeah, I guess," I say, taking that over anything else right now.

" _Then you know what to do,"_ says Ariana. _"Don't do that over-involving thing like you did with Seth, it won't work and it'll just piss her off. That stupid ex of hers really did a number so she's always seeing things as people trying to manipulate her and stuff like that. Let her come to a decision about you so don't try too hard. If you're doing something and ask her to join but she says no, leave it at that,"_ she explains as I take in every word she says. _"It's going to be difficult Iris but like I said, just be yourself. I mean, I don't have much in common with you but we ended up best friends because we spent time together and grew up together. You have two weeks to be around her and show her you're a good person, inside out. So, just work your magic and hope for the best,"_ she advises which sounds like the best advice right now.

"Thanks Ari," I tell her.

" _No problem,"_ says Ariana. _"Now, I better go before Dean breaks down the bathroom door because he wants to play,"_ she says which makes me laugh and I hang up before anything like that happens.

"Just be myself, I can do that," I say to myself, pumping myself up and ready to go back out there and face her. I walk out of the kitchen and go towards the living room, noticing Damien and Rose coming down the stairs with smiles on their faces as they enter the living room the same times as me.

"Hey Iris," says Rose, grabbing my hand as everyone looks at her, waiting for an explanation on all the drama. "Thank you," she whispers and glances at Damien for which I realize why she's thanking me. "I'm so glad Seth brought you home," she says and immediately hugs me. I put my arms around her and smile, at least one sister is on my side.

"No need to thank me," I whisper back and can tell that everything has been sorted out by the smiles on both their faces. I walk on over to Seth and sit down besides him.

"Um, everyone, I have something to announce," says Rose, not needing to say it in a loud voice because everyone was already looking at her and Damien. "I'm pregnant!" she exclaims with a beaming smile which shocks everyone and within seconds everyone's up on their feet and she's getting mauled by hugs and kisses. Everyone congratulates them both and Damien sends a nod in my direction. I take Evan off of Seth nudge him to go join in. He does so easily and I smile, looking down on Evan. If anything ever did happen to me, I can be assured that he would never miss me. He has enough people around him and they're all truly great.

"Hold on a second, why the hell was he running away and why were you crying your eyes out?" questions Angie and I can see Rose start to panic. I'm sure she doesn't want everyone to know what's going on, they'd all just maul Damien and to be honest, he got enough of it from me.

"Oh, uh, I wasn't expecting it and I was just shocked I guess," speaks Damien and Seth nods his head at me, a gesture that I was right in not telling anyone about what was actually going on. "And you know Rose, her last pregnancy was such an emotional roller-coaster. She just got worried, that's all," he says, shrugging his shoulders and everyone seems to accept that answer. All except for one person.

"Then why was Iris chasing after you?" asks Angie, narrowing her eyes at her brother in law. I would not want to be him right now, it is really hard to come up with things on the spot.

"Oh, uh, Rose was scared about how I might take the news," answers Damien, not showing a hint of the fact that he was probably winging this. "She told Iris about it on their shopping trip and when she saw me leave, Iris came after me to see what was going on," he explains, scratching the back of his head. When no one's looking he throws a wink in my direction and I try not to giggle. "I've always said I've never wanted more kids because Lily and Lacey are a handful but ever since little Evan's come I've actually found myself wanting another little Rose running around," he says, looking down at his wife in the most adorable way.

"Or maybe its time for a little Damien," says Rose and the smiles on everyone's faces are genuine.

"So you told Iris about your pregnancy despite the fact that I'm your sister?" questions Angie, obviously upset that I'm not even here two days and am already getting involved in everything. "Some sister you are," she comments, shaking her head as Rose's smile drops. Angie leaves the living room and Rose sighs, leaning into Damien.

"I-is she going to be ok?" I ask, looking at Rose, worried at how angry Angie's getting, especially over me. I don't want to be the reason she and Rose are getting into any arguments.

"Sure, just give me ten minutes," says Neil looking at his watch before going off after Angie. Is he planning on working some kind of magic?

"He says ten but I bet it'll be three, that boy can work wonders," says Mason and then goes over to Rose. "Ok, so this time you're giving my middle name to the little one right?" he asks and everyone starts shouting over him, especially Nicky who thinks the baby should have his little name. I look on the direction Angie went and can't help but feel something's not right or won't be right. I don't know, maybe its just me.

* * *

"I don't care what you say, it's been done!" exclaims Anne, walking off with Annette as I come into the living room and they walk past me.

"What's going on?" I ask Damien who lets out a big sigh and flops down on the couch. I notice Nick and Mason in a game of chess in one corner of the room and no one else around to be seen. Well, I know Seth is in the garden with Evan, it's actually gone quite warm since the morning. Neil left a while back and I'm betting as soon as he did, Rose went to see Angie.

"My Mother in law is hosting a party tomorrow night to congratulate us on our news," says Damien and I walk forward and take a seat next to him, loving how there are sliding doors in the living room that lead to the outside garden. It being able to let me keep an eye on Seth and Evan who are on the swing outside.

"That doesn't sound so bad," I say, waiting to hit me with the bricks.

"Oh, I almost forgot, it's a party for Evan too," says Damien as I give him a confused look.

"That's really sweet of her," I tell him, still not understanding what the problem is.

"Oh that's right, you're new," says Damien and sits up properly. "When she organizes a party, we all get suckered into helping out. And let me tell you, them two together ordering us about is like living hell," he says which just makes me chuckle.

"They can't be that bad," I tell him, shaking my head. "They probably just want everything to be right and if you screw up then it's another thing they have to sort out," I explain to him.

"I think you're going to fit in well with them," says Damien, shaking his head. "Oh, by the way," starts Damien, leaning in a bit closer. "If you ever need to talk about anything, ask me or Marie. We know what its like to have to come here and gain everyone's approval. I'm the more recent one so the obvious choice to talk to," he says which makes me giggle. "If there's ever anything that you need to get off your chest but you can't say it to someone's who's, you know, blood related then I'm here," he says in a really sweet way, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you," I say genuinely, knowing I can't always just call Ariana. It's nice to have someone here I can talk to who knows exactly what I'm going through.

"No problem," says Damien, throwing a wink in my direction.

"You better not be trying to recruit wife number two with Iris over here," says Rose and I look to the side to see her walk in with a smirk on her face.

"If he did then I'd have him hanged," says Seth, coming inside through the sliding doors as well.

"Thanks brother in law, that means an awful lot (!)" says Damien, getting up and going over to Rose. "I don't need another wife, you're perfect," he says to her and you can see her melt in his arms. They share a quick kiss just as Lacey and Lily come running through the room.

"Ew!" they both say and then run back out, making their parents and me and Seth laugh.

"I'm going to put Evan up in our room," says Seth and I nod my head watching him leave.

"I think we should put them hyped up girls to bed," suggests Damien, taking his wife's hand and leaving as well. I sit there not knowing what to do when someone calls me.

"Iris," I hear and look to see Nick gesturing for me to come over. I walk over to where he and Mason are, noticing they've finished their game. "Do you know how to play chess?" he asks me with a curious look, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Would it surprise you if I said yes?" I answer his question with a question of my own.

"It would be a nice surprise," says Nick with a laugh. "Move over loser, I'm replacing you," he says, looking over to Mason who gets up with a sigh.

"Just go easy on the girl," says Mason to Nick. "Not that you did on your own brother," he mutters, going over to the couch near the fireplace and taking a seat there. Picking up a random magazine and starting to flick through it. I sit down in his spot and we both start putting the pieces in place. We start the game and about twenty minutes later I realize Seth still hasn't come back down. It gets me worried because I keep thinking something is wrong with Evan.

"I am not!" exclaims Seth, his voice booming through the room as he walks in.

"Keep it down will ya!" shouts Mason back and Nick gives me a look as we both chuckle.

"Dean for fuck's sake," says Seth and shouts, "Ow!" when a shoe gets hurled at him, hitting him in the gut. "Uncle Mason!" he says.

"You never swear with a lady in the room," Mason reprimands him, only glancing up at Seth for a second.

"Like as if it's the first time I've said something like this in front of Iris," comments Seth, but this time he sees the shoe flying and ducks before it can hit him. "Why do you care who I'm talking to?" says Seth into the phone, obviously very frustrated. "How can I cheat on Iris when she's here with me? Grow a brain you doof," he goes on to say and walks over to where I am. "Iris, will you please tell Dean that Evan is alive and well and that I haven't dropped him on his head?" he requests and I look at Nick as he snickers.

"Um, ok sure," I say and take the phone off of him, crossing my legs up on the chair. "Hey Dean, Evan's alive, not been dropped, eating properly, missing his Godfather and Seth isn't cheating," I say, making sure to have been thorough so I don't have to get in the middle of this.

" _Ok, thanks, give it back to Seth,"_ says Dean and I hold the phone up for Seth.

"Well why didn't you believe me when I told you?" asks Seth, walking away from us. "What do you mean you don't know, you're one of my best friends!" he exclaims.

"Are you sure you're his girlfriend?" asks Nick, making me burst out in laughter and I hold up my hand, gesturing for him to give me a high five which he does. "Ok, my queen has your king," he says as we get back to the game.

"But my king can move this way," I say, getting out of the so called 'check' move. "Keep on trying," I say with a smile, giggling like a little girl who's playing chess with her Dad. I don't know what kind of a man my Dad was but I pray that he was like Nick. Because that's exactly how I imagine him.

"You are smart, I have to give you that, this time at least Seth's chosen someone who's worthy," Nick comments nonchalantly as this comment makes the smile on my face grow even wider.

"For the last time Rose, she put on the face with a pout and I had to give it to her," says Angie, walking in with Rose and Damien who did not look too happy with her.

"A six year old puts on a pout face and you're putty in her hands and give her all the sweets in the world? But I twist my ankle and you tell me to get myself a glass of water?" questions Rose but Angie just rolls her eyes and doesn't look too happy when they land on mine. She comes over and sits next to her Dad, putting her arms around him as if to say 'He's my Dad, not yours'.

"Hey Dad, what are you doing?" asks Angie and I can see Seth is off his phone now and he's looking this way, as well as the rest of them. Is that a bad sign?

"I am playing a wonderful game of chess with this lovely young lady," says Nick, throwing a wink in my direction which makes me giggle. Angie doesn't seem to like how friendly he is with me though. "She is a very good chess player," he comments, pointing a finger in my direction.

"Here, let me even the odds," says Angie, putting me in check once more. Nick looks like he's about to say something but I quickly talk before he can. Ariana is right, the only way to win her over is by just being myself. I have to ignore that she's intending to be mean.

"Oh, good one," I say and look at all the pieces, trying to decide what move I should play. But before I can make a move, someone does it for me, I see Seth standing above and he's taken me out of check. He takes a seat next to me.

"And allow _**me**_ to even the odds too," says Seth with a smirk, Angie glaring at him. I send Seth a grateful smile and we wait for the others to play their next move. Luckily their next move doesn't get any one of my pieces killed or get me in 'check'. We all do a few moves here and there and soon we're joined by Mason, Rose and Damien.

"Guys, quit hovering and pick a side," says Angie, looking annoyed. She smirks in my direction but it instantly drops when Damien walks over and stands right behind me.

"Damien!" shouts Rose, obviously not happy with what he's just done.

"What? She said pick a side," says Damien and I pull my lips back trying not to laugh. "And I stick with the outsiders because that's who I am," he says after which Seth gives him a look. "Dude, you've chosen to be on the outsiders team today, sorry to know you didn't realize that," he says, patting Seth's shoulder who rolls his eyes as he looks at me.

"That doesn't mean you actually pick a side," says Rose, shaking her head at him. Just then Mason comes over and stands next to Damien who gives him a high five. "Uncle Mason!" she shouts.

"My own brother?" asks Nick in a comical way as if it's the betrayal of the century.

"Says the man who had no mercy on his own brother," comments Mason. "So Rose, what's it going to be?" he then says, looking towards his niece who started to look nervous. The only person taking this seriously is Angie so it doesn't really matter what decision she makes. It won't make me feel any different about her or anything. I hope she knows that.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

I hang up on Seth, a smirk on my face. I love irritating the guy. It's still a shame that Iris and Evan are gone but at least we have this time to sort out the Kane issue. I already have an idea in my head too. It's going to be a piece of cake.

"They're alive?" asks Ariana from our bed, flicking through a magazine. I know she's mad about before but she's gonna have to live with it for now.

"For now," I answer, making her chuckle. We've done the so called making up but I can tell it's still weighing on her mind. All I need to keep doing is distract her and i'll get away with everything. This'll be a piece of cake too. I should become an evil mastermind or something, I'd be pretty good at it too.

"So how do you plan on winding up Kane?" asks Ariana, putting the magazine down as I climb into bed with her.

"Easy, I'll do what I do best and annoy the shit out of him," I answer simply, making her laugh.

"That's not going to cut it," says Ariana and I give her look that says 'You think?' "Kane may not be the smartest person on the planet but he's not the dumbest either. And besides, you bait people in a real obvious manner. He'll catch you out in two seconds," she explains which may not just be a bad idea. He'll have to get annoyed one way or another.

"I can't exactly punch him till he fights back otherwise I'll be suspended," I say with a sad sigh.

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen," says Ariana, resting her head on my chest. I put my arm around her, keeping her close. Until this woman came along, I never really cared about anything in life. I'm lucky to have her. Thinking about that, now I feel bad for keeping things from her. "But you're willing to take a punch right?" she asks, drawing circles with her fingers.

"For you, anything," I answer, earning a kiss from my fiancee. All I have to do is go face-to-face with Kane. How do you annoy a guy like him? He knows he can't cause trouble so what will push his buttons? I think I'll have to start of simple by just being annoying and then learn what I can do to push him further. It's the only thing we have right now.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

" _All you need to do is keep a calm mind,"_ says Paige on the other end of the phone. _"You can't just go and punch the dude. Althought, keep a close eye on Dean. We all know he's not far from it,"_ she says, making me laugh.

"You know, I never pegged you for sensible," I comment, liking how she keeps surprising me when I least expect it.

" _No one ever does,"_ says Paige. _"You know, I was with Nikki the other day and I made a comment as usual just to annoy her but it turned out she actually agreed with me. Nikki agreed with me. How weird is that?"_ she asks, making me chuckle. They were still butting heads after the baby shower and everything.

"Are you sure it wasn't Brie?" I joke.

" _Definitely, she didn't have boobs that were in my face,"_ answers Paige with a laugh on the other end. I love her laugh. _"Ok,,well I'm gonna go catch up on my beauty sleep. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?"_ she asks me. I love being with Paige. I have a really good time with her.

"One, you don't need it cause youre beautiful and two, yes we are," I say, not hearing anything on the other end of the phone for a few seconds. "You there?" I then ask her.

" _Yeah, goodnight charmer,"_ says Paige after which she hangs up. I hang up too and look at my phone with a smile. I am definitely gonna ask her soon. Who knew helping Paige would result in something like this? I let out a groan when I hear noises on the other side of the wall.

"Cut it out!" I call to Dean and Ariana but all I hear is Dean's evil laughter on the other side. Why did Seth and Iris have to leave? Dean would actually be on good behaviour for Evan. I grab my headphones and put them on, another night of trying to sleep but not being able to is waiting ahead.

* * *

 **Reviews would be amazing! :)**


	7. Check Mate

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Sorry this one's late but I have had a beyond busy week!**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 7:**

"Are you insane? I'm not choosing," says Rose, obviously taking this just as serious as Angie. It's just a chess game though.

"Relax sis, it's just a game right Angie?" says Seth and I can see the tension rising between Seth and Angie as they look at each other. I place a hand on Seth's leg, squeezing it to get him to snap out of it. This isn't any competition that's being held between me and Angie.

"Right," says Angie with a smirk of her own, moving the piece on her side.

"I am going to go check on the girls," says Rose instead, scurrying off. I can tell she doesn't want to get in the middle of this. She's afraid if she joins Angie then I'll be offended or if she joins me then Angie will get pissed off at her. Either way, she's screwed. But she was too busy looking panicked that I couldn't let her know with a facial expression that I wouldn't be mad. I look down at the board game and move a random piece, beyond caring at this point.

"Check and mate!" exclaims Angie with a smug smirk, having surrounded my king with the other pieces so he has nowhere to go. She puts her arms around her Dad but I just smile.

"Oh no Iris, not you too!" says Mason in a dramatic way, walking off back to where his magazine is. "This Father and Daughter have absolutely no mercy," he comments.

"Oh man, now she's going to call me a loser for the billionth time!" exclaims Damien with a sigh as Angie puts an 'L' up to her forehead, directing it at Damien. She glances at me for a second and I know for that second, she's actually saying it to me. I realize Seth noticed and he's looking kind of mad but I place my hand on his thigh.

"Wow, I didn't see that one coming!" I exclaim with a smile, trying to lift everyone's moods. "Ooh, maybe we should play best two out of three," I suggest with an enthusiastic look on my face which seems to be annoying Angie, but this is what I would normally say so why not say it?

"Oh, I think I've had enough," says Nick, starting to put the pieces away. "Nice game kiddo," he says and I nod my head thanking him. "Ok, how about some grub?" he then says, clasping his hands together and then rubbing them up and down against each other.

"Sounds like a great idea!" I say and move to get up when my phone buzzes. I unlock it and see I've been sent a picture by Dean. I chuckle when I see Ariana is strangling him as he takes it, a scared look on his face. I laugh out loud and Seth gets up as I show him the picture.

"Thank god, if she didn't I definitely would have," comments Seth.

"Seth," I say, lightly hitting his arm. "Be nice, he's your best friend," I tell him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make me question my decision," says Seth and I shake my head, walking with him to the dining room, behind Angie. "I wonder when she's getting married to him," he then says which grabs Angie's attention.

"Who's getting married?" asks Angie as everyone sits down and wait for the food to be served, still waiting on everyone else to make it down to the dining table room as well.

"Dean and Ariana," answers Seth with a smile on his face, obviously having forgotten about before for which I'm glad. I don't want me coming in between him and his sister.

"What? Really?" asks Angie and I see Rose take a seat too.

"Yeah, Iris told me the other day. You were there you know, if only you would paid some attenntion to things around you," comments Rose and I see Angie's smile falter a little. I have hardly been here, what could I have done to annoy her so much she can't even make an effort with me? Or be civilized enough with me? It just doesn't make any sense. "When are they setting the date anyway? It's been a while since I went to a wedding," she says.

"They haven't decided yet," I answer her.

"They were supposed to be getting married two months after Iris gave birth but with all the complications during delivery, they decided to postpone it," explains Seth as I realize I should really be talking to Ariana to get her to set a date for the wedding. I'm the reason it's been forgotten about in the first place.

"Then why are they holding it off now since she's alive and well?" asks Angie, not even looking in my direction now. But I can't let it bother me.

"I don't know," says Seth and then looks towards me. "Maid of Honour?" he asks me which makes me smile. Of course he would expect me to know but to be honest neither of them have thought about it.

"No kidding, you're the Maid of Honour?" asks Rose, Angie looking taken aback by this as well.

"I'd be offended if I wasn't, I am her best friend after all," I comment, hoping this will make Angie accept me more. "They haven't thought about it again but when they do set a date, I'll make sure one of the first invites gets posted to you guys," I say.

"I still can't believe this," says Rose, sitting back in her chair.

"How the hell did that happen?" asks Angie in a monotone voice.

"When I was four and some kid thought it would be fun to push me into the sandbox," I start, the memory as clear as if it was yesterday. "Ariana kicked him and sort of saved me, but that kid's friend came and pushed her because of which I let out the loudest scream. Apparently that freaked them out because they ran a mile!" I exclaim, seeing Rose laugh her head off as well as Damien. "I always used to carry a little purse with me and for some reason I had a plaster in there. I put it on Ariana's leg because she was bleeding and we've been inseparable ever since," I finish telling the story.

"But you guys have absolutely nothing in common," states Angie through clenched teeth.

"Yeah I know, it's weird," I say, crossing my arms and actually thinking about it. "The one thing we both wanted to do was wrestle and helped the other to reach their dream. Apparently that's the only thing we needed to have in common because we've stayed friends all these years," I say, happy that Angie is at least directly talking to me now. That's the end of that conversation, after which food is served and we all start tucking in. I notice Anne's made sure all of Seth's favourites are made. She's really trying to mother him, she even keeps telling him to eat more and by the end he leans back looking like he's going to burst open from all the food that he's eaten.

"Thank you," says Seth as he holds me close and we sway on the swing outside in the garden. The baby monitor is in the corner near where my feet are, just in case our little boy needs us. Although, it's nice being out here and just looking up at the stars with Seth.

"What ever for?" I ask him, looking up at him as he keeps one hand over my hand that is resting on his chest.

"For being so nice to Angie despite it being so obvious what she's doing," answers Seth and he immediately puts a finger to my lips, sensing that I'm about to say something. "I know you don't want me to fight with my sister and I also know you don't want to talk about this. Just know that whether she ever approves of you or not doesn't matter to me because I fell in love with you and that love just increases day by day. Nothing can ever change that," he says, making me smile. I remove his finger from my lips and lean back into him.

"I'm glad," I say and close my eyes for a second. I know he doesn't mind if Angie doesn't ever approve of me but I also know he would be over the moon if she does. So I'm going to continue being myself and hope that my niceness breaks her one day. One day soon would be great though.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

I walk down the corridor, have been for the last half an hour. I've just been walking around the whole arena, hoping to bump into Kane. Maybe my fist can accidentally fall on his face. Yeah, that's highly likely. Sorry Hunter, Stephanie but I was walking really fast and boom! It happened. I really like that idea. I look down at my phone and see Ariana's messaged me. I have like ten messages off of her and I'm not surprised. It's not like me to do a disappearing act in the morning. But she's going to have to live with it. I had to do something better than lie in bed with her. Too busy staring at my phone I actually end up knocking into someone. Kane. Ah, this worked out well then. Damn it! I didn't have my fist up.

"Watch where you're going doofus," I comment, knowing that'll really drive him up the wall.

"What did you say?" asks Kane, full on glaring at me. I thought it'd be harder but this is turning out to be real easy. And I'm just getting started.

"I said, watch where you're going _**doofus**_ ," I say again, crossing my arms over my chest and keeping a cocky grin on my face. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're getting old. Old people start to have eye problems. My bad," I say, my hands up. Kane steps forward but then turns around and walks away. "What the actual fuck?" I say to myself. Guess he has more of restraint than I thought. I turn around to head over to our locker room when I see Hunter talking to one of the crew members. I think I know why Kane scurried out of here.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I honestly think something is wrong with Dean. More so than usual. He keeps disappearing on me. I do wonder what the hell is going on. The only thing I can conclude from this is that he's hiding something from me. What that is, I have no idea. And how do I find out? The guy never hides anything from me. So why is he doing that all of a sudden? He even left before I woke up this morning. He never does that in case he gets shower sex. Wait a second, he isn't getting it from someone else is he? No! He can't be cheating on me? Is he? He wouldn't. Would he? Fuck sake! I am not an insecure girlfriend. I'm Ariana! I'm not the insecure type.

"What up?" says Dean, walking into the locker room like anyone's business. I narrow my eyes at him but he just ignores it. What the fuck? He doesn't do that!

"Where were you this morning?" I ask him, standing up from the seat I was on. It's a good thing Roman's not here otherwise I'd have to tell him to leave.

"Oh, uh, running," answers Dean, shrugging his shoulders and sitting down. "Didn't want to wake you," he then adds on and I let out a scoff.

"You once woke me up at three o'clock in the morning because you wanted waffles!" I argue with him, frustrated that he's acting as if everything's normal when it's not. I feel him pulling away from me. Like now, he won't even meet my eyes. He's not thinking of breaking up with me is he? I'm being silly, he asked me to marry him. That's not a quick decision, especially not by someone like Dean. He obviously thought really hard about it.

"I was hungry," comments Dean, shrugging his shoulders again. Now I know I ain't in some parallel universe.

"Then what stopped you from waking me up in the morning?" I ask him, my hands on my hips as he suddenly finds the ceiling more interesting than his fiancée.

"Just, uh," says Dean, letting out a cough. He gets up too and that's when something unfamiliar fills my nostrils.

"Is that perfume?" I ask him, a confused look on my face. Dean ducks his head and avoids eye contact. "How'd you manage to get perfume on you?" I then ask him.

"I dunno," answers Dean dumbly. Does he really think he's marrying someone that dense? Or is he doing this on purpose to mess with me. "Look, I gotta go. I have to see someone," he then says, looking down at his phone as it had buzzed.

"What?" I ask and he already starts walking towards the door. "Dean?!" I call after him but he doesn't stop. "Ugh!" I say in frustration, sitting down with my head in my hands. He's always saying he's been running when he disappears. He doesn't talk to me properly. He can barely look me in the eye. Am I losing my fiancé?

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"What in god's name are you doing boy?!" says Annette to Damien as he helps me get things ready for the party. He's currently setting up the snack table and Annette looks like she's about to bite his head off.

"Uh, snacking?" questions Damien, having put some food in his mouth.

"Well stop eating it and lay it out otherwise you'll end up with a chubby belly and won't be able to run after your baby," Annette tells him off before leaving the room, me snickering at the side.

"That's not funny Iris," says Damien, about to put a muffin in his mouth but puts it down instead.

"She's very...controlling isn't she?" I ask, choosing my words carefully. "I bet Ariana thinks I get like that when I organise stuff," I comment, helping Damien out for now. I've still gotta feed Evan later and make sure he takes a good nap so he can stay awake throughout the party. According to Seth, a lot of people will want to play with him.

"If you're anything like her then I am not offering my service to you...ever," says Damien, making me laugh as we finish it up. I think he and Rose are the easiest to talk to in the house. Especially Damien, he just talks and gets on with things.

* * *

"Do I look alright?" I ask Seth, walking out of the bathroom. He's on the bed playing with Evan and he looks up. His smile drops and he doesn't say a word. "Oh my gosh, I look horrible, don't I?" I say and turn around, going back into the bathroom and grabbing some paper to take off my make up. I put make up on to match my purple dress but if it doesn't look nice then I need to change and put on something else which means I have to change my make up too. I decide to take off my dress first instead and manage to zip it down from the back.

"Iris, what are you doing?" asks Seth, walking over and stopping me from taking off my dress.

"Changing!" I answer. "I have to look perfect!" I tell him but he puts his hands on my shoulders and starts massaging them. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Getting you to feel relaxed," answers Seth with a small smile. "The only reason I didn't say anything was because I wasn't prepared to see you in such a sexy outfit," he tells me, stopping the massage and placing a soft kiss to the side of my neck, using the opportunity to zip my dress back up.

"Really?" I ask him and he nods his head. He turns me around and places his hands on my waist.

"I'm probably the first guy in the world that's dressing his girlfriend rather than undressing her," says Seth which makes me chuckle. "You look wonderful and all those people will see that I have the most hottest girl to myself as my girlfriend," he says, placing a kiss on my lips.

"Hello?" we hear and recognize it as Rose's voice. "I thought you were decent Iris. Evan is here!" she says which makes me laugh and go red at the same time.

"We're not doing anything," I quickly say, getting out of Seth's arms and opening the door.

"Whoa, you look hot," comments Rose and I look at Seth who gives me an I-told-you-so look. "Come on, the guests have already come and they're asking for Evan. Turns out a real baby is much more interesting than a potential baby," she comments which makes us laugh.

"Ok, we're coming," I tell her and walk over to Evan, smiling as he has grabbed a hold of his foot and is trying to put it into his mouth. He looks too cute when he does that. I've already sent Ariana about 13 videos of him doing this and they still don't seem to be quite enough. I pick Evan up and hold him close to me, I look at Seth and see he's smiling. "What?" I ask him.

"You don't need to be nervous, everyone's going to love you," says Seth, placing both his hands on either side of my face. "Besides, they're here to see Evan so he's the centre of attention," he points out which is true. I walk down the stairs with Seth and see some people inside and others out in the garden. Immediately a group of people surround us and give all their attention to Evan. Soon he's out of my hands and being passed around like some sort of a doll.

"Oh, will he be ok?" I ask Seth, getting worried at the amount of people surrounding him.

"He'll be just fine," Seth reassures me and places a hand on my back, introducing me to people. I smile and they congratulate us both on being parents. "Hey Mac!" calls Seth and waves someone over. "Iris, this is Mac. I grew up wit him. Mac, this is Iris. My girlfriend," he introduces us. I shake Mac's hand and he brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it.

"Nice to meet you," says Mac and then lets go of my hand. "You lucky bastard, how did you swing this one?" he asks Seth as I stand there and look back and forth between them both.

"I knocked her up," answers Seth as a joke and I hit his chest.

"If you ever get bored of this sucker, I'm available," says Mac but Seth punches him. I excuse myself and go to the bathroom. Once I'm out I see Seth staring at someone. I follow his gaze and see a beautiful blonde. She's wearing red lipstick and a black dress. I can't help but feel the jealousy creep in as he continues to stare at her. Before I can go to him Nick finds me and introduces me to a friend of his, saying that I'm a great chess player. They start talking and I notice Seth walk over to the blonde, beginning a conversation with her.

"Oh, they would have been perfect for each other," I hear a woman say as I excuse myself from Nick and his friend.

"I agree," says another woman and I try not to make it to obvious that I'm listening to them. Instead, I start running my hands through a vase of flowers as I listen to what they say. Eavesdropping is not a nice thing to do but I can't help it, I want to know who that girl is. "But she was married. Everyone knew he liked her but she was taken," she says. My heart drops as I realize they're talking about Seth.

"Seth should have asked her out but he didn't," says Woman number one. "But, she is divorced now. Now would be the time for him to make a go of it," she comments ans I feel anger. Everyone knows Seth is with me and these women are talking about Seth making a move on someone else!

"Seth is with someone else now and she's the Mother of his child, from what I've heard from Anne they really love each other," says Woman number two who obviously has more sense in her.

"No one would blame him if he did try with Isabel," says woman number one and Ii know that must be her name. Isabel. "He liked her for a really long time. From what I heard, Seth is all she's been talking about ever since her break up, wanting to see him," she says and I dislike the sound of this.

"Do you think she wants to date him?" asks woman number 2 curiously.

"Yeah, look at the twinkle in her eyes right now," says woman number 1 and I look at them as well. "You can't tell me he doesn't hold a special place in her heart," she says after which I have had enough and move away from there. I try not to feel upset but how can I not? Apparently this Isabel girl is here and wants to get back together with Seth. I wonder if she knows that Seth has a girlfriend.

"Iris!" calls Anne and I walk over to her with a smile on my face. Either way I'm not going to let this affect me. Seth loves me and I love him, we're together and we have Evan. "This is Iris, Seth's girlfriend and Evan's Mother," she introduces me to someone and I shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you," I say with a sweet smile.

"You too dear," says the woman, looking familiar. "I'm Rita, Isabel's mother," she says.

"Isabel is that young lady over there with Seth," Anne points out and I look to see Isabel and Seth laughing. "They're our next door neighbors," she says and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "They grew up together. Isabel just recently moved back, oh I'm so glad. You always go on about feeling lonely in that house," she says and they start talking about their past and stuff. I excuse myself politely, trying not to let this weigh up on my mind.

"Iris, you ok?" asks Rose and I nod my head. "Come on, I can tell you're not," she says. I pull her to the side and make sure no one can hear us.

"What's the deal with Seth and Isabel?" I ask her and see her visibly sigh to herself.

"I know you probably have a lot of questions," starts Rose, glancing over at them both. "But honey, you'll have to ask Seth. You guys love each other," she says and takes a hold of my hand. "There shouldn't be a third person in between telling you this and that. So relax for now and just know that Seth is with you, ok?" she says and I nod my head as she quickly walks off, reprimanding Lacey and Lily for something. I would have spent the rest of the evening indifferently but I feel uneasy when I see Isabel has a hold of Evan.

"What's wrong? Why won't he stop crying?" asks Isabel in a panicked voice as I walk up to them. I don't say a word and gently take Evan off of her, his crying stopping immediately.

"Missing your mama?" I ask him with a smile. I hold him in front of me and tickle his tummy, laughing when I hear his laugh.

"His beautiful mama," says Seth and leans in kissing the side of my cheek making my face go red. "Isabel, this is Evan's mother and my girlfriend, Iris," he introduces. "Iris this is-" I cut him off.

"Isabel," I say with a smile. "I know, Anne just introduced me to Rita," I tell them both. "You guys live next door right?" I ask and she nods her head, giving me and Seth a weird look. I wonder what's wrong. Does it seem so implausible that me and Seth are together or something?

"So have how long have you guys been together?" asks Isabel looking too curious for my liking.

"Over a year ago," answers Seth as I look at him in surprise. "We met over a year ago and since then there's always been something between us that's kept us together," he explains to her as I continue looking up at him. We've only been together not too long ago.

"I thought you were single for such a long time? Anne would always go on about you needing to settle down," says Isabel which is probably true because he has been single for such a long time. Although it seems to me she's trying to find out why Seth's all of a sudden not a bachelor.

"You asked us how long we've been together right?" asks Seth for clarification and Isabel nods her head. "We've always been together but never realized it. Iris did, we were together for a couple of months and then broke up but Evan made sure we were connected. First it was attraction that bound me to Iris, then friendship, then Evan and in between all of that what I didn't see was holding us together was love," he explains and I swear I just fell in love with him all over again. "Iris knew that from the beginning but it just took me a while to catch up," he says this as he looks down at me and puts an arm around me. We look into each other's eyes and I know my smile is mirroring his.

"Uh, that's sweet," says Isabel, interrupting our moment but Seth doesn't remove his hand. If anything he holds me against himself tighter. "You guys really love each other, don't you?" she asks.

"Yeah, growing every day," says Seth, still looking at me. "But what about you? Anyone special in your life?" he asks her as I notice that he's permanently plastered a smile to my face.

"No, no one like that," says Isabel, shaking her head and looking a little sad.

"I'm sure you'll find someone," I reassure her, sometimes hating the fact that I'm so in touch with my emotions. It makes me so susceptible to anyone that is upset. It's my weakness.

"Thanks," says Isabel with what looks like a genuine smile. "Excuse me, I have to go find my Mother," she says and leaves from there. Seth takes Evan off of me and holds him up.

"Do you think Mommy should give me a kiss?" Seth questions Evan, obviously indirectly ordering me to kiss him. "Oh you do, I wonder why she still hasn't given me one yet then?" he says and I shake my head with a laugh. I lean in and kiss his cheek. "The cheek? You meant lips, right Evan?" he asks and I swear he couldn't be more cute even if he tried.

* * *

 **I would really appreciate reviews guys! Thanks! :)**


	8. Dance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I'm back with the next one! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Aw, thanks!**

 **Calwitch: Well Ariana can't sit around and do nothing. But you've just given me an idea my friend! So thank you for that. Yeah and I think you're right about Iris. The past is still in the back of her mind but sometimes you can't just completely forget about everything can you?**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 8:**

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"Angie, a word," says Isabel, pulling her to the side as she watches Seth taking Evan off of Iris. "You told me Seth was still single, but he's not is he?" she asks Angie in anger. She was excited to know Seth was back, it broke her heart a little that he had a kid but there was a chance they could be together. So that didn't matter to her. But looking at Iris and Seth she didn't even see herself with a chance in hell.

"Oh right, did I forget to mention that?" asks Angie innocently. She always liked Isabel and had always wanted her and Seth to end up together and now that they finally could Iris had ruined it with her presence. But that didn't mean what she wanted still couldn't happen.

"Angie," says Isabel with a stern look. "How dare you pull up my hopes like that when it's so obvious that he's in love with her," she says, shaking her head at what Angie had done. If Isabel had known Seth was happy with someone else then she would have backed off. She wouldn't have even come here.

"Because he deserved better," answers Angie, not prepared to have to live with Iris for the rest of their lives. "Look, all we have to do is get you guys alone together and she'll be out of the picture," she says but Isabel looks at her like she's a crazy person. She knows you can't just force people to be like that.

"You might be prepared to ruin your brother's happiness but I'll have no part in it," says Isabel, making that clear to Angie. Seth had always been a dear friend to her and she refuses to hurt him. "I always knew he liked me but I was happy with David and he didn't even try to ruin that for me so I'm going to return the favor. I refuse to come in between him and Iris, they have a kid together for goodness sake!" she exclaims.

"Unfortunately," says Angie in an unhappy voice. She loved her nephew, no doubt. He was one of the cutest babies she had ever laid eyes on. The only downside is the person who holds the title of his mother.

"Whether you like it or not, she's going to be around," says Isabel. "If you even do anything what's the guarantee she'll continue to let you see your own nephew? You think about that," she says, walking off. She really likes Seth but he looks happy with Iris and that's all she's ever wanted for him and herself. Once upon a time they could have been together and they probably would have stayed together but that didn't happen and she has to live with the fact that she let him get away.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Daddy thinks he's so slick, doesn't he?" I ask my son, we've been talking indirectly to each other, through Evan, for the past ten minutes and it's actually a lot of fun.

"Slick and handsome," says Seth which makes me chuckle. "Hey Evan, think your Mum will dance with me if I ask her?" he says, fixing Evan's clothes.

"Maybe if you ask her yourself," I say, standing behind Evan and looking at him. I had no idea we could be this happy together.

"There he is, my grandson!" exclaims Nick and comes over, taking Evan away from us. "He's the heir," he goes on and walks off with his friends which makes me laugh. They all love him so much. I can't believe he got so lucky.

"Great, now how am I going to get a kiss of you?" Seth questions out loud, looking kind of upset.

"Hmm," I say, moving forward and putting my hands on the side of his arms. "You could ask like a good boy," I suggest and I gasp when he pulls me against him. "Seth, what are you doing?" I ask, trying to get out of his hold.

"Holding you close so you can't ever get away from me," replies Seth, keeping a good lock on his arms that are around my waist.

"That's sweet and all but people are looking," I say, continuing to try and get his hands off of me. He doesn't even look at the time or occasion and just gets started.

"I don't care," says Seth and leans down to kiss me but I place my hand over his mouth. If he thinks he can get his way so easily then he has another thing coming.

"Nice try mister," I say, still trying to push him away.

"Dance with me," says Seth but I chuckle and shake my head.

"There's no music," I tell him but he shrugs his shoulders, not cfaring.

"All I need is you," says Seth and I look down shyly. He always knows what to say to have an effect on me. He takes one hand off my waist and takes my hand with it, moving us back forth. "See?" he says and then twists me around, pulling me close to him once more. It's times like these where I can just be with Seth and forget about other people. Unfortunately, there are other people present.

"People are looking," I say, noticing we're getting odd stares from some people.

"So?" says Seth, shrugging his shoulders. All of a sudden I hear some music and see Nicky has put the stereo on.

"I got your back bro!" shouts Nicky from across the room, making us both laugh.

"Any objections?" questions Seth but I just shake my head, not being able to say anything coherently. Seth really sometimes just…takes my breath away. We move back and forth, here and there and he twists me. "You know Iris…" he says something but I can't hear him because of the music.

"What?" I ask him with a confused look. He says something again but I can't seem to hear it.

"I never thought I'd love someone as much as I love you!" shouts Seth and we both realize the music has now stopped. I look over at Nicky who looks on guiltily.

"I didn't like that, uh, song," says Nicky and shrugs his shoulders. I can feel my face is as red as a tomato and I look at Seth who puts his head into the crook of my neck, letting out a little whine. Nicky really has the best timing doesn't he (?)

"Me either!" I shout, making Seth jump. I smile when I see Seth's face light up, the least I could do was even the odds and share the embarrassment he's feeling right now. The music starts back up again and Seth puts his arms around my waist, lifting me up only slightly and twisting me around. He puts me back down and we continue dancing, happy in our own world.

* * *

"So what did you think of the party?" asks Seth as I put Evan down in his cot and look up at Seth who's lying on the bed casually.

"It was…fun," I say, carefully choosing my words. "Although, I don't think your Mother was too happy about Nicky going off the fence," I comment, remembering how Seth's younger brother got completely hammered and was going around making jokes that weren't funny. He was actually making a lot of people uncomfortable. But judging by other people's reactions, this wasn't something new.

"I'm just glad I got him off the table before he started stripping," says Seth with a small chuckle and I nod my head in agreement. Now that would have been a disaster.

"I'm going to change," I tell him and grab my sleepwear from the wardrobe. It's just a pair of flannel pants and a top.

"Or you could change right here," suggests Seth, moving on his front as if getting ready for a show. Something which he won't be getting anytime soon.

"You wish," I say, sticking my tongue out and going into the bathroom anyway.

"I, uh, I've heard he's been having some trouble with Macy," says Seth and I leave part of the door open so I can hear him as he speaks.

"Oh yeah I was supposed to ask, why didn't she come tonight?" I question aloud, taking my dress off and chucking it to the side. That would explain why he got drunk tonight. Poor guy.

"I don't know," says Seth. "Apparently they've been arguing a bit," he tells me. That doesn't sound too good. To his credit, Nicky covers it up pretty well. You wouldn't think by looking at him and meeting him that he's having relationship troubles.

"Oh, has Nicky told you this himself?" I ask him, that being the only plausible reason as to why he would know this.

"No, I heard him in a conversation with her earlier today and you never need to be told when there's trouble in paradise," says Seth as I pull on my flannel pants.

"Did you ask him about it?" I then question him but don't get a response. I think I know what his answer's gonna be. Then again, it would be awkward for him since he doesn't seem to like Macy apparently.

"Nope," says Seth after a few moments. "But I doubt he'd want to talk about it," he then says.

"Are you kidding me?!" I ask in horrification as I immediately go to the door and look at my boyfriend with my hands on my hips. His eyes widen and he sits up on his knees. "Of course he wants to talk about it but he's probably too scared because you guys are always putting his girlfriend down," I explain and Seth nods his head not really looking at me. I look down and realize I have no top on, just a bra. "Excuse me," I say in annoyance realizing he probably didn't hear a word I said. I don't know if he's ignorant or if I should just be flattered.

"We are not putting her down," defends Seth, so he was listening to me. I put my top on and come out of the bathroom, shaking my head.

"You guys are always making fun out of her, none of you like her and if I'm not wrong then you probably imitate her when she's not here," I say, going over to him and sitting in front of him with one leg swinging over the end of the bed. "He's your brother Seth and you're the only brother he has. Don't you think he'd like to have that conversation with you?" I ask him. I know Romand and Dean do so it should be the same for Nicky.

"If he wanted to he would have," comments Seth and I slap his arm. Why do men have to be so stupid sometimes?

"Ok," I say, nodding my head and taking a different approach. "You love me right?" I ask him.

"Yes, any doubts?" responds Seth, an amused smile on his face.

"Is that why you were so upset when Angie was making comments in my direction?" I ask him and he nods his head with a confused look. "Nicky loves Macy right?" I ask him and he nods his head as I see realization hit his face. "So why on earth do you think he would talk to any one of you about Macy if you're all too busy doing stuff like that?" I give him something to think about. I then move forward and get on my knees, placing both my hands on the side of Seth's face. "Do you really think it's acceptable to make fun out of the girl your brother's in love with?"

"No," says Seth and places his hands on my wrists, taking my hands down. "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot," he says, running his hands through his hair. "I can't believe he hasn't decapitated any of us by now," he comments which makes me chuckle. It's always easier to understand things when you think of yourself in that situation.

"How could he when you're all a team but he's standing there all by himself?" I question. He should be on Team Outsiders with me and Damien.

"Shit, I need to go talk to him," says Seth but I grab his arm and stop him. Does he even know what time of the night it is?

"No, he got drunk remember? He's probably sleeping," I say and then gesture for him to move back. "You can talk to him in the morning," I say and make him lie down. I place my head in his outstretched arm and place my arm around him. "Tomorrow, go do something with him. Something that only you two used to do together and sort things out," I suggest, gently tapping his nose.

"Yeah, that's a great idea," says Seth, nodding his head. "Thanks," he says, looking down at me. "What would I do without you?" he then asks.

"You'd crash and burn," I joke which makes him laugh. I further lean in to him and close my eyes, ready for a good night's sleep.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"You know, she's such a cute kid. I can't wait to meet her," says Paige, both of us walking through the park, hand in hand. It was my idea. I wanted to get away from everyone we knew for a little while.

"Yeah and she cheers you on when she's watching RAW too," I tell Paige about JoJo who lets out a chuckle. I know JoJo loves Paige and I also think Paige would love JoJo. How could she not? She's such a sweet kid. I just hate the fact that I don't get to see her as much as I would like.

"You need to tell Dean that he should clean up his act otherwise I'm not above punching him," says Paige, annoyed because Dean still calls her Morticia Adams. I try not to laugh when he does and I just about manage to hold it in. When he calls Paige that her face turns into a frown but it's a very cute frown.

"It's fine, Ariana's been doing it for months," I comment. Speaking of who, both of them are acting weird. Dean keeps disappearing off and she just looks kind of sad. I tried talking to her but she assured me everything is fine. I'm not gonna pry further because it is up to her if she wants to tell me or not. She knows she can talk to me.

"Now I love it when she yells at him," says Paige, making me chuckle. "So, do you wanna grab some dinner later? I have absolutely nothing to do," she says at which I stop in my tracks, effectively stopping her too. "What's wrong?" she then asks me. I don't know if i'll get another chance like this where we're alone and in good conversation. So I better get it done right now.

"You know Paige, I really like you," I start and she gives me a weird look.

"I like you too," says Paige, letting out a nervous laugh.

"And you have no idea how happy that makes me," I say to her. "But recently, I've been thinking about this long term-" I start but she cuts me off.

"I'm not long term material am I?" questions Paige, getting her hand out of mine and placing both her hands on her hips.

"What?" I ask in confusion, wondering where she got that from.

"You like me but don't know if you want to keep me around any longer right?" she questions which I find completely ridiculous. I can't get enough of this woman.

"Actually, it's the opposite," I say, using my arm to pull her up against me. "I like you and was wondering if you'd stick around longer," I tell her, her face looking puzzled. "As my girlfriend," I then add on.

"Wait, what? You want me to be your girlfriend?" asks Paige in what seems to me as shock.

"Ooh, definitely," I say, a smile on my face which only gets bigger when I notice one appearing on hers. "So, what do you say?" I ask, deciding to snap her out of her thoughts so I can stop feeling so nervous inside about what her answer's going to be.

"Uh, y-yes," says Paige and I waste no time in pulling her close and kissing her. I know Paige isn't into any grand gestures and stuff like that, she likes it simple which is what I've given her. "Wow, you're my boyfriend!" she exclaims and then goes red of embarrassment after which I just pull her in for another kiss.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I open my eyes the next day and reach over, frowning when I don't find Seth there. I get up and rub my eyes, wondering where he could have gone. I look over and see Evan's fast asleep. I swear this boy is very lazy because he's sleeping more so than normal babies. I decide to get a shower going. Hopefully I can sneak one in before Evan wakes up. I pick out my clothes and put them in the bathroom. I start the shower and go back and forth, cleaning up after Seth's mess. Honestly, everywhere else he acts like a neat freak and when we're at his house all that has gone out the window. My phone goes off and I answer it.

" _Hey Iris,"_ says Ariana on the other end and I smile, always happy to hear off my best friend. _"What are you up to?"_ she asks me.

"I was just going to have a shower," I say casually, going into the bathroom and running a comb through my hair. "You need anything?" I ask her.

" _No it can wait, have a nice shower,"_ she says and hangs up. Now, I would be lying if I didn't say that was odd. Maybe she needs to talk to me about something in a lot of detail. Oh well, I'll call her back later on. I take off my clothes and get into the shower, allowing the hot water to roam my body. I don't know why but all of a sudden I start thinking about Seth. When we were together last time, I could never have a shower by myself. He simply wouldn't allow it. But, it would be nice to have him back here again.

Although I am kind of nervous. Me and Seth haven't done anything beyond making out and groping. What if he takes one look at my stretch marks and hates me? They're fading away but not as fast as I would like them to. Plus, what if I'm not good enough? What if I can't satisfy him? It wasn't enough last time. And there I go again. I keep saying we both want to move on but how can we if I can't seem to let go of the past? Maybe I should talk to Seth about this. We can't move forward if I keep looking back. But what if he thinks I'm being stupid? I hear a noise and immediately stop what I'm doing. The glass is all fogged up so I figure something just fell off the counter. I did leave the brush too close to the edge of the sink. I rid my head of all thoughts and start humming, washing out the shampoo from my hair which is pretty easy to do since it's quite short. I wonder if Seth's hair is longer than mine? He keeps it tied up a lot of the time so I can't really tell.

"Agh!" I let out a little scream as two arms had made their way around me. I turn around and see Seth standing there. With a smirk on his face. All in his naked glory. Holy crap. "Seth, what are you doing?" I ask him, feeling myself go red immediately. I realize he's not looking at my face and quickly cover up my breasts with my arms, turning away from him all the way around.

"I'm having a shower with my girlfriend, any complaints?" answers Seth with a question of his own. I don't answer but bite the side of my cheek, trying not to smile. "You know," he says, moving his lips right down next to my ear. "You can cover up your front but your back is on full display for me," he comments and I swear I just came right then and there. Realizing it's pretty stupid that I'm covering my front when he can see everything else, I turn around to push past him but he grabs onto my arm. "What's wrong? Can't I look at my beautiful girlfriend?" he asks, gently pushing me back. He steps as close as he can to me and I step back, this happens till I hit my back against the wall.

"Seth," I whine, not looking up at him. But he's as close to me as he can possibly be without touching me. He places one hand on the side of the wall.

"What Iris?" asks Seth innocently and I look up at him through my eyelashes. I see his eyes are full of pure lust and quickly look away, knowing how easy it is for me to get consumed by it. "You wanna go?" he asks and I'm looking back down now, being able to tell he's smirking right now.

"Stop it," I say, my lips not being able to stop from forming a smile.

"Stop what exactly?" he questions me. He then places his hands on my arms and removes them to the side. "Hmm, not going to fight?" he asks me with an amused grin.

"I trust you," I tell him, looking into his eyes and I swear I see them darken slightly.

"You're so incredibly beautiful," whispers Seth, placing one hand on the side of my face and using the other to pull me closer to him. Ok, if I died right now I would have no complaints. I mean, I'm pressed up against Seth! Naked! I bite down on my lip when I feel how turned on he's gotten. "You feel that?" he asks me, whispering in my ear again. " _ **You**_ do that to me," he says and my eyes automatically close. When I open them I see Seth looking at me and he leans down, taking my lips. I don't take much time in responding, placing both my arms around his neck, pulling him as close as I can. I open my mouth, allowing him entrance and moan when his tongue meets mind. This sets off something else because he says, "Fuck you're hot". I giggle and he continues kissing me. He then moves the kisses down to my neck, sucking on the skin there. I know it'll be red for the rest of the day but right now nothing else comes to mind. Seth moves down and down, bending down on his knees. Just as he places a kiss at my entrance we hear a loud cry pulling us both out of it. "Damn it!" curses Seth to himself, getting up because we both know we have parenting responsibilities.

"I'll get him," I say, about to move to get out but Seth stops me.

"Nah, I'll do it," says Seth. "You finish the rest of your shower Cutie Pie," he tells me, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"You sure?" I ask him and he nods his head, leaving. As I take the rest of my shower I can't help but go back to what happened moments before. I can't get it out of my mind and, that man is going to make me lose it. I contemplate getting the job done myself but that would just be mean to Seth since he's taking care of our son just next door. I have a disappointed shower and get ready in a light pink dress. I smile when I see Seth already dressed and playing with Evan on the bed. "You telling him off for interrupting?" I question, leaning against the doorframe.

"More like making him understand," says Seth, a play on words. I grab Evan's bottle, deciding to head on downstairs to make Evan some milk. My baby must be hungry. "Just so you know," speaks Seth and I turn my head to look at him. "We will be finishing _**that**_ off," he says and I look awake shyly knowing he's making me blush. I leave and skip down the stairs in a happily manner, biting down on my tongue when I bump into someone.

"Oh, sorry Angelina," I say, knowing if I used her nickname then it'd be another reason for her to hurt me. She glares at me and I try not to look at her, she's very easy to feel intimidated around.

"Are you counting stars in broad daylight that you can't see other people walking around?" Angie questions but I don't answer her and she huffs and walks off. I just shrug my shoulders and carry on making my way to the kitchen, a spring in my step. I don't think anything could ruin my mood. Not today. But then as Seth's words come back to my mind I start to feel panicked. As I make Evan's milk I use the house phone and call Ariana's cell.

" _Hello,"_ says Ariana into the phone.

"It's me Iris," I tell her, whispering so no one can hear me. "I know you wanted to talk but I'm kind of busy right now with Evan. Can we set a time to have a word? I need to talk to you about something," I say to her, cooling Evan's milk after testing it on my hand.

" _Yeah sure,"_ says Ariana. _"How about I call you at around five o'clock your time?"_ she suggests.

"That'd be great," I tell her. "Are you wanting to talk about Dean?" I ask her.

" _And you Seth?"_ she asks me and I nod my head as if I'm actually there. _"Ok, best make it four o'clock. We're going to have a lot of shit to get through,"_ she says which I agree with. Something she is right about. It would be so much easier if she was here, I wouldn't need to set a time to talk to her. It's so awkward and everything as well since we're in different time zones. But hopefully we'll have enough time without interruptions to sort through our problems.

* * *

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	9. Picnic In The Park

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Hope you all like the next chapter! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! Your give off words of encouragement! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: I know! I'm glad you think so! :)**

 **Calwitch: I do think it is insecurities more than anything else. He is isn't he? I bet Iris is glad she gave him a second chance! Dumbass. Hahaha! You make me laugh! And I thank you for bringing something else to my muses! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 9:**

"Thank god," says Seth as soon as I walk into the room and hand him the bottle. "I was afraid I'd have to decapitate one of my fingers," he jokes which makes me chuckle.

"Where did you go in the morning?" I ask him, sitting down on the other side of Evan. Evan just looks more and more perfect to me. I suppose every parent thinks like that. I really do wonder what it'll feel like to have another child. I'll probably think they're both perfect then.

"I, uh, I went to sort things out with Nicky," replies Seth. "When I used to be around we'd both go for a jog in the morning through the park on the other side so I kicked him awake and told him he was coming with me," he says, looking at me guiltily as he says the last part. He can be so evil sometimes.

"Seth Rollins," I reprimand, knowing how hard to get through a hangover is.

"Don't worry, he took it like a man," comments Seth and I shake my head. "I talked to him, apologized which he was very surprised at and we got to talking. It turns out," he starts but I put both my hands in the air.

"I don't want to hear it," I tell him. "Your brother has trusted you with some personal feelings and I don't want to know about it. You're keeping those lips shut mister," I instruct him.

"He knows I don't hide anything from you," states Seth, looking at me as if I'm the crazy one.

"But he didn't tell you what he did so you can come and blab it to me," I say, shaking my head. It makes me wonder whether Seth and the others talk about me and Ariana. And if they do, what do they say? "But on a slightly different note, is everything ok?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah, they're just going through a rough patch," says Seth. "He's not taking it well though". Every couple goes through rough patches. If they get past it, it means they can make it. Like Dean and Ariana. They had to get through what Seth did to both of them. But they've lasted. Or even me and Seth. The drama before, during and after the pregnancy. Hmm, what is defined as a rough patch? Ok, getting off topic here.

"Maybe we should invite them over," I suggest. "Him and Macy," I clarify but Seth doesn't look too keen on the idea. It might do them some good if they're distratced by others and focus on the more positive things in life.

"I'm not sure, you know how everyone is," says Seth and I nod my head. Angie is only civil to me because everyone else is alright with me, god knows what she'd do to Macy. Actually, the question should be what has she done to Macy?

"Yeah you're probably right," I say, thinking about what else we could do. "How about we double date?" I then suggest and he actually seems to be thinking about it because he doesn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

"Holy hell that's a great idea!" exclaims Seth and moves forward pecking my lips. "You're the nicest person I know so I'm sure you won't make any remarks," he says. "Hang on a sec, what if she says something to you?" he asks me and I shake my head.

"I can take it," I tell him. I've been living with Angie haven't I? Although, I don't tell him that. It'll just put him in a foul mood.

"You sure?" asks Seth and I nod my head.

"Anything for Nicky," I say, already seeing him as my little brother. I bet once we get to know each other more me and him will end up ganging up on Seth. I can already see him coming to me to complain about Seth when they argue or something. "How about we take Evan to that park?" I then suggest which Seth thinks is a good idea. "Oh, I'll go ask Rose if she wants us to take the girls," I then say and leave the room as Seth starts to change Evan's nappy. I'm so glad Seth is Evan's dad, he's so hands on with everything. If it was anyone else I doubt they'd willingly change his nappy. "Hey Rose?" I say, popping my head around the door, having noticed it was open.

"Yeah?" asks Rose, looking up from the magazine she was reading.

"Are the girl's still asleep?" I ask her and she nods her head. "Oh, well after breakfast me and Seth are taking Evan to the park. You want us to take them along or if you want you can come too," I say she enthusiastically nods her head.

"Not to be a bitch or anything but I'd love it if you could take them for a while just so I can get some peace and quiet," says Rose, getting up off the bed as I nod my head.

"Sure, it's got to be hard what with being pregnant and all," I say to her and she nods her head, thanking me for understanding. "What do you think they'd like for breakfast today?" I ask, feeling in the mood to cook breakfast today for the little ones.

"Waffles," answers Rose without even thinking about it. "They were walking about it last night, apparently they're going to ask you this morning if you can make waffles," she says with a smile. So Lacey and Lily are planning away.

"Oh really?" I ask with a smirk. "Maybe they'll wake up through the smell of waffles," I say before leaving and going back to my room. I see Seth has Evan all dressed and tell him that he can come down and watch me make breakfast with Evan. "It'll be like watching a TV cooking show, live," I say in excitement not knowing why I'm so pumped up but Seth seems to find it amusing.

"And you ask what Mama would look like if she's high (!)" I hear Seth say as I try and find everything I need. I can only imagine what Seth talks to Evan about when I'm not around.

"Lucy!" I call out, seeing her walking by. She comes into the kitchen as Seth just sits and watches me, keeping Evan in his basket on top of the table, turned my way so that they're both watching me. "Do you have a waffle iron?" I ask her and she rummages around, finding one for me. "Thanks," I say once she plugs it in and I turn it on.

"No problem," says Lucy, waving a hand in the air. "I'll go around waking everyone. I don't know why they need me when they all have alarm clocks which they don't use," she says with a chuckle which makes me laugh. Unlike last time, I make heap loads of batter, knowing exactly that if she's gone to wake everyone up then I'll need to make sure I have enough.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"What's going on?" asks Mason, seeing all his family standing just around the corner where the kitchen is. Rose puts her fingers to their lips and they continue to eavesdrop on Seth and Iris who are completely unaware that they are being listened to. "Oh, my kind of game," he whispers and joins in with his brother, Anne, Rose, Damien, Nicky, Marie and Annette.

"So, what do you think of my family so far?" they all hear Seth ask Iris. They all should feel ashamed for eavesdropping but they heard Iris and Seth playing a game and found it cute now they couldn't move till they found an opening to actually come into the kitchen. Listening in on a conversation about themselves was an accident.

"I think they're crazy," Iris replies to Seth's question which makes him chuckle. Although, none of the family members that were listening seemed too happy as they all exchanged looks. "They're exactly how I envisioned a family being," she says which then surprises them all. "Anne treats me as if I'm her daughter, she's actually treated me better than my own mother," she says which warms Anne's heart as she starts to feel guilty for doing what they're doing.

"Well compared to your Mum anyone's a saint," comments Seth. He still hasn't mentioned what Andrea had done when Iris was in a coma but she still hadn't asked and although he was curious, he wasn't _**that**_ curious to open up that can of worms.

"Seth, no nasty comments, alright?" Iris asks of him, she knew her Mum wasn't a good Mother but she didn't want to have to constantly bring it up. "I'm sure Anne has taught you not to talk like that but you continue doing it anyway. I'm surprised she hasn't hit you on the head with a baseball bat," she says and everyone stifles their laughter.

"Ok, so you like Mom. What about everyone else?" Seth then asks, keeping one hand on Evan.

"Well, I had fun shopping with Rose, you were right when you said we would get on like a house on fire," says Iris and Rose places a hand over her heart, happy with what she's hearing about herself. "Marie's sweet, quiet but sweet. I see her as the Aunt that would come out after you've done something naughty and hand you a bunch of sweets," she explain and Marie leans into Mason's side, happy with what's said about her as well.

"Yeah but Uncle Mason? He's a bit full on isn't he?" asks Seth but Iris chuckles and shakes her head. She takes out the next batch of fresh waffles and puts them on a plate.

"He is," agrees Iris and Mason makes gestures to strangle Seth. "But he's like an older version of Dean, don't you think? And we both love Dean," she says. "Besides, if he was boring I bet that would probably not sit well with you," she then adds on.

"You'd think she was the one we're related to," comments Mason and everyone signals for him to shut up.

"I don't think I should actually be saying all this, I've only known them for a couple of days," Iris points out to Seth as all the family members look on in worry, enjoying what they were hearing.

"Forget that, your first impressions are almost always right," says Seth, wanting to talk more to Iris about his family. It was important to him that she liked and accepted them all. "Now, Nicky".

"Nicky, well last night tells us everything," says Iris, shaking her head disapprovingly as all the family look at Nicky with a disapproving look, especially Anne. "He's reckless, irresponsible and I wouldn't trust him to be all alone with the kids," she says and Nicky sighs to himself. He really wanted Iris to like him because he thinks she's very cool. "But, he has a good heart. That boy wears his heart on his sleeve and I hope to god it doesn't backfire on him. You know what's funny? I don't know much about him but I can already see him coming to me whenever he disagrees with you on something," she tells Seth and Nicky's face lights up like a Christmas tree. "I would have loved to have grown up with a younger brother like him, or an older sister like Rose. Would have made life so much more easier," she says and Seth gives her a silent smile.

"You had Ariana though," Seth points out to her and Iris smiles, nodding her head. "Given her range of emotions I'm sure you've encountered us all," he then comments cheekily.

"Seth Rollins, stop saying such things about people, especially my best friend," Iris reprimands him. "Now, lets stop this and get back to our game. Orange," she says, getting back to what she was doing.

"Banana," says Seth and all family members look at each other confused.

"How…?" Iris trails off and puts her hands in the air. "Never mind. Sweet," she then gives her reply.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" asks Angie, making everyone jump as they shush her.

"Iris," they hear Seth say and everyone apart from Angie says 'Aw'.

"Slick Seth," comments Iris, making everyone smile without even knowing it. "You need to stop saying my name when words like that come up," she says as Angie taps her foot impatiently.

"They're playing a very cute game," Rose tells Angie.

"Can't help it if it's the truth," says Seth, making Iris blush as they both stare at each other.

"I'm going in," says Angie and everyone tries to stop her but they're not successful. "Morning bro," she says and sits down next to Seth, turning Evan to face her as she gets a good look at him.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I'd be lying if I said this wasn't weird. But it is. Angie is so friendly with my son and then when it comes to me, I'm the devil's advocate. But, I told Seth that I'd try and win her over as best I can. Or at least earn her respect by the end.

"Morning," I say, smilingly sweetly but Angie just ignores me. It doesn't bother me in the slightest as I start to take my apron off, having finished making all the waffles. It took a while but I eventually got there. "I'm going to go see why everyone's gotten held up," I announce and Seth gives me a small smile. Just as I'm about to leave they all come in, together. I get a choruses of 'Morning Iris' as they all sit down. "Where are the girls?" I ask Rose. Before she has a chance to answer though both Lily and Lacey come running in.

"Waffles!" both girls shout excitedly and take their seats. Rose comes over and helps me with serving everyone, along with Lucy. I'm glad I have an extra pair of hands otherwise the food would be all cold by the time it reached everyone's mouths.

"Whoa, Iris if you continue cooking delicious food like this then I will put on about 50 kilos," says Mason as I take the plate form in front of him and laugh at what I am sure is meant to be a compliment.

"I can always cook something more healthy for you, you know," I comment cheekily.

"And break my heart? Iris, we've only known each other a couple of days," says Mason as I laugh out loud, clearing the table.

"Will you leave the poor girl alone?" speaks up Marie. "What is wrong with a simple thank you?" she questions him and he makes a face at which his wife shakes her head at him.

"It's not normal where he comes from, right Uncle Mason?" says Seth but Mason just gives him a don't-talk-to-me look.

"Well we all know what _**you**_ think of me," comments Mason snidely and then shouts, "Ow!" I notice Marie glaring at him but don't have the time to question it because I go back to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

"And what does that mean?" asks Seth and I look over there wanting to know the answer.

"It means whatever it means," says Mason, not making any sense as per usual. Seth just rolls his eyes and gets back to playing with Evan.

"Girls, why don't you go upstairs and grab your jumpers? I'm sure by then Aunt Iris and Uncle Seth will be ready for you," says Rose, it warming my heart that she'll allow them to call me 'Aunt', considering technically I am not. "Iris, why don't you go gather everything you need, I'll sort the rest out," she says and I nod my head, going upstairs. I put everything I need into a bag as I try and sort out my mind. I just don't understand why Seth hasn't told me about Isabel yet. We share absolutely everything now. Maybe he doesn't think it's important. But if he was in my place I'm sure he'd want to know so I'd think he'd want to extend the same curtsy.

"Babe, you ready?" I hear Seth ask and nod my head from where I am. "Ok, I'll be downstairs with the girls," he says and leaves from there. The worst thing about all this is all he has to do is look at me and I'll forget absolutely everything. It wasn't till now that I remembered Isabel. He knows about every single one of my relationships, I went into grave detail when we first started going out. But then again, he technically never went out with Isabel. So he doesn't have to tell me. I think I'm thinking about this too much. I get up with the bag and head downstairs, going to the doors where Seth is talking to the girls, Evan in the stroller in front of him. "Here she is!" he suddenly exclaims.

"Race you to the front!" both girls shout at the same time and I laugh. I put the bag on the stroller and smile up at Seth who's just staring at me.

"What?" I ask, starting to feel a little self conscious.

"You're beautiful," says Seth which makes me blush and smile at the same time. "Come on," he says, gesturing for me to put a hand on his arm. I do so as he pushes the stroller out and we see Lacey and Lily waiting for us outside. It's a nice day today, quite warm. We walk to the park because it's not that far. The girls are ahead of us, giggling and laughing and Seth is talking to me about Evan and how he's going to turn him into a wrestler. Once we get to the park, Seth pulls out a blanket and places it on the ground.

"What's this?" I ask him, thinking we were going to go for a stroll.

"Well, I got Rose to pack us some lunch so we could turn it into a picnic," answers Seth, gesturing for me to sit down with him and I do so. He takes Evan out of the stroller and places him on the blanket. I lean against Seth as we watch Lacey and Lily play tag. I actually think this is rather perfect. We spend most of the morning playing with the Frisbee the girl's brought with them. It was rather funny because they're still learning how to play it and would get the cutest sad faces on whenever they were unsuccessful in catching the Frisbee.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I am so mad at Dean and my anger boils whenever he's not around but as soon as he walks through the door I act like one of those stupid girlfriends who takes way too much care of her boyfriend. Not in the sense I do everything for him, I just keep asking his opinion on a lot of things. I make sure we have food from wherever he wants to order. Like as if that'll get him to stay if he is cheating on me. I don't think I can take this anymore. My head's going to explode.

"You alright?" asks Roman as I sit on the couch, massaging my head. Al this thinking and worrying is not good for me. But what else can I do? It's not like Dean's telling me what's going on. All he keeps saying is 'I went for a jog'.

"I'm fine," I say, moving to lie down on the couch. "Just go to the gym without me, I don't feel too good," I then go on to say. I just need some relaxing time which I don't get in between training, matches and signings. It's a lot of work.

"Ok, but make sure to take some aspirin and relax," says Roman. I nod my head and hear the door close, keeping my eyes shut. I know Roman even thinks something is going on, he's just too polite to ask. Plus, he knows me and Dean always sort out our shit on our own. Which is what we need to do. Without even realising it I end up falling asleep. The next time I wake up, I hear Dean's voice.

"Yeah, ok I'll be there," I hear Dean say and slowly open my eyes to see his back turned towards me. He's on the phone. "Look, I'll see you tomorrow and till then we're just gonna have to find a way around it. Can't wait to do some more," he says, my mind immediately going into overdrive. Is he going on about having sex with whoever's on the other end? No. I refuse to let Dean leave me that easy. I quickly close my eyes when I see him hang up. I try and stop the smile that threatens to loom my face when I feel soft hands caressing my forehead. I pretend to wake up for Dean's sake and a smile overcomes his face. "Hey, you feeling better? Roman told me you weren't too well," he says in concern. This is my Dean.

"Ok, I think. Just a headache," I say in an almost croaky voice. I move to sit and Dean helps me up despite me being capable of doing it. And for the first time I don't tell him I have that capability. I guess this is my way of seeing his feelings for me when I'm so unsure of them.

"Did you take any aspirin?" asks Dean and I shake my head with a guilty look. "Oh yeah, you're superwoman (!) How did I forget?" he says, getting up and finding some aspirin. Handing me a bottle of water. I take is and stare at him watching me as I do. "You'll feel better, just take some rest. No more running around for a while," he orders me and I nod my head. "Come on, lie back down," he then says and find myself nodding my head again.

"Dean?" I say his name and he stops trying to help me lie back down. "I love you," I let him know and hope that he's not doing what I think he's doing behind my back.

"Love you too," says Dean and moves forward, kissing my forehead. This is the closest I've felt to him for days now. He helps me lie down and even grabs me a blanket, sitting with me till I fall asleep again. I have to trust that he loves me. When he tells me, I get Goosebumps. It's real. What we have is real. I really do love him and I hope that he understands just how much.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Girls, come over for lunch!" I call them both and Lacey and Lily run over as fast as they can. They remind me of me when I see how excited they are about things, I think they get that off their mother. It turns out Rose packed us some nice looking sandwiches and some cool drinks.

"Aunt Iris, Aunt Iris," says Lily, running up to me later on.

"Yes," I say, looking at her as she comes over and just ends up sitting in my lap. "Look, Lacey messed up my hair," she says, referring to one of the ponies on her head.

"I didn't mean to!" shouts Lacey, running over too.

"It doesn't matter girls, I'll sort it," I reassure them both. I take off the hair tie in Lily's hair and run my hands through her hair as I gather it all together. I think I'd love to have a daughter one day, I could dress her up in so many neat things. I could even style her hair in so many different ways. "There, all done," I say once I finish tying her hair back up again.

"Yes, thanks Aunt Iris!" says Lily and gives me a kiss on the cheek before running off to the swings with Lacey. I look over to make sure they get on alright and stay on.

"Those girls absolutely adore you," comments Seth from where he's sitting, leaning back on his hands. "They really do, they've never taken a shine to anyone like they have with you," he says.

"You're just saying that," I say, sitting on my knees as I keep my eyes on them. I hope neither of them fall or anything, from what I can tell they can get quite feisty sometimes with each other.

"I'm not," says Seth in protest. He moves over and sits closer to me. "They love you just like I do," he says in my ear and then places a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Really?" I ask, turning my head to the side and his lips are mere inches away from mine.

"They've never called anyone 'Aunt' before," Seth points out. "Even Macy doesn't have that privilege yet," he comments and I look back over at them both as they play.

"They're great girls," I comment and Seth puts one arm around me.

"Yeah they are," says Seth, pulling me close and kissing the side of my head. "Can't wait to have our own," he mutters to himself but I don't think I was supposed to hear so I carry on as if I didn't hear him. So he's thinking about having more kids with me. I'm pretty sure we're doing all this backwards. Having a kid and then professing our love, thinking about more kids and not even really living together. We haven't even had a chance to talk about living arrangements. Or my going back to work or anything. I guess we have a lot to talk about but for now, I'm going to enjoy this.

* * *

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	10. Boy Troubles

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks as always! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Hahaha! Yeah, they are cute. Another kid would just add on to the cuteness :)**

 **Calwitch: Ooh, deep breath means serious business. Yeah, Angie is being kept out of the equation for now. Maybe he doesn't realise how he's treating her. That is something, your imagination running wild again. But since they've both been together for a long time, it wouldn't make sense for her to up and leave, would it? Ha ha, keep breathing love! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 10:**

Once we got home later on I realized that it was inching closer to when Ariana said she'd call me. I decide that I have to make sure I'm somewhere private, there's no way I can have anyone hearing our conversation. I decide to sneak into mine and Seth's room and pace the room, waiting for her call. Once she calls I quickly answer my phone.

"Ok, let's get down to business," I say, sitting down on my bed.

" _Whoa, someone's eager,"_ comments Ariana but it doesn't bother me. I just need to get things off my chest and I know for sure that Ariana will never tell another soul unless it's life or death which this has nothing to do with. _"Do you want to go first?"_ she asks me.

"No, you go," I say with a sigh. "I have a few things lined up and I just know it's going to take five billions years to talk about," I tell her and then hear her sigh.

" _I think Dean's cheating on me,"_ says Ariana which shocks me to my very core. Did she just say what I think she just said? Dean Ambrose cheating on her?

"What?" I ask, not being able to say anything else, that's how much her conclusion has shocked me.

" _Everything was fine but for the last few days he's been distant,"_ starts Ariana and I cross my legs on the bed as I listen. There's no way Dean would cheat on Ariana, he loves her too much. Heck, he asked her to marry him. If that doesn't scream commitment I don't know what will! _"He's been distant, ignores my calls and just the other night I could smell some very girly perfume,"_ she explains. _"You know, that Chanel crap you wear,"_ she adds on with disdain.

"Thanks (!)" I say, taking that one on the chest. "To be honest, he could have gotten that on him by bumping into someone. And you guys are on the road, maybe the whole wedding and everything is taking its effect?" I suggest to her. I've never known Dean to not take Ariana's calls but that doesn't mean he's cheating.

" _That can't be it,"_ says Ariana. _"I'd be more than happy to elope but Dean wants to give me a nice big wedding. And I haven't been one of those brides that goes bat shit crazy,"_ she defends herself. _"Heck, I haven't even looked at any bridal magazines,"_ she adds on as I roll my eyes. I've looked at bridal magazines over the year and I've not even come close to getting married. Well, there was the one-time Rick proposed but I couldn't say yes for a lot of reasons.

"You need to set a date first," I point out to her. They set a date before but I scuppered their plans, now they need to set another one.

" _No, I need to find out what the deal is with Dean first,"_ Ariana corrects me which I guess is true. She can't go into full wedding mode if something fishy is going on. _"What do I do? I know if I ask him he'll deny it and say nothing is up,"_ she then tells me.

"Since when would any guy confess to cheating, whether it be Dean Ambrose or not," I comment. Seth never did till I caught him. "But, if I had to put my money on it I would go with he's hiding something but not cheating". I've known Dean for a long time now and there isn't anything in this world that could make me think that he's cheating on my best friend. For a long time, he couldn't get past what Seth did to me so he would never do that to someone else.

" _And how can you be so sure?"_ she questions me in a curious manner.

"Because from previous conversations that I've had with Seth, Dean has spent countless of hours talking about you," I explain to her. "Apparently he can name more than fifty great things about your hair, compare any girl to you and point out another thing that's apparently perfect about you and describe the exact colour of your eyes in the sun, rain, snow and night," I finish. I wish I wasn't serious but I am. Dean Ambrose is a big softy when it comes to Ariana.

" _You're fucking kidding me right?"_ asks Ariana which makes me chuckle.

"Believe me, I thought Seth was lying at the start but even I could tell no one could come up with so much on the spot," I say. Ariana's so lucky Dean's so in love when it comes to her.

" _Great, I'm marrying a sap (!)"_ she comments, letting out a chuckle afterwards.

"Ari!" I reprimand her. "Don't be so mean. Besides, I've been subjected to numerous hours of you talking about Dean's blue eyes, his abs and his crazy styled wrestling ability. You're both as bad as each other," I point out to her. But when you're in love you can't help but just talk about the person you love. Everything about them is just so endearing.

" _Still doesn't solve my problem,"_ she mutters which makes me sigh. _"If he's not cheating then what is he hiding? And why does he need to make me feel like he's going to break up with me any minute?"_ she questions for which I have no answer to. It must be really horrible for her to feel like that. Even if Dean doesn't intend on making her feel this way, he has.

"You've forgotten one very important thing in this whole ordeal," I state, something else coming to mind about how I can encourage Ariana from where I am right now.

" _What exactly can that be?"_ asks Ariana, sounding disinterested.

"You're Ariana," I point out to her. "You're acting like a little lost girl unsure of what to do when there's only one thing you do in these kind of situations," I explain to her. "I don't know about you but if there's something I know it's that you would never take any of this crap lying down!"

" _You're right,"_ Ariana agrees with me after a few seconds.

"If there's one thing I know it's that in a situation like this you'd march right up to Dean," I start. "You'd question him and if he doesn't give you the answer you want then you'd tell him to-" I get cut off because Ariana decides to finish the sentence for me. I think I might have encouraged her to much there.

" _I'd tell him to fuck off and find me when his head's out of his ass,"_ Ariana finishes and I smile when I hear the determination in her voice. _"Oh, let me see him next and I'll show him that he can't go around doing shit like this and expect me to put up with it,"_ she continues and I feel as if a rant is about to go on. But she needs to let it out. _"And if he expects me to put up with shit like this then I'll gladly tell him where he and his engagement ring can fucking go!"_ she exclaims as my smile falls. Did she just say engagement ring? I wanted to pump her up not cause a bloody war.

"Whoa there, I'm all for charging with a sword but don't take it too far," I tell her. The last thing I need is for Dean to yell at me for putting ideas into his girlfriend's head.

" _Oh, sorry. I, uh, kind of got carried away,"_ she mutters. _"But thanks for that Iris, I always feel a million times better after I talk to you,"_ she says as I laugh at her rant.

"Me too," I say, already having forgotten about all the problems here for a second.

" _Right, so your turn,"_ says Ariana and I let out a loud sigh. _"You guys just got back together, what could have already gone wrong?"_ she asks me and I know this isn't going to be pretty.

"It's not all bad, some of it's just things I'm nervous about," I tell her, purposely keeping my voice low. The last thing I need is someone listening to what I say and feeding all of it back to Seth. I mean, it's embarrassing. "Ok, well you know I'm having to deal with everything to do with Angie right?" I ask her.

" _Yeah and you decided to take it on the chin and win her over with your niceness, right?"_ she says. That having been the advice I got given by Ariana not too long ago.

"Exactly," I say and then think back to all my encounters with Angie. Each one just seems to be getting worse. "The update is; she doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. So on that front we're looking kinda screwed," I tell her. I don't understand why she hates me so much. I haven't given her a reason to hate me.

" _Just give it time Iris, don't try and push her,"_ advises Ariana. The last thing I want to do is push Angie but at the same time, I can't be expected to continue on like this. Pretty soon, Seth will erupt like a volcano. I wouldn't blame him either. I had to support him through getting in the good books of Ariana and Dean again. The difference between the situations is Seth had done something wrong, I however have not.

"Believe me when I say the comments are getting worse," I tell her. "I just hope Seth can keep his cool because he was this close to saying something to her. I had to stop him from actually going through with it," I explain and then lie back on my bed. "As if that wasn't bad enough, Anne threw Evan a party and Rose since she's pregnant," I say, thinking about Isabel now.

" _Rose is pregnant? Why the fuck didn't she tell me?"_ questions Ariana, sounding horrified. _"Oh, that cow is going to get a very nasty text message,"_ she comments which then makes me laugh.

"Can we please get back to the topic at hand?" I ask her and she agrees so I thank her. "Anyway, at that party I met Isabel. Do you know her?" I then ask her. If Ariana knows her then maybe I can see things from a different perspective? Or at least stop worrying as much as I am.

" _Oh yeah, that blonde chick that grew up next door right?"_ asks Ariana and I nod my head as if she's actually here with me right now, something I would prefer at the moment. Things always seem better when I face them with her. But, I don't think she could measure up to having Seth by my side right now.

"Yes," I say with a big sigh.

" _Ok, how could she be a problem?"_ questions Ariana. she asks me. _"She's married and taken so why is that a problem?"_ So Ariana doesn't know about what's been happening.

"Because she's divorced," I answer her. "All I know about her is that she grew up with Seth and apparently he liked her for a really long time. And also, they're perfect for each other," I say the last part with disdain in my voice. Well I'm not going to be happy about it now am I?

" _Stop being so melodramatic Iris,"_ Ariana tells me off this time. _"I was just told she was a next door neighbour, grew up with Seth and then moved away once she got married. The last time I saw her, she was celebrating her anniversary,"_ she lets me know.

"Some women were talking and going on about how Seth is all she talks about, I don't like that," I let it be known. "Why can't she think about a guy who's not someone's boyfriend?" After such a long time me and Seth are finally in a place where we're content with our lives and each other. I don't want anything messing that up and something tells me Isabel will be doing exactly that.

" _Aw, jealousy sounds so cute on your right now,"_ comments Ariana.

"I am not-" before I can finish my sentence though I am cut off.

" _Oh please, don't even bother denying it,"_ says Ariana. _"We're miles apart and I can hear it in your damn voice. And Iris, spying on people? Really? What happened to the lecture you used to give us on privacy?"_ she questions and now I feel annoyed. She's using my own lines against me!

"Privacy is thrown out the window when it comes to the love of my life!" I say and then shut up as I realize just how possessive I've gotten. Not sure if that's a bad thing. I think it's part of the reason that drove Seth away in the first place. But I can't not be protective of the things I hold dear.

" _Ooh, someone's got the love bug,"_ comments Ariana but I just ignore it. _"Listen, I know things didn't go to plan the first time round with Seth but you're the one that always bangs on about how much he's changed. If he's changed then he won't even be looking at another girl,"_ she explains, having a good point there. I have to have faith in him. Which I do. I just don't have that same faith in other people.

"The problem isn't that she wants him or anything," I say, knowing Seth's with me and loves me. He wouldn't lie to me. "The problem is that he hasn't told me. They were talking and laughing and she was holding Evan for God's sake but he hasn't even told me that he used to have a great big crush on her! That's what bothers me," I explain to her. "This time round its meant to be no secrets but does he really think that this isn't something important he should consider telling me?" It also makes me think if I should be worried about him not telling me.

" _Technically he didn't date her so he doesn't need to tell you,"_ says Ariana very slowly. Wow, Ariana's bringing in technicalities.

"You're taking his side?" I ask her.

" _Again, stop being melodramatic. The poor dude doesn't even know that you know anything, I hardly thing he expects someone to spill the beans to you,"_ she says. That part's true I guess. They weren't technically an item so why would someone mention it to me?

"And what if you were in my place and Dean in Seth's?" I question, knowing this is where she'll crash and burn in her defence of Seth.

" _Ok, fair point,"_ says Ariana and I didn't expect her to say that so quickly. _"But like you told me, maybe you should ask him. Or maybe he hasn't told you because he loves you and that doesn't seem like an issue anymore,"_ she then says.

"It obviously is an issue if those ladies think Isabel wants Seth," I say. I don't want or need anyone trying to mess up my relationship with Seth.

" _Only if you let it, you need to have a bit more faith in your relationship with Seth,"_ she says. _"He may not have told you because there's nothing to tell but if it is bothering you then just talk to him about it. I know he'd only blame himself if you're worrying within yourself and he doesn't find out till later,"_ she explains which actually does make a lot of sense. _"Ok, so plans for tonight. Confront our partners and get them to spill the beans,"_ she states and I nod my head despite her not being there. I really don't want to do it but I'm going to have to.

"There's actually…one more thing," I then say, remembering that's not the only thing I wanted to discuss with her.

" _What now? Does he have an ex that's showed up as well?"_ Ariana asks with a laugh.

"Nope, it's something more personal," I reveal to her. I hate having these conversations. I mean I'm all for girl talk but not when it means said girl is having problems.

" _Ok,"_ says Ariana, sounding a bit confused. _"Is everything alright?"_ she asks me.

"Kind of," I answer her. "You see, now that me and Seth are together again, well he's going to be expecting things. And he's made it very clear that he wants those things," I say, realizing I'm talking cryptically.

" _You mean sex?"_ asks Ariana, being blunt as usual.

"Yes," I say through gritted teeth, only because she sounds amused. It wouldn't be a problem talking to her but I know how she gets. She always finds it funny.

" _You know you can just use the word, sex,"_ Ariana points out but I just roll my eyes. _"Ok, so he's told you he wants sex and you have a problem with that?"_ she asks me for clarification. I know that sounds crazy. I mean, Seth is physically very…very hot. And the fact that we're in a relationship, adds to that.

"He didn't say that directly," I say, thinking back to our conversation and wondering how I can word it so I don't get more red despite the fact that Ariana's on the phone with me. "The thing is, he surprised me in the shower today and we got really close…" I trail off.

" _But…"_ Ariana says, sensing it was coming and right about it as well.

"But I'm really nervous," I admit to her. "Evan interrupted us and then Seth said we'd finish what we'd started but the thing is I haven't had sex since Rick," I then admit to her as well. Even then it wasn't that great. The first time we slept together, I was drunk beyond anything. So much in fact that I don't even remember it.

" _What the fuck? I thought you did it with Dolph?"_ Ariana asks me, bringing up one of the most shameful experiences of my life. Seth got really mad that day. I didn't even know why then but now I do, because he loves me.

"Sex with Dolph was just oral, nothing connected from one person to another," I make that point clear. "I've not done it properly with anyone since Rick and…" I trail off again, biting down on my lip.

" _You're afraid you won't measure up,"_ comments Ariana, understanding me exactly.

"Yes," I say.

" _Iris, I love you but you can be so silly sometimes,"_ Ariana then says as my ears perk up. _"You've been in more relationships than me so if I can keep a man with an insatiable appetite for sex satisfied then so can you,"_ she says. _"It's nothing new with Seth, you've done it all before. It might be a while but once you get into the groove of things I'm sure it'll just…flow"._

"But what if I disappoint him? What if he leaves me?" I question frantically. There I go jumping to stupid conclusions again which I know Ariana will tell me off for.

" _Like hell he will, the guy fell in love with you without you giving him sex,"_ Ariana points out. _"I doubt you can make him leave you by giving him sex_ ," she then says. Now that makes sense too.

"I just don't think I can do it Ariana," I tell her in a worried tone.

" _Hey, sure you can,"_ says Ariana in a softer tone. _"Just trust Seth and everything will be fine,"_ she says.

"What if it's not?" I ask her. "I know I've done it loads of times before with Seth. It should be the same thing but when…when he got close to me, it felt different. Every touch felt different. Every look felt different. Something's changed," I try and explain but fail at doing it properly.

" _Oh, that's easy,"_ says Ariana and I wait for her to explain. _"Before, it was something casual for him. Now, it's just love and that's what's making you nervous,"_ she explains. _"Iris, you always dish out advice but you need to follow the ones you gave out to me. Talk to him or better yet, just do it,"_ she says. I can't just do it. Even though it probably is the best decision to make.

"Thanks for being my best friend Ariana," I tell her.

" _I love you too,"_ says Ariana. _"And besides, I don't think anyone else could handle your craziness,"_ she then comments, making me laugh.

"Or your attitude," I retort which makes her laugh. "Ok, I have to go before they realize I'm missing," I say to her and after our goodbyes we both hand up. I have to say, I feel ten times better after talking to Ariana. I leave the room and go downstairs, seeing everyone chatting just like before. I notice Seth talking intently to Lily and Lacey as they both watch over Evan who's sleeping which makes me smile. He's so great with kids.

"Aunt Iris, is it true that you were sleeping for a whole month?" ask Lacey and Lily together.

"Yes," I answer them, sitting down next to Seth on the couch. Both girls run off, going over to Rose to tell them who knows what. "Seth, I need to talk to you," I tell him straightforwardly. There was no point holding it off for whatever reason.

"Sure, what is it babe?" asks Seth but before I can express my concerns to him, something else happens.

"Hey everyone, look who I ran into at the store!" announces Angie, walking into the living room. I see Isabel isn't too far behind her. I put on a smile as always as we all greet her. Technically, Isabel hasn't said anything about taking Seth and I've always given people the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn't go on hearsay till I actually see proof of it myself.

"Hey everyone," says Isabel in response to everyone's greetings. She looks over at us, more like Seth and sends a small wave. And the buffoon does the same thing with a smile on his face. Fuck, she was right. I am jealous. Even if I try and believe nothing will happen I can't because I am a girl and this is getting to me.

"Excuse me," I say and get up, deciding I need to go into the garden for some fresh air. I walk around the flowers, bending down and touching or sniffing certain ones. I love the way they feel so soft against my skin. I keep my shoes to one side and continues walking, loving the feel of the grass in between my toes. It's quite relaxing. "What the…" I say as I feel myself lifted up from the ground.

"Hey gorgeous," says Seth, surprising me as always. You'd think he couldn't live two seconds without me with the way he acts. But that only makes me love him more.

"What are you doing?" I ask him with a smile on my face.

"Holding my girlfriend as I please," answers Seth simply. He then allows me to find my footing on the ground once more before saying, "We need to talk". Crap, what the hell is it now?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I hang up after talking to Iris and stare at my phone for a few minutes. She's right, I have to talk to him. Just because I think I know how he'll react doesn't mean I should not even try talking to him. Maybe there is a reason he's acting funny. I just need to find out why.

"Have you seen Roman?" asks Dean, poking his head into our locker room door. Silly things like that is why I like him so much. I just need the balls to talk to him.

"No, why, everything ok?" I ask Dean, standing up and looking concerned.

"It will be when I find the Samoan," says Dean and he's about to go when I stop him.

"Wait," I say and he pops his head back in. "Will you come inside instead of acting like a floating head?" I request of him which makes him laugh. He comes in and closes the door behind him.

"Everything ok babe? You've been acting weird," says Dean and that makes my mouth open in shock because I can't believe he just said that. He's the one that doesn't answer calls, reply to messages and disappears to go jogging every two seconds and I'm the one acting weird? The nerve!

"Seriously? You're going with that?" I question, shaking my head at him. I'm about to let loose on his ass when the door opens and Dolph barges his way in.

"Roman and Kane are fighting," says Dolph, out of breath. Without even thinking me and Dean run out of the locker and run to where we hear the noise from, seeing Roman and Kane run around on the floor. Dolph and Dean try to break them up and I go over to where Roman is to make sure he stays back. The last thing I expected was for Roman to fight with Kane, I thought for sure it was Dean.

"You say that again and you're a dead man!" says Roman, pointing his finger at Kane who doesn't look like he gives a rat's ass about that threat. Kane doesn't say anything but growls in response. I see Randy holding Kane back now too and I gesture for Dean to start to push Roman in the direction of our locker room. We pull him away from there and get him into the locker room. I can't solve one problem without another creeping up. Provoking Kane was Dean's job, not Roman's. So, what the heck happened?

* * *

 **Reviews would be great as always! :)**


	11. Isabel

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well!**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: Hahaha! You're going to have to wait a little longer to find out what happens with Ariana! Love you too! ;) Cool, I like being bad! (Hugs back) :)**

 **Daken's sister: Lol! Thanks! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 11:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Ok," I say, acknowledging what he just told me. My palms start to sweat in nervousness, my mind going into overdrive as usual. "What do you want to talk about?" I ask him, tilting my head as I look up at him.

"Isabel," says Seth and my heart starts to beat out of nervousness now too.

"Ok," I say again. "What about her?" I ask innocently, trying not to look to eager about wanting to know what he has to say. But I am. I wonder what he's going to say though. I hope he doesn't say anything I can't bear hearing. Then again, it shouldn't bother me. It's in the past.

"Rose told me you asked about her, at the party," says Seth and I know my entire face just fell. Damn it Rose! I suppose she was making sure it doesn't become an issue between me and Seth.

"Oh," I say, looking down at the grass and feeling embarrassed. "I didn't mean to pry Seth," I start but he puts both his hands on the side of my arms and stops me from saying anything further.

"By all means do," says Seth and I look up at him confused. "We're together now Iris, naturally we'd be curious about each other's lives," he says and I wonder how I got so lucky to have him be so understanding about all of this. "Look, I was going to say something but I thought you might bring it up. When you didn't, I thought maybe you didn't care. Which I guess I was disappointed with but then Isabel came and you left. Am I bad that I kind of liked that?" he asks me. What was I worried about again?

"I guess not," I say, scrunching up my eyes for a second as the sunset hit my eyes.

"Anyway, it does bother you doesn't it?" he asks me as if he's making sure it is.

"Only because I don't know anything about you guys," I tell him. "And then Rose wouldn't disclose anything so it made me think it might have been something serious," I then tell him the truth. That's what's been going through my mind. Him not bringing it up.

"It was at the time," comments Seth. "All my life, growing up, she's been the girl next door," he starts. "I always found her beautiful but we never got the chance to ever try it out. I mean, we kissed once back in high school but she was upset over her boyfriend and I was trying to comfort her as a friend. The next day she was back with her boyfriend so it kind of went down the drain," he explains as I nod my head, intently. "I then left to pursue wrestling and she got married and settled down with a nice job somewhere," he finishes.

"She's the one that got away?" I ask him with a frown.

"Yeah," says Seth nodding his head. "But I am glad that that's what she is because if something had happened between us then who knows if I'd ever be standing here with you," he says and then wraps his arms around me, keeping me close as I rest my head on his chest. "I wouldn't trade how my life is right now for anything in the world," he says, unknowingly making me smile. I guess I love him too much that even the smallest things make me worry.

"Me either," I say, hugging on to him. "Seth?" I say his name.

"Yeah?" he responds.

"Thanks for sharing that with me," I tell him and I feel his grip on me tighten. By all means squeeze the life out of me.

"I love you Iris and I'm going to make sure I always share everything because…I want you to know everything," says Seth and lift my head up and look up at him. "What?" he asks me as I continue to stare at him.

"I'm so lucky to have you," I comment.

"No, _**I'm**_ the lucky one," says Seth and leans down, placing his lips on mine in a gentle kiss. "Is there anything else you want to know?" he asks me and I shake my head.

"You love me, that's all I need to know," I say, realizing I'm fretting too much over everything. I knew it would be hard getting back into a relationship with Seth but we're going to take it a day at a time.

"Good, because I do," says Seth, pecking my lips a few times as I let out a giggle.

"Hey lovebirds, you coming in for dinner?!" shouts Nicky and we both turn to see him standing at the sliding glass doors. His shouting got everyone's attention as they look at him and us.

"Give us five minutes!" Seth shouts back, not showing any signs of letting me go.

"Is that all you need?!" asks Nicky with a mischievous smirk but then he shouts, "Ow!" when a shoe hits his back and he turns around, rubbing the part of his back where it hurt him. "Who threw that?" he questions. "Uncle Mason I know it was you," he accuses him as both me and Seth laugh.

"What are you talking about? I have on both my shoes," we hear faintly from Mason and Nicky disappears inside as well.

"My family is crazy," mutters Seth to himself.

"Me and Evan are sane Mister," I tell him and he bites down his tongue.

"I meant my old family is crazy and my new one is awesome," says Seth, kissing me one more time before taking a hold of my hand and leading us both inside. He continuously whispers stuff in my ear and then kisses my cheek as we make our way to the dining room, making me giggle at the jokes he makes about Nicky and Mason.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What the hell was that Roman?" I question after he finally calms down and sits on the couch. I can't believe he went and attacked Kane like that. Roman doesn't say anything and sits there quietly. "What did he say?" I then ask, having heard the last thing Roman had said to Kane.

"Roman, you're gonna have to tell us. Besides, Stephanie and Hunter are going to want to know," says Dean, being realistic. There's no way they're going to overlook this. I wouldn't be surprised if they walked through the door in the next few seconds.

"He…" Roman pauses and it seems to me as if he's composing himself. "He said things about Iris," he says, his fists sort of shaking. I can only imagine what it is that he's said because Roman doesn't get angry like that for nothing. The comments must have been pretty bad.

"What did he say Roman?" I ask, wanting to know. Iris is my best friend, if Kane's saying anything about her then I have a right to know. Although, it may not be a good idea considering Dean can get pretty angry too since he cares so much about Iris.

"He said Iris is a bitch who deserved everything she got," answers Roman, his eyes burning a hole in the ground. My eyes immediately look at Dean who begins to look just as angry as Roman.

"Whatever you're thinking Dean, don't," I say in an authoritative voice. I'm not having the both of them getting punished by going and attacking Kane. Kane is such a bastard. But none of that's true. Iris most definitely isn't a bitch and she didn't deserve anything that happened to her. I feel my anger rise by the second but I have to control it, for their sakes. Dean looks like he's about to move off and leave when the door opens and in walk Stephanie and Hunter. "Hey guys," I'm the first one to speak, deciding someone has to break the tension.

"Ariana," says Stephanie, sending me a nod. She and Hunter close the door behind her and I can only imagine what they're going to say. "Roman, you want to tell us what happened?" she questions in a soft voice, probably sensing the tension in the room.

"Kane got what he deserved, that's what happened!" says Roman, with a little too much anger because Hunter doesn't look on happy.

"Watch it Reigns," says Hunter and Roman looks away from them both, his gaze returning to the floor. Roman can't do this. I'm going to have to do it.

"From what I gather, Kane made some derogatory remarks about Iris and that caused the fight," I state, deciding not to mention those remarks. The more I think about it and the more Roman and Dean hear it, I know it'll just make everyone more upset.

"Look guys, we meant what we said when we decided any funny business from Kane meant that he's gone," starts Hunter, my hopes rising at the possibility of Kane being fired over this. Roman got in some great punches and Kane gets taken far away from us all. "But, we need to know who threw the first punch," he then goes on to say. We all look at Roman, waiting for an answer. Come on Roman, let them know it was Kane and get him fired!

"Me," answers Roman, looking up at all of us. That's not possible. Roman threw the first punch? Shit! That messes up everything. But I can't blame him. I would have decked Kane too for saying something so disgusting. "I threw the first punch," he states, Hunter and Stephanie looking at each other unhappily. After a few moments of silence, Stephanie speaks up.

"Ok, I'm sorry to say this Roman but I'm going to have to suspend you for a couple of days at least," says Stephanie with a sigh, my eyes closing for a second. Damn it!

"That's not fair!" Dean instantly argues and of course he would. He doesn't realise that us arguing won't resolve anything. They've made their minds up and nothing will change that.

"It might not be but that's what's going to happen," says Hunter, always having more of a rigidity to him than Stephanie. You can never feel like you can argue with him. All of a sudden the locker room door opens up and Paige makes an entrance.

"Roman I just heard…" Paige trails off when she looks around the room and notices Hunter and Stephanie. I think she senses the tense atmosphere because she looks at Roman and gives him a small smile. "I'll, uh, I'll come back later," she then says, closing the door quietly and getting out of here.

"But Kane was the one making those remarks," I justify Roman's actions. We can't leave it like this. Roman would not have done anything had Kane kept his stupid mouth shut!

"I know Ariana, but that's not something we can fire or suspend him for," explains Stephanie which isn't helpful in the least. "We can give him a warning, that's it," she says, both Dean and Roman letting out scoffs. It's not bloody good enough.

"You need to be more careful, did you ever think maybe Kane was provoking you so he looks like the victim?" questions Hunter, giving us food for thought. He gestures to Stephanie and they both leave the room, silence ensuing afterwards. This is not how we wanted things to go.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"This stir fry is amazing," compliments Isabel as she eats the food, as do the rest of us. To be fair, it hasn't been that bad since she's been here. She's been appropriate. It's just me and my mind running off into the wild.

"Thank you," says Lucy and I give her a secret wink. "It's Iris's recipe, she is an amazing cook," she reveals and I shake my head at her. She was supposed to keep that a secret.

"Really? Do you cook?" asks Isabel but someone else decides to answer for me.

"She's been cooking breakfast since she got here," says Mason which makes me chuckle. "If I was a bit younger or she a bit older then oh boy…" he trails off and Seth throws a breadstick at him.

"Seth, manners!" Annette reprimands him as I cover my hand with my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

"He's being completely inappropriate," Seth tries justifying to his Aunt but I've noticed she's very OCD about table manners and etiquettes. It's probably why she's so…kempt.

"I don't think Uncle Mason knows the meaning of the word," comments Nicky with the biggest smile ever on his face. "Now Iris is going to be scared away," he says but I shake my head.

"I find that a great compliment actually," I say and I can tell everyone's looking at me in shock. "But to be honest Mason, you're not my type. I don't go for the desperate ones," I comment coyly as I take a sip of my wine and try not to burst out laughing which is what everyone else does.

"She got you good Mason!" comments Damien, sitting back in his chair in fits of laughter.

"How can you laugh at something like this?" Mason questions his wife as he looks on in betrayal.

"Quite easily actually," says Marie. "Besides, you made the first comment, remember?" she says, throwing a wink in my direction as I give her a smile. This is turning out quite great actually.

"You're fitting in perfectly here," says Nick to me and I'm practically bouncing in my seat now. "You all should have seen Mason back in our college days. He would think he's so smooth, it often baffles me to know how he ended up with a gem like Marie," he goes on to say.

"Got down on his knees and grovelled, obviously," says Seth, making everyone laugh.

"One day Evan will grow up and I will tell him just how mean you all are," says Mason, sitting back in his chair with a pout. "Then I'll show him how to pick up the ladies and when he scores you all will be rocked to you very core," he says, smugness gracing his face now.

"Too late, Dean already took that job," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"How is he anyway? The only guy that ever understood me, so far away from me now like a distant memory," says Mason, staring into space. I give Seth a questioning look but he just shrugs. My guess is Dean and Mason were on one side, the rest of the family on the other.

"Yeah, it'd be fun to see Ariana, Dean and Roman again," says Marie.

"Well they have to work so…" trails off Seth as everyone nods their heads in understanding.

"We're going to have to change that soon," says Rose and I nod my head in agreement. It would be nicer to have them here, just so I feel less intimidated sometimes. Plus, Ariana can sometimes speak better for me when I tend to get really nervous. Especially since according to her my thoughts are so predictable.

"Yes, they were all so lovely," says Isabel. After dinner everyone retreats to the living room and I give Seth the milk bottle to feed Evan. "May I burp him?" Isabel asks Seth and he looks at me as if silently asking my permission which I find ridiculous. Why should it be weird for Isabel to do it if there's nothing between her and Seth anymore?

"You'll have to watch your dress though, this mister has a habit of vomiting unexpectedly," I tell Isabel and she sits on the other side of Seth, taking Evan into her arms.

"Oh, he's so cute," says Isabel as she places Evan against her and starts rubbing his back. "Are you planning on any more kids anytime soon?" she asks which I find quite weird of someone to ask.

"Not really," I say, shaking my head. Why is she asking about more kids? That's suspicious in my eyes. Or maybe she's just genuinely curious and I'm getting the wrong idea? I mean, Seth liked this girl for a reason. It can't mean she's a bad person.

"Now Iris, don't lie," says Seth with a smirk on his face, keeping his arm rested on the back of the couch behind me. "She's already told Roman he's the Godfather for the next one we have," he tells Isabel which makes me go red in embarrassment.

"Really? Are you thinking you want a girl?" asks Isabel, asking too many personal questions for my liking. Maybe she's just a curious human being, that's probably it. She's a nosy parker.

"So I don't get to be Godfather to any of your kids?" questions Nicky from where he was sitting, having heard what Seth said and giving me an exit out of the questions Isabel just asked. I mean I would love to have more kids with Seth but we both know that's way in the future. It still doesn't stop him from making me go red though.

"You're already an Uncle doofus, what more do you want?" asks Seth, making me and Isabel chuckle.

"Anyone can be called Uncle, I want the special title," whines Nicky, kind of sounding like Dean right now. "You'd think he'd give it to his brother," he mutters, looking away.

"Fine, you're Godfather to the third kid," says Seth and I give him a look. "What? Don't worry babe, we'll space out the deliveries," he says, earning a slap to the arm from me.

"If you're planning all this then maybe you should get married somewhere in between all this as well," says Rose, making me blush an even darker shade of red. I glance at Seth who doesn't seem to mind the comment but what I find weird is how Isabel's demeanour has changed. She's…looking, well kind of upset and angry.

"We would but I'm just waiting for Iris to propose," says Seth as a joke, taking it light-heartedly for which I'm glad. We've only just gotten back together and all this talk about baby and marriage is quite overwhelming.

"Charming, you rejected me for that," comments Mason which makes me laugh.

"Don't worry Mason, if it doesn't work out with Seth I may just give you a shot," I tell him.

"Oh no, it's going to work," defends Seth, holding me closer to him. "This little lady is not leaving my side so go steal someone else's girlfriend," he says, waving his hand in the air. I love it when he gets all protective.

"That's hot," I whisper in his ear and see a smirk appear on his face.

"Are you going to tie her up if she ever wants to leave?" asks Damien.

"Nope, I'm going to make sure I never give her a reason to leave," says Seth, having worded his reply very well and I have to say that I am impressed. I've never doubted that Seth's going to try his best the second time around but I love hearing him say just how much he will. I could kiss him right now if everyone wasn't here.

"And that is how I raised my boy," says Anne with a proud smile on her face.

"Oh no!" shouts Isabel all of a sudden and I look at her to see Evan has vomited all over her. Including her dress and her blonde hair. I try not to laugh and take my son off Isabel.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I say, genuinely sorry but amused at the same time. "I did warn you," I say and Seth hands Isabel one of the many cloths that are in a bag near Evan's basket.

"Here," says Seth and Isabel takes it, wiping her dress and trying to get it all out of her hair.

"Why don't you go use the washroom dear?" suggests Annette. "You can get yourself properly cleaned up," she says and Isabel leaves from there. I sit down with Evan and use a cloth to wipe his face.

"That's my boy," says Seth and I know I should tell him off but I just end up chuckling. Ok, maybe the fact that Seth used to like this girl so much annoys me and so I find her a tad annoying as well. Which explains why I wanted to cackle with laughter when I saw what my son had done.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I go into the washroom and look at my appearance in the mirror. Their kid really did a number on me. I don't even know what I'm doing here, I'm a hopeless romantic wanting Seth to just come and say he wants me and then be with me forever and ever. But, hearing what I just have, the last thing he'll want is me. It's wrong for me to come here and hope that Seth will maybe look at me the way he looked at me all those years ago. He doesn't. Heck, he looks at Iris in that way and every time I see him it doesn't seem to be diminishing. It seems to be growing.

"Isabel," I hear a voice, followed by a knock. I open the door to see Angie standing there. I ran into her and she sort of dragged me along here. I didn't want to come but as soon as Seth was mentioned I couldn't control my heart and I ended up coming anyway. "You alright?" she asks me and I nod my head.

"I think so," I say, going back to the sink and running my hands through the water and then through my hair. "That is one heck of a kid," I tell her with a small smile.

"He's my nephew after all," says Angie with a smile of her own. "But, I think you guys looked cute together. You, Seth and Evan. You looked like a real family," she says to me but I just let out a sigh.

"Angie, me and Seth are never going to happen," I tell her as I look at her reflection through the mirror. "He's in love with Iris and she's his real family. She's Evan's mother and you need to accept that because even if Seth and her don't work out, she's Evan's mother and she deserves to be treated with some respect," I explain and see Angie's eyebrows rise in surprise.

"You love him; how can you not fight for him?" questions Angie in argument.

"Because if he was really mine then we'd be together," I tell her, shrugging my shoulders. "Or maybe one day we will but you can't force that. He loves Iris, accept it and deal with it".

"You're telling me this?" questions Angie and then scoffs. "Maybe you need to follow your own advice," she then tells me as I switch off the tap and turn to look at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask her.

"It means that the only reason you came over here was to see Seth," says Angie, hitting the hammer on the head. "The only reason you even came here was when I mentioned Seth. Your eyes lit up as soon as I said his name".

"Ok, maybe that is true," I say, not rejecting anything of what she's just said. "But I can't just automatically not love him," I tell her, running a hand through my partially wet hair. "When you love someone you do what makes them happy. I love Seth but Iris is the one that makes him happy, she's the one that makes him feel special and loved and wanted and she's the one he's dreaming about marrying. Who am I to stand in the way of that? Better yet, who are you?" I ask of her.

"Me? I'm his fucking sister!" exclaims Angie with a grunt. "I'm his older sister and I know what's best for him. He doesn't know who he should be with and it's my responsibility to make him see that in any way that I can," she explains but I just shake my head and turn back around. Grabbing a towel and wetting it, cleaning my dress now.

"You might be his older sister but you have no right to interfere in his life," I tell her. "You should be happy for him, whether you like Iris or not. Because that's what a sister's job is," I explain to her.

"Well maybe if he chose a decent girl then I wouldn't have to interfere," snaps Angie. "That girl is going to break his heart and before she does, we need to make him fall in love with you," she says.

"You're being delusional," I point out to Angie. I turn around once more and face her. "How on earth would she break his heart? He's the one that broke hers! We all know he did something and they had to break up, leaving her heartbroken so on what planet does that even make sense?" I argue with her. "You know what, I've had enough of this," I tell her. "I love Seth and I want him to be happy. I can tell it upsets Iris here and there when I am around so to make this easier on myself and everyone else, I am starting to move on from him by firstly leaving from here," I let her know.

"What?" asks Angie in surprise.

"That's right," I say with a nod of my head. "I am leaving as soon as I get back out and I am going to do something to occupy my time because this isn't healthy for me. I can only wish that you do the same and finally accept Iris," I say, walking out of there and leaving her standing there. I'm doing the right thing, I refuse to turn petty and nasty to try and gain Seth because we all know shit like that never works out for anyone in the end.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"Fine," says Angie, standing all by herself in the washroom after Isabel has left. "If you won't do anything, then I will. You don't want to be with Seth, fine. I'll find another way to come in between these two, there's no way in hell Iris is ever going to become my future sister in law," she says and then hits the sink counter with her fist before walking out of there. Determined to do anything it takes to never see Seth and Iris together again.

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated! :)**


	12. Double Date

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next one guys!**

 **Calwitch: I agree. Well, things will be taking an interesting turn :)**

 **Guest: Well he could but he's probably better off giving Iris and Seth some space with Seth's family. Thanks for reviewing! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 12:**

 **ARIANA POV**

Roman's off the next couple of days and he's decided to spend it by going down to see JoJo. He hasn't seen her in a while and figured he might as well do something productive which is good I guess. He's not really spoke since Hunter and Stephanie said he admitted to throwing the first punch. Right now he's off with Paige for the evening, they're having a nice dinner together. Hopefully that'll cheer him up for now.

Because of everything that happened with Roman and Kane, I never got to talk to Dean. And he's disappeared ever since the incident. I have no idea what he's doing though. No idea what's going through his mind. No idea what he might be planning. Since when did I know so little? That's never how it's been. I just…I can't do this anymore. I can't go through with the headache. He's hiding things from me and we're supposed to be getting married. But we can't get married if he carries on like this. Maybe I need a couple of days to myself. To think about what I want to do. I pick up a pen and paper, writing Dean a note.

 _Dean,_

 _I don't know what's gotten into you these days. You're so different to my Dean that I have no other option than to do this. I love you Dean, so much that this is probably the hardest decision I'm making in my life. I think we should take a break. You're clearly preoccupied with something or someone else. The funny thing is you won't tell me to my face if you're cheating on me. Why would you though? I need time to think things through. To think about if I still want us. Because if you continue acting the way you do then I could never marry you. I'll see you in a day._

 _Ariana_

It may not be the best decision in some people's eyes but I think it's best for me right now. If Dean's too much of a coward to call time on us, then I'll just have to do it. I don't want to but what's the point of trying to hang on to something when he doesn't give a crap? I know Dean loves me, it's in his eyes when he told me the other day. But, maybe he doesn't love me as much as he used to. Maybe he's started to love someone else too. Most of my things are on the bus and they can stay there. I grab a bag and pack the rest of my stuff in the hotel room. Tomorrow is our day off anyway so I won't get into trouble with work. As soon as I can though, I should call Iris. I keep the note in Dean's jacket which he didn't take. I don't want it getting lost anywhere and then him panicking about me having disappeared or anything.

"Ariana?" I hear his voice, surprising me. I thought he'd be back late again. I start to panic and quickly throw my bag underneath the bed, why, I don't know. It was like a reflex.

"In here!" I find myself calling out and then bite down on my tongue. What was the need for me to even let him know I was here? I could have hidden and waited for him to leave. I see Dean come into the room and he gives me a smile. I notice a bag in his hand too. "Listen, Dean I think we need to-" I start but then get cut off by him.

"This is for you," says Dean and that confuses the hell out of me. I was about to say the both of us needed to talk. He holds up the bag and I take it from him.

"What is it?" I ask, seeing an excited look on Dean's face.

"Open it and see," says Dean. I decide to humor him and look inside at the contents. Obviously things aren't going well with me and Dean which is why I'm understandably surprised when I reach in and find a blue dress.

"You got me a dress?" I ask, confusion laced in my tone. Dean nods his head and gives me a smile. "Great, uh, can we talk?" I then ask him. He looks disappointed with the reaction he receives from me.

"You don't like it?" asks Dean and I shake my head. Anything he gives me I always like. Whether it's my style or not, I love it solely for the reason that he's given it to me.

"I love it, it's a nice dress," I comment, his smile widening at what I say. At least what I think still matters to him. "I wanted to talk to you before but couldn't because of Roman," I then say.

"That can wait," says Dean, waving a hand in the air. "Right now, I want you to put on that dress and come out looking all sexy, I want to show you something," he says, throwing the bag to the side, the dress still in my hands. He turns me around as I let out protest which he ignores and places his hands on my shoulders, leading me to the bathroom. "Take as long as you want," he adds on before closing the door. What is wrong with that guy? I decide there's no way out of this unless I do what he asks of me. I get changed into the dress, put on some light make up and run a comb through my hair. Once I'm out, Dean takes me downstairs and into a car, sitting in the driver's seat.

"Where are we going Dean?" I ask as he puts on the engine. He doesn't answer me though.

"Shit, you'll need this," says Dean and before I know it he's tied a blindfold over my eyes. "Do you trust me Ari?" he asks and I nod my head, I always have. "Then sit back and enjoy the ride," he advises and I can just hear the smirk on his face. After a few minutes Dean stops the car and helps me out.

"Dean, seriously, what is going on?" I ask, totally not knowing anything. I mean, he acts like he's going to break up with me, but tells me he loves me and now this? None of it make sense.

"You'll find out, wait a second alright?" says Dean and I find myself listening to him despite my brain telling me to get out whilst I can.

"Dean!" I squeal, feeling him pick me up bridal style, I hear him laugh at my reaction.

"Like I've never done this before," says Dean with another laugh. I keep my hands tightly on him.

"Not with a blindfold," I remind him. I feel him move around a lot before he finally sets me on my feet. He keeps his arms around me and it's a good thing too because the floor here is really slippery. Where the hell has he brought me?

"We've done plenty with blindfolds," comments Dean, making me chuckle. "Keep your hands on me as I take yours off," he says and I do what he says. Once he takes it off I open my eyes and I'm actually in awe of where we are. I look around properly, still keeping my hands on Dean. "Recognize this place?" he asks me with a smirk. How could I forget this place?

"Winter Wonderland," I comment, completely surprised at how he's managed to get a full ice rink even though it's nowhere near Winter.

"Where we had our first kiss if I remember right," says Dean and my smile widens as I look up at him.

"How is this even possible?" I question, still in awe of it all. There's no one even around, just us. Well a couple of other people but I'm guessing they're here to upkeep the rink.

"Believe me it wasn't easy," says Dean and it's at this point that I realize this is what he's been doing all this time. Planning this. But why though? "And you kept giving me the evils because you know I was acting funny, always going jogging," he says with a chuckle and in return I let one out too.

"I can't believe you've done this," I say, still amazed at where I am and what we're doing. The whole rink is decorated with lights and flowers.

"Well believe it," says Dean and then looks into my eyes. Dean leans in close, his lips inches away from mine. "Happy one-year anniversary," he says to me, surprising the heck out of me. One-year anniversary? What? As I think about it, it comes to mind that he's right. We've been together for a whole year today. I didn't even remember! Shit!

"Dean-," I start but he places his finger on top of my lips, silencing me.

"Ssh," says Dean in a whisper. "I know you've been stressed out lately. With everything that happened with Iris and now this whole Kane situation. I didn't expect you to remember and I bet this is the last thing you thought you'd get out of me but I will never forget the day you walked into my life," he says, tears brimming in my eyes as I listen to his words. Without warning I throw my arms around his neck and hold him close. I thought I was losing him when in reality I've gained a whole lot more. Out of the both of us he remembered out anniversary and he's been making plans to try and give me a good surprise and a good night.

"I love you," I tell him, pulling back and looking into his eyes once more.

"I love you more," says Dean, making me us both chuckle. He keeps a tight hold on me and leans down to place his lips on mine, the exact same way he did the night we had our first ever kiss.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"How do I look?" I ask Seth, turning around from the mirror and looking at him but frown when I see him on his phone, paying no attention to me whatsoever. Today is our double date with Nicky and Macy so I'm trying to make an extra effort. If she's anything like Seth has described her then I'll need to prepare myself and get through this somehow.

"Great babe," Seth answers my question, not looking up from his phone. Who is so important right now that he's practically glued to his phone.

"What color dress am I wearing?" I ask him, my hands going on my hips.

"Blue," says Seth and I look down at myself, frowning again.

"Green," I say and roll my eyes. I walk off and go into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. How is it that he can be as sweet as sugar one minute and an idiot the next?

"Iris?" I hear Seth call as I take a seat on the edge of the tub. He must have gotten disturbed when I hit the door that hard. To be honest, I didn't think it would slam that hard. "Iris, open up," instructs Seth but I just shake my head and stay quiet. I'm a new Mother and right now, my looks are the one thing that I have issues with and when Seth acts like this it doesn't help. Neither does it help when Isabel comes around looking so gorgeous. "Iris, come on," he says, sounding impatient.

"I never locked it," I finally say with a sigh and smirk to myself knowing he must feel pretty stupid for not even having attempted to open the door.

"Whoa," I hear and look up to see him looking down at me. I avoid his gaze and look the other way. "What's wrong?" he asks me which annoys me. isn't it obvious. Seth normally is very perceptive but right now he's acting like every other guy on this planet.

"Nothing," I say through a forced smile as I glance up at him for a second.

"Right (!)" says Seth and he takes a seat next to me. He places his hand on mine and I don't move it, one of the many down sides to being in love with him. "How am I going to know what's wrong if you don't tell me?" he then asks, looking at me as I continue to look elsewhere.

"Fine," I say and turn my head to look at him. "Ever since I've had Evan I don't feel like myself anymore. I'm a Mom, something I'm quite proud of. But at the same time, I know I've put on a bit of weight," I start and can see he's resisting the eye roll. "I know that might not mean much and it's all typical of women and whatnot but it's something important to me. I don't…I don't feel as attractive anymore. But when you can't take your eyes off of me, or when you compliment me to no end they're the things that I cling on to. And then tonight, not even a look," I finish explaining, looking away once more.

"That's it?" asks Seth and I roll my eyes. Guys never understand anything like this.

"Seth, how would you feel if you woke up tomorrow and your abs were gone?" I question him. "Instead of abs there was a beer belly, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't have any insecurities whatsoever?" I go on and when I look at him I can tell he finally understands.

"No," answers Seth and I guess I'm happy that he answered truthfully instead of lying or whatever. "But," he then starts and kneels down in front of me, taking my hands in his. "To be honest you were deciding on what to wear for a good two hours. Prancing about in your bra and panties for quite a while, do you know how hard it is for me to see?" he asks me, looking up at me.

"Ok, now you're not making any sense," I tell him.

"Iris, I don't care that you haven't got the same shape you used to have," says Seth. "I fell in love with you whilst you were pregnant. Doesn't that tell you everything you need to know?" he asks me.

"Ok, and what do my bra and panties have to do with anything?" I ask him.

"Oh come on, you're a hot piece of ass!" exclaims Seth, making me go red against my will. "If I continued staring at you I'd probably start to jerk off. You know how hard it is to try and make sure that I don't get a hard on when my beautiful girlfriend is walking around the room wearing next to nothing?" he says as it all starts to make sense to me.

"That's why you weren't looking? You were too turned on?" I ask him innocently, tilting my head to the side. This isn't something I had heard before.

"Yes," says Seth and I start to feel slightly guilty. Maybe if we'd already had sex then this wouldn't have been a problem right now. "But it's not your fault and it's not mine. It's how it is," he states. "Just know that I'd rather be enjoying the show than watching it," he comments, making me chuckle.

"Maybe we should talk about it," I tell him but he shakes his head.

"We'll talk about it when we get back, right now we have to go and meet with Nicky and Macy at the restaurant," says Seth, keeping my hands in his. "But just so you know, I think you're the hottest girl on the planet," he says, winking at me as he helps me to get up.

"Seth I'm sorry," I tell him.

"No, I am," says Seth. "I should have tried to control myself a bit more and made sure to give you the attention you deserve," he says and I shake my head.

"No, you shouldn't have needed to control yourself," I say but he places a hand on my cheek.

"Like I said, we'll talk about it later," says Seth and I move forward and hug him. "What's this for?"

"Because I love you," I say, closing my eyes for a second and taking it all in.

"I love you too cutie pie," says Seth and then pulls away. "Shall we?" he asks, holding out an arm.

"We shall," I say, doing a little bow and hooking my arm with his. He laughs and we make out way downstairs, but not before stopping off in Rose's room and checking in on Evan. We were trying to decide who to leave Evan with but then Rose said she'd love to have the experience of taking care of a newborn as she'd be having one soon and won't get another opportunity like this. Once we check on Evan, we make our way down and get into Seth's car.

"Ok, now she might come on a bit strong," Seth warns me but I just laugh. "You're like this now but you won't be when you meet her," he says with a smirk of his own.

"I'm sorry Seth but I can't imagine her in the picture all of you have painted of her, I like seeing the best in people so I'm sure I'll find something about her that I'll like," I say, humming along to the tune on the radio.

"I know, it's one of the many things I love about you," says Seth and I rest my head on his shoulder as he continues driving. The rest of the drive is quiet and feels very nice. It's always felt right with Seth, never with anyone else. I always felt lost without him but now that I'm with him, I feel like I'm home. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm where I belong. Once we get to the restaurant we look around and eventually spot Nicky and Macy. I can't see her face though; all I see is her back. She has short hair, but it's longer than mine. It's all very straight and not one hair is out of place. Yikes! Although I like the shade of her brunette hair.

"Guys!" says Nicky and stands up to greet us. He hugs Seth and then gives me a side hug. "Macy this is Iris, Seth's girlfriend and Iris this is Macy, my girlfriend," he introduces and as soon as I see her face, I smile. I shake her hand and greet her. Hmm, she is pretty indeed. Seth pulls out my chair and I thank him after which he takes a seat beside me.

"So, uh, what do you do?" I ask Macy and she smirks before answering. Ok, I get what Seth was warning me about. She has an aura about her that makes you feel inferior to her.

"I own various beauty salons," answers Macy. "It's a lot of work, well that's what some people would say but I find it quite easy. I don't know how some people actually manage to fail one business," she says, reading the menu and Nicky looks at me. I instantly give him a smile, oh I bet he's nervous that I won't like her either. If she continues on like this, I might not though.

"Well, I'm a wrestler and that is a lot of hard work," I tell her, reading my menu too.

"I know, I've seen you and you're quite good," she tells me which shocks me because that's the last thing I expected to hear her say.

"You watch wrestling?" I ask her and she nods her head which makes me smile.

"Since when?" asks Nicky looking just as surprised as me and Seth.

"Since always," answers Macy. "You just never asked," she says, picking up her glass of water and taking a sip. Nicky sits back in his chair, seemingly dazed.

"So, who's your favourite?" I ask her, putting my menu down and giving her my full attention. "No pressure, you don't have to pick me," I tell her in a lower voice which makes her chuckle.

"I don't really have a favourite," replies Macy. "But I always get Goosebumps when you have a tag team match with Ariana, they're always something to look forward to," she says to me.

"Yeah, sorry about not giving you any recently but I had Evan inside me so…" I trail off and shrug my shoulders and she nods her head in understanding.

"Yeah, I read an article that said you were doing everyone's hair," says Macy and I nod my head confirming it. "No wonder it didn't look sloppy for a few months," she then muses.

"Gee, thanks," I say with a big smile. Ok, what the hell is wrong with everyone? Macy seems really nice to me. I don't see what it is that they all hate. She seems like she's made of steel but apart from when I first met her, she seems alright.

"Too bad your career choice is wrestling, you could have made me a lot of money," says Macy which makes me laugh and she laughs along with me, Seth and Nicky looking astounded.

"So what got you started into your business?" I ask her eagerly as Seth and Nicky get into a quiet conversation by themselves. It turns out Macy's inspiration was her Mother who would always do her hair in a unique way which impressed and astounded her. After her Mum passed away, she feels like it brings her closer to her Mother which I found very sweet.

"I'm going to quickly use the restroom before dinner arrives," announces Macy as she stands up.

"I'll come with," I say instantly, getting up as well.

"What is it with girls and this particular rule?" questions Nicky.

"We like to make out in there," I joke and laugh at the dumbfounded expression on his face. "Seth, could you please check in with Rose?" I ask him and he nods his head. I bend down and kiss his cheek before leaving with Macy. Once inside the restroom I go into one of the stalls. I flush the toilet and then come out, washing my hands as I glance at Macy who is reapplying her lip gloss. "Cute colour," I comment which makes her smile.

"Thanks, I only wear it because it drives Nicky crazy," says Macy, pausing for a second and then continuing to apply it. I am still so confused on how everyone could hate Macy. She seems perfectly decent. I can't imagine Rose or anyone else, except for Angie of course, disliking her. I use a paper towel and dry my hands, looking at my own appearance. "Are you going to hate me like everyone else?" she asks all of a sudden and I look at her in surprise.

"Excuse me?" I ask, that being the first thing to come out of my mouth.

"Oh come off of it," says Macy and puts her lip gloss back inside her purse. "The only reason you're being nice to me is because Nicky is Seth's brother otherwise like the rest of the family you'd hate me too," she says at which I frown. And everything was going all so well.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say, deciding to play the innocent card.

"I'm talking about the fact that their whole family is nice to my face and then talk behind my back like as if I'm trash," explains Macy and I feel sorry for her. She never asked for this.

"Fine," I say acknowledging that I do know what she's talking about. "But let me tell you one thing, it doesn't matter to me what the whole family thinks. I like making up my own mind about people and so far, I'm impressed. You're young, smart, beautiful, and successful and you have someone like Nicky who I can tell loves you very much so what is there about you that makes me think you are trash?" I say, seeing her look taken aback.

"S-so you weren't coming here to see if I'm a bitch?" asks Macy and I shake my head.

"I only came to see Nicky's girlfriend," I tell her. "Yes, Seth told me you can rub people the wrong way and criticize them which I have to say had me worried but I did come with an open mind".

"He said what?" asks Macy with an angry expression.

"Crap, I shouldn't have said that," I say, looking on worried. "Forget him for a second, you've been really lovely to me tonight so far but what I don't get is why you're not with everyone else," I say.

"I admit I can come off a bit showy and look down on people," starts Macy. "But, it's hard to make people like you when they're constantly judging everything you do. I've been through it before so I make sure I'm at my best and make sure others know. I know that's not been a great thing to do but it's all I know," she explains as I start to sympathize with her. "As for you, you're the first person that Nicky has introduced me to who hasn't given me the stink eye after talking to me for five minutes," she further explains and I give her a smile.

"Because I know what it's like," I tell her simply. "As Damien once said, we outsiders have got to stick together," I say which makes her chuckle. "Just so you know, Seth has agreed to stop doing all that nonsense so maybe just…" I trail off and she nods her head.

"I will," says Macy. "We better get going before Nicky actually thinks we're making out in here," she jokes which has us both laughing as we exit the restroom. Once we get back to our tables we take our seats next to our respective partners and just in time too because our dinner is served.

"What took you guys so long?" asks Seth curiously.

"Oh, my fault," says Macy, putting her hand in the air. "I wanted to try tongue," she says, sending me into hysterical fits of laughter.

"Keep your eyes off this one Macy, she's mine," says Seth, putting a protective arm around me.

"Why? Jealous she might actually like it more?" asks Macy and Nicky and me go about letting out an 'ooh'. Seth joins in and starts laughing with all of us.

"You're alright," says Seth with a nod just before we start eating. I look at Macy and give her an I-told-you-so look and she nods her head in acknowledgement. The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly and we end up going to a dessert place and ordering ice cream.

"And when he goes to the bathroom, he's in there for exactly 15 minutes," says Macy, talking to Seth about Nicky as they compare their notes.

"Not a minute more and not a minute less," says Seth and Macy nods her head.

"Exactly!" exclaims Macy and gives Seth a high five. "The other day he was using my moisturiser," she then says, a hand on the corner of her mouth and whispering it really loudly.

"No way!" says Seth and bursts out laughing. "I swear he's gay sometimes," he then comments.

"You'd think so, but then he gets naked and shows me just how much of a man he is," says Macy, leaning into Nicky as Seth looks like he's been handed horse manure to eat or something.

"And that is where this conversation ends," says Seth, shaking his head and probably trying to get that visual image out of his head, like me.

"Iris, say something to your freak of a boyfriend!" exclaims Nicky and I raise my eyebrows. "He's corrupting my Macy," he says with a pout and I can't help but laugh at that.

"Alright," I say, giving in. "Seth, stop making fun out of your younger brother, it's not nice," I tell him off in a calm way and Seth nods his head, taking another mouthful of ice cream.

"Whoa, dude you're whipped," comments Nicky with an amused expression.

"So if Macy asked you to do something you would decline?" asks Seth and Nicky nods his head. He then looks at Macy and shakes his head. "So, who exactly is whipped?" he then questions with an amused grin.

"So how did you guys meet?" asks Macy, changing the topic of conversation. "Obviously I know how you met but how did it all go about?" she then questions as I look at Seth and all the rocky roads we went through start to resurface.

"It's a long story," I say to her but she just shrugs her shoulders.

"I can eat ice cream really slowly, just ask Nicky," says Macy, throwing a wink in Nicky's direction who starts to look uncomfortable. I'm guessing something really gross happened.

"Well, it all started with Iris checking out my ass," starts Seth in a loud voice and I hit his arm. "What? It's true. I was in the gym and stretching and she was totally checking me out," he says and I go red because that part is actually true. My mind goes back to that day though. The day that I first talked to Seth. What a day that was.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	13. The Talk

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Enjoy as per usual :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Daken's sister: Damn this site! It's always playing up. I thought it might be you but then I thought it might not so didn't assume. How they met? Those were my plans anyway. Well, she's going to be the misunderstood one. I thought you might like it! :)**

 **Calwitch: Thank you very much my kind friend. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. You're going to have to keep reading to find out. Ah, Roman. Maybe this next chapter will show things differently?**

 **PunkShieldGirl: No I didn't! Don't worry, you're coming up my love! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 13:**

 **ROMAN POV**

"Are you going to tell them?" asks Paige, sitting beside me in the airport as we wait for my flight to start boarding. I asked her to come with me and she said I couldn't stop her. Quite flattering really.

"I'm not sure," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I don't know if I should tell any of them. Not Ariana, nor Dean. I doubt Iris and Seth even know what's happened. Ariana calls to check up on them but I've not really spoken to either of them since they left. It's fair to say I decided to give them their space.

"Roman, trust me, when they find out we'll be in the middle of world war 3," comments Paige and with hotheads like Dean and Ariana, she's definitely right. But I'm not sure I can. Everyone thought I flipped the lid when it came to Kane because he said Iris got what she deserved. He did say that. But it's not the only thing he said.

"I can't just tell them Paige, I have to think about it," I say. We don't need another fight breaking out after what I did. It'd suck for Ariana and Dean to even be suspended because they love what they do. And so do I. I know it's just a couple of days but it still sucks. We hear the announcement for my flight and I get up, grabbing a bag of my things.

"Call me when you land," says Paige and I nod my head, leaning down and giving her a kiss.

"Thanks for being so understanding," I tell her and she puts her arms around my torso.

"Of course, you're my boo," she jokes which makes me chuckle. "I'm glad you at least told me, now I don't think you're some crazy caveman," she jokes. When I told Paige what happened she kept digging for more information. I guess everyone knows I have more resolve but when it comes to friends and family, that goes out the window. Paige just senses something was off when we were at dinner and I spilt the beans to her then.

"I'll see you soon," I tell her, giving her one last kiss. I then walk off to go on my flight. A couple of days with my little girl will probably do me a world of good. I need to sore my head out and figure out what I'm going to do. Do I tell my friends or hide the truth?

* * *

*FLASHBACK*

 _ **IRIS POV**_

" _Oh my gosh Ariana, there he is!" I exclaim excitedly, looking at Seth. I had been keeping a close eye on him ever since he'd made his debut in the WWE roster. Him and his cute little butt._

" _A little louder Iris, half America didn't hear you," says Ariana, teasing me as usual. She thought I was being stupid to long for someone I barely know. And she says I'm attracted to him physically. I think I'd be worried if I wasn't though._

" _Do you think he knows I exist?" I ask, sounding like a high school teen but what can you do? Whenever I really like someone, well I act kind of stupid. Ask stupid questions. Squeal like a little kid if something exciting happens. Like when Matt held my hand in class when I was 14. Oh boy, I blushed for hours._

" _Iris, he probably does but like all the other men here, would love it for you to chase after him," says Ariana and we decide to pick up dumbbells. I stand opposite Ariana so that I can keep a good eye on Seth. I'm not a stalker, I promise._

" _Like I care," I say, not caring. Guys are always chasing after girls; why should it be considered a hindrance for a guy to want some attention for once?_

" _Iris, we're here to train. You promised you wouldn't get side tracked by the guys in here," says Ariana, putting down her dumbbells and keeping her hands on her hips, glaring at me._

" _That was before Seth Rollins walked in here with his cute butt," I argue with her and she shushes me. I don't think anyone heard though, they're all too busy with their own training. My gaze, on its own I swear, travels to Seth and settled down on his butt when I see him stretching. Perfect position too._

" _Focus on training," Ariana reprimands me, pointing a finger in my face. I roll my eyes and hand her my dumbbells without warning, walking off to get the water in my bag. I grab my bottle and take a sip, my eyes going back to Seth's butt once more. I stare too long because the next thing I know; I see his head throw me a wink. I quickly turn away and feel my face go red. Damn it! I'm so good at not getting caught too. I go back to where Ariana is and she says, "No! No more training with you," turning around and giving me her back._

" _You're so mean," I state before going off and deciding to use the treadmill instead. I start it on a low speed. Ok, Seth Rollins is in the building. I can't keep my eyes off him and he just caught me staring at his butt. I sense someone get on the treadmill next to me and my eyes widen when I realise it's Seth. I keep a straight face, my mind running a thousand miles an hour about what the hell I should do now._

" _Hi," says Seth and after a few seconds I realise he's talking to me. He laughs when I give him a strange look. Now would be a great time to say something back doofus._

" _Oh, hi Seth," I say, biting down on my tongue immediately. I see the slight smirk on his face. Damn it. I should have said Beth or even Dean instead. Now he knows I know him without even ever having spoken to him. "How are you today?" I then ask him, giving him a bright smile._

" _Not too bad," answers Seth and it seems like he's trying to say something. He doesn't know my name does he?_

" _Do you always pretend to talk to girl as if you know them when you don't even know their name?" I question, that sounding like a real long winded way of stating that he doesn't know my name._

" _Only the really pretty ones," answers Seth, giving me a serious look and not tearing his gaze away from my eyes. I look away and hide the smile that forms on my face. I know, easy pick up line. But it's Seth Rollins!_

" _Iris, come on, we have to see Nattie in about five minutes. Something about a wardrobe malfunction which you know I can't help with," says Ariana and I nod my head stopping the treadmill. I get off and go with Ariana. It's only after we leave the gym that she decides to tell me it was an excuse to get me away from Seth. I thank her because she noticed I needed to get out of there. I didn't know what I was going to do. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest! Quite literally may I add. We head back to the gym ten minutes later. "Don't look now but he's staring at you," she lets me know and unlike other people I actually don't start flapping around like a maniac._

" _What am I going to do? He's going to give me a heart attack!" I complain to Ariana who obviously finds it funny because she bursts out laughing. Which grabs the attention of one Dean Ambrose who looks on at us annoyed._

" _Glare at your face in the mirror you miserable excuse of a human being!" Ariana say to him as we walk by him. I hear him muttering curses but just ignore it. Dean really rubbed her up the wrong way when they first met. He tried it on with her and even went in for a kiss but earned a slap instead. How sweet (!) He totally likes her though. The dude acts all annoyed but you can tell she's really working wonders on him. I bet he's never met a girl like Ariana though. We get back to working out when I end up staring at Seth's butt again and he catches my gaze. I personally think he's doing it on purpose because he knows how much I enjoy it._

" _Enjoying the show?" asks Seth. I turn around and look at him, dumbbells in my hand. I put them down and decide that I'm not going to go off._

" _Definitely," I say with a grin and he laughs which in turn makes me laugh. He picks up the dumbbells I get another great view of his ass. "Damn cute butt," I mutter to myself. Seth then comes and stands behind me, placing them both in my hands._

" _You know, I do private shows for my cute butt," Seth whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I realise he heard what I said and right now I'd be mortified but in this moment, I'm not. Instead, I make sure the dumbbells stay in his hand and move to stand behind him._

" _I'm taking you out tonight. Dinner at 7," I say, not being able to help myself I pinch his butt and leave from there. I look back to see a stupid grin on his face. Well, that session at the gym worked out a lot better than I thought. Oh, I have a good feeling about this._

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"So you guys switched up roles huh?" asks Macy, licking her spoon. "Seth was the girl and you were the guy," she states which makes me laugh but Seth doesn't look amused. Well, I was the one checking out the butt, I'm the one that told him I'm taking him out on a date and I was the one that did the butt pinching. I guess I am.

"And that's why I love this one," says Nicky, leaning over to Macy and pecking her lips but Seth just rolls his eyes and sits back. I rub his thigh in an attempt to make him feel better but I'm not sure if that's worked. And we still have more time on our hands.

"Wow," says Macy as me and Seth finish telling her the rest of the story. "That sounded like a movie you guys," she comments which makes me chuckle. "No, seriously. It had everything. Romance, heartbreak, tragedy, action, humour and even a bit of horror with the whole Kane thing," she points out.

"And you still sit there with a smile on your face," states Nicky, looking at me, perplexed. "That's it," he says and leans forward. "If this guy ever does anything like that again I swear to God he'll get it from me," he says but Seth just rolls his eyes. Nicky's considerable less built than him and so that's so not possible.

"Get in line behind Dean, Roman and Ariana," I tell him, taking a bit of my ice cream. "I can honestly say though that all the crap is over and done with. Now, it's just us," I say, leaning into Seth who puts an arm around me.

"I cannot wait to tell Rose, she'll love it!" says Nicky, looking excited like a little kid.

"You are doing no such thing," states Seth with a steely look in his eye. "The only people in our family who know about it is and now you, so keep your trap shut," he says.

"But why?" asks Nicky, looking upset.

"Because it's private honey," says Macy, shaking her head. "Don't worry, if he so much as blabs Iris, then I'll withhold sex," she comments, an idea Seth approves of.

"Ugh, fine!" says Nicky with an annoyed look on his face. "But you guys are buying me more ice cream," he then says, pointing his spoon at both Seth and me.

"Ok," I say, leaning forward and taking his spoon off him. "Now you listen to me young man," I start.

"Uh oh," says Seth, knowing exactly what's coming.

"That is no way to behave with your brother and his girlfriend," I say to him. "Especially in front of your own girlfriend. You are a grown man so start acting like one, alright?" I finish, having been waving his own spoon in front of his face. Nicky nods his head and I put back a smile on my face, handing his spoon back to him.

"Don't worry Iris, I still like you," says Nicky and I can't help but laugh with the rest of them. Once we finish dessert we part ways and I swap numbers with Macy, promising to see her again some time. Although she was very strict in telling me that it'll be by ourselves or with our boyfriends, no other person. My guess is she doesn't appreciate how everyone has been treating her. I don't think she's the forgive and forget type, she looks like she'll hold a grudge. But who knows, maybe that'll change with time.

"Now, I don't know what kinds of drugs Macy was on tonight but I'm glad she was," says Seth on the drive back home which makes me chuckle. "Honestly, I've never had so much fun with her," he says.

"Maybe you just needed to give her a chance," I tell him, keeping my head on his shoulder. "When we were in the bathroom she told me a few things, of why she acts like she does. And I guess she has her reasons, she didn't give me any details but I'm guessing she has a past," I explain to him.

"We all do," says Seth with a sigh. "Anyways, I'm glad we all got on so well. Maybe next time she's invited to the house she'll be the same," he comments and I smile, nodding my head. I don't think she will. Everyone in Seth's family are really nice but for some reason I don't see Macy opening up to them any time soon. She seemed very reluctant to do that with me and I'm not part of the family.

* * *

"Hey guys," says Rose when we go to her room to take back Evan. I smile when I see him on the bed with Lacey and Lily who are trying to make him laugh by pulling silly faces. "He's such a dreamboat, how do you make a kid like that? I want to know," she says desperately. Seth goes over to where the kids are and I stay at the door with Rose. "How was dinner with Cruella?" she asks me.

"Rose!" I reprimand her. "Don't be so cruel because she was very nice," I then say but Rose doesn't look like she believes it. "We got on like a house on fire, even Seth was joining in," I then say.

"Seth, is what I'm hearing true?" asks Rose, turning around to her brother for a second.

"If Iris has said it then it is," says Seth, not really paying attention. He acts like as if I'm the epitome of truth and honesty.

"See?" I say.

"No, you guys are having me on," says Rose but I just shake my head.

"Nope," I tell her with conviction. "We talked about work, our lives, our guys, absolutely everything. I can honestly say she is nothing like you guys made her out to be," I explain to her.

"Does that mean she hates us?" asks Rose in a confused way.

"No, it means that you'll do what's right and hopefully she'll allow you to see the real her, the one Nicky sees," I say with a small smile on my face. "Tell Seth I'll see him back in our room," I then say, gently patting her arm. Everything would make more sense if Macy did tell me more but it would have been wrong to push her to tell me something when she's not comfortable. I go my room and start to get changed into my nightwear. I put on my flannel pants and top. I like my top, it has a daisy in the middle and I like daisies. They're pretty. I comb through my hair and come out of the bathroom to find Seth lying on the bed on his phone. I wonder what he needed distracting from this time.

"Oh, you're done?" asks Seth and I nod my head. I lift up the covers and climb in next to him. I glance at the cot and see Evan sleeping peacefully in there.

"You are magic with that kid," I comment and feel him vibrate next to me in laughter. "So…" I start, wondering how to begin this. "Are we going to talk about, you know?" I ask him, not looking up at him. From the corner of my eye I notice him put his phone to the side.

"Do you want to?" asks Seth and I shrug my shoulders. I don't think I can handle him complaining about how he's not getting any and will end up with blue balls. "Right, so we haven't…you know," says Seth and I can't help but feel it'll get worse. I don't understand why it feels so awkward though, shouldn't it feel normal?

"Nope, it's not like we have the time with Evan and everything," I say, looking over at our son. He's looking more and more like Seth everyday it's uncanny.

"Yeah," says Seth, looking away. I lean into him and take one of his hands, already feeling more comfortable. Maybe it's because I'm not looking directly into his eyes, it makes me feel less nervous. "You do want to though, right?" he asks me and I nod my head.

"Sorry that I give Evan more attention than you," I apologize, not having realized it before.

"Babe, that's nothing to apologize for. That's how it's supposed to be," he says, putting an arm around me and leaning on the headboard as I rest my head against his chest. "Iris," starts Seth, holding our intertwined hands up as if he's inspecting them. "I would love nothing more than to be as close with you as we once were but we can't plan it. It'll happen when it does and when we have time," he finishes.

"But I don't want you to not be getting any, and then getting frustrated about it," I tell him.

"Babe, the whole time you were pregnant I wasn't getting any and I was fine then, I'll be fine now," says Seth and I move my head so I'm looking up at him.

"You really just…waited around for me?" I ask him.

"Yeah," answers Seth with a small smile on his face. "I couldn't imagine myself with another girl and when someone did try and get close to me, I know we weren't together but it felt like I was cheating on you," he explains as I try and think of just how far this man has come.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," I say, leaning up and softly kissing his lips.

"I'm glad," says Seth which makes me giggle. "Come on, bed time," he says and I get up off of him. He shuffles down and pulls me back on top of him, wrapping both his arms around me. "I love you Iris," he says, sending my heart into a frenzy each time he does.

"I love you too," I say and close my eyes, ready for sleep to take over as I lie down next to him. I wake up in the night, I look over at Evan and see him fast asleep just like his Father. I feel a bit thirsty so I decide to go downstairs and grab a glass of water. I switch on the light and glance at the fridge, feeling a bit hungry. I open the fridge and bend down, looking at what my choices are.

"Boo!" I see a figure bend down next to me which makes me jump.

"Nicky!" I say with a hand on my heart. "You really startled me," I tell him, sighing in relief that it's only him and not some thief or something. "What are you doing here?" I then ask him, tilting my head to the side.

"I think the question to be asked is what are you doing here? I mean, I live here so what's your excuse?" he questions me but I just roll my eyes. I'm surprised him and Dean aren't best friends. I don't think they ever will be now that Dean has the role of the Godfather.

"I'm hungry," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders and bending back down. "I don't know why I woke up randomly in the middle of the night but I have so…" I shrug my shoulders and open the freezer. I smile when I see some ice cream in there.

"Didn't you already have enough ice cream?" asks Nicky, referring to earlier on.

"Technically we had that yesterday," I say, walking over to one of the cabinets and grabbing a spoon. "Want some?" I ask, wanting to know if I should grab him a spoon as well.

"You spoil me," says Nicky with a simile which makes me chuckle. I grab him a spoon and we walk over to the table, sitting down on opposite sides. "If Mom catches me, I'm a dead man," he comments, taking a big mouthful. I find it funny that he's a grown man and is worried about his Mom.

"Don't worry, just throw it at me and hide the spoon," I tell him with a wink. "So, Macy seems really nice," I tell him, noticing from the corner of my eye how his head snaps up in my direction. It's kind of sad nobody in the house made an effort to even try and like her.

"Yeah, she is isn't she?" he asks me and I nod my head. I bet he'd love it if I started telling him everything about her that I liked.

"Don't worry, things will work out," I assure him, grabbing another spoonful of ice cream.

"Now, how would you know that?" asks Nicky with an amused look on his face.

"I'm psychic you silly Billy," I say as a joke which makes him laugh. "But honestly, they will". If two people really love each other, things always work out. I stopped believing that after Seth and funnily enough he restored my faith in it.

"I'm not so sure, no one else seems to like her and I doubt their minds will get changed," he says. This must be really hard for him.

"Well Seth didn't seem to like her and his mind got changed right?" I counter argue. It's a good thing and she Seth did get on, that's a big positive highlight from the whole situation.

"Maybe but that was only because of you," says Nicky as I stop just as I'm about to put the next spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. "Oh, you thought he wouldn't tell me," he then says with a slight smirk on his face like as if he and Seth are so close they don't hide anything from each other.

"I'm going to kill him," I state, shaking my head. "What on earth did he say?" I ask him.

"Just that he's been an ass by not supporting my decision," starts Nicky. "That he's sorry but when I tried thanking him he gave you all the credit," he explains which makes me frown. "So thank you, for talking to him and helping him to see how important Macy is to me," he finishes with a smile.

"N-no problem," I say with a small smile of my own. "He wasn't supposed to tell you," I comment.

"I figured," says Nicky, shrugging his shoulders, not really caring.

"So you're trying to get him into trouble?" I ask with a coy smile.

"No, I uh, I guess I just felt like I needed to thank you in person," says Nicky, scratching the back of his head. "I don't think anyone else would have done that for someone they hardly know. Or suggest going out together, I know how much Damien would have dreaded ever doing that with us," he says which makes me chuckle.

"Ok, your most welcome and that's the last time we mention that, alright?" I ask him and he nods his head, grabbing the ice cream tub off of me and trying to scoff the rest. But I lean over and whack his head, taking the tub back off of him.

"Man, you hit just as hard as Ma," says Nicky which makes me laugh. I hold out the tub in the middle again and we continue eating. I can honestly say this feels like a brother-sister moment. Nicky is very sweet but he's quite mischievous as well. He tells me stories of doing things he shouldn't have been resulting in Anne running around the house with a shoe in her hand, ready to kick the crap out of him.

* * *

"Hello?" I answer the phone in a soft whisper, gently pulling myself away from Seth. I sigh in relief when I see he hasn't woken up yet. I look at my watch and see it's 6 in the morning. "Ari, why are you waking me up so early in the morning?" I ask her with a loud yawn. I quickly cover my mouth when I remember Seth being here and let another sigh of relief when I see he's still asleep.

" _Sorry, but I had to just tell you,"_ says Ariana, sounding excited as I lean up against the headboard.

"Tell me what?" I ask her and then remember her problems with Dean. "Please tell me that you talked everything out with Dean," I say, not ready for any drama this early in the morning.

" _Yeah, actually I did, that's why I'm calling,"_ she says, confusing the heck out of me. _"It turns out Mister Sly thought he could arrange a night to remember by talking to the Bella's,"_ she explains. _"He was spending time with them trying to think of the perfect way to celebrate our one-year anniversary,"_ she says as I let out an 'Aw'.

"Wow, I didn't even realize," I say, feeling kind of like a bad friend. "Congratulations," I tell her.

" _Thanks,"_ says Ariana and I can hear the smile in her voice. _"I was just about to talk to him but then he told me to put on something sexy so I did as he told me to because he literally wasn't willing to listen to anything. Next thing I know; he brings me to the ice skating rink where we had our first kiss. It's all empty and there's lights everywhere and everything,"_ she explains and I smile.

"That sounds absolutely wonderful," I tell her. Dean really does love Ariana. Sometimes he acts so childish but then every so often he does something like this that makes you question what he's really like.

" _The best part was that that certain part was his idea,"_ says Ariana and every so often when Dean does something like this my best friend gets all girly. Which I love of course! _"The only thing the Bella's did was pick out the place to eat, although if you ask me Dean should have done it. It was some high end restaurant where you can hardly pronounce the menu. We ended up ditching the place and went to a pizza place,"_ she says which makes me chuckle. That's so like them.

"Well whatever tickles your boat," I tell her. "What did he gift you? A diamond necklace? The biggest chocolate bar you've ever seen?" I ask her excitedly.

" _Actually, he's done something over the top,"_ says Ariana and I can just hear the love in her voice. I can tell this is going to be something good. _"So, you know how we live in our Vegas apartment. I moved in with him a few months back?"_ she asks and I nod my head as if she's actually here. _"Well, after dinner he flew me to Vegas and brought me to a different place. Not our apartment, but our house,"_ she reveals and my mouth opens in an 'o' shape.

"Shut the hell up, he didn't!" I nearly shout but quickly shut up when I see my boyfriend stir.

" _He did, he brought us a house!"_ exclaims Ariana and I feel myself bounce up and down on the mattress. _"And not just any house, he's brought me_ _ **the**_ _house!"_ she says and I feel my excitement rush up through me.

" **The** house?" I ask her. "Are you sure?" I ask again and I can just see her roll her eyes at me.

" _Of course, I'm the one that would always look at it,"_ Ariana says but she doesn't sound annoyed. That means she must be happier than ever. When Dean and Ariana started to date, we did go Vegas quite a lot. There was this one house that we would always drive by and Ariana would go on about how that would be the perfect place to spend the rest of her life in. Dean was always there but she never meant anything by it, just that it'd be perfect to spend her whole life there. And now he's made her dream come true.

"My gosh, I'm so happy for you," I say genuinely. "I can't imagine your first anniversary going any greater than that," I say.

" _Oh really?"_ asks Ariana in a challenging voice.

"What more could he have done?" I ask her in a curiously excited voice.

" _When he took me there Iris, he told me everything that I never thought I'd want to hear,"_ answers Ariana as I wait for her explanation. _"He told me that he never imagined marrying anyone but with me it was different. He told me he'd never wanted kids but when he thought I was pregnant for that period of time, he was ecstatic. He even went as far as saying that when he sees me holding Evan he often imagines me holding our child, with his blonde hair and my brown eyes,"_ she says and can just hear the shyness in her voice. _"Fuck, why can't I stop smiling?"_ she asks me.

"Because you're happy," I answer her.

" _Iris, he told me he wants to marry me and start a family, and that buying a big house would be the start of it,"_ says Ariana and I'm so glad that she's finally got everything she wants too. _"Like him, I never thought I'd want all those things but since he's been in my life, they're all I can think about"._

"I'm so incredibly happy for you Ariana," I tell her, looking over at Seth and smiling. I would be over the moon if Seth ever did offer that to me. In a way, I'm halfway there by having had his kid. But we're not at that stage yet, we're still getting used to being back together. "You are so incredibly lucky to have Dean by your side," I then say. And I'm lucky to have my Seth by my side. How can either of us get anything better than this?

* * *

 **I appreciate everyone's reviews! :)**


	14. Conflicted

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **And I have the next one! Let me know what you think. I am not one to write Lemony scenes but I have put in what I can. :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: Yay1 I got you aweing! I have a feeling you would have done that if she didn't, lol! :)**

 **Amnbama: Did I leave you speechless? Haha! :)**

 **Daken's sister: Yes, he did! I'm glad you liked their first meeting because I was kind of unsure how to play it. I wanted to show how different Iris was but at the same time how she hasn't changed. Which is confusing in itself.**

 **Jade: Where the heck have you been girl? Don't worry, I didn't start planning your funeral. Just go on the site and click on forgotten password. It should send your email a link to reset it.  
Aw, I hope everything goes well for you. Here's sending best wishes to your grandpa! My grandma was recently in hospital too so I know how you feel. Ooh, a week off work. Make sure to treat yourself!  
Everything is going great! Just doing the story and going uni, the usual. Off for three weeks now so that should be interesting.  
You take your time love. No rush here. :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 14:**

" _What about you and Seth? Have you sorted things out and gotten freaky yet?"_ asks Ariana and I look over at Seth who had turned moments before so his back was facing me. I'm glad we had that talk before sleeping. It's put thing more into perspective for me.

"Ari, that's so inappropriate," I tell her but I know she doesn't care. I'm glad she's changed a little in terms of this though. When I was with Seth before, she couldn't give a crap about all this. "Me and Seth talked and we, well we've come to the conclusion that we'll wait," I say to her. It feels like the right thing to do at the moment.

" _Really?"_ asks Ariana and I can hear the surprise in her voice. I would be too considering how I've never been able to resist Seth before. Like at all.

"Yeah," I say with a smile. "I love Seth; I really do but we just don't have the time. Evan takes up all of it and the more I think about it, the more I think it's for the best. We haven't been back together that long and we did decide to take things slow," I explain to her.

" _Are you sure? I thought he was driving your sexually crazy?"_ questions Ariana in amusement.

"Believe me, he is," I tell her with a chuckle. "He's so hot but I'm glad I'm not pregnant this time around otherwise I literally would have attacked him by now," I confide in her. It was so hard last time, hormones literally everywhere. But I've always been good at keeping my composure.

" _And what is that supposed to mean?"_ asks Ariana curiously.

"Ariana, you know I've loved him ever since I met him," I tell her and I can just imagine her nodding her head along with what I say. "I never fell out of love with him, I had many chances but it just didn't happen. So when I was pregnant my hormones were literally all over the place and whenever Seth was around I'd, you know, feel turned on ten times more than usual," I explain to her. Glad she isn't here to see my red face. She would tease me to a whole new level than the usual banter.

" _And you handled that by going to Dolph?"_ asks Ariana cheekily as I let out a grunt. I'm trying to forget about what I did with Dolph. It seriously was the hormones.

"We are keeping Dolph out of this," I tell her sternly and look to see Seth's breathing as he should be. I doubt he'd be thrilled to hear about me going off with Dolph again. He was jealous last time. I just didn't pick up on it because I didn't think he could ever love me like that.

" _Oh come on, I bet Dolph worked wonders,"_ says Ariana and I glance over worryingly at Seth.

"Ok," I let out with a sigh. "Dolph did work wonders and his tongue was amazing, happy?" I say in frustration. "Now can we please talk about something else, Seth is sleeping right here and I don't want him to hear any of this," I let her know. Plus it is kind of weird.

" _Alright, alright, jeez. Don't get your panties in a twist,"_ comments Ariana and she should be glad she's not in this room with me right now. _"Just one more question,"_ she says and I roll my eyes. I doubt this is going to be any better than the ones before.

"Ok, but make it quick," I tell her but instead she starts making noises as if thinking about it. "Ari!" I hiss at her. I never realised how annoying she can be when she wants to be. Then again, I must have been a pain in the ass when it came to her and Dean.

" _Alright, fine,"_ says Ariana and clears her throat to ask the question. _"Did Dolph give you the best tongue fuck in your life?"_ she asks me and I swear Ariana's been replaced by a clone of some sort.

"I can't answer that," I tell her, shaking my head as if she's actually here.

" _Wait, so he might possibly be?"_ asks Ariana, sounding excited for once. _"Iris, are you conflicted?"_ she then asks in an investigative teasing way. Why did she even have to ask me that? Like, who asks that?

"No, I'm not," I tell her but don't know if I'm trying to convince her or myself. "I am not answering this stupid question on what the greatest tongue fuck of my life has been," I let her know.

" _Oh, come on,"_ says Ariana but I keep quiet. _"I'm surprised Seth isn't in the running,"_ she then says.

"Oh Seth sure is!" I quickly say and then slap my hand on my forehead. I walked right into that one. Mainly because I can't hear anything said against Seth. I start defending him immediately.

" _Ah ha! So you are conflicted,"_ says Ariana and I can just see her winning smirk.

"I'm not conflicted," I tell her, starting to get all confused. "From what I remember, Seth has tremendous tongue fucking skills but I'm not about to choose between him and Dolph on who the better one is. You're sick!" I then say, getting all hyped up.

" _Take a chill pill dude, it was a question and you were the one that started comparing them both,"_ says Ariana but I just sigh.

" _Ari, I'm waiting!"_ I hear a voice in the background and can only assume that its Dean. _"Why the fuck have you locked the bathroom door? You better not have started without me,"_ I hear him say and I don't need an imagination to know what he's talking about.

" _Oops, I better go,"_ says Ariana quickly. _"My gift to Dean is this sexy new lingerie we bought together after everything he did and I told him he'd get a private show of me touching myself,"_ she says, being so very open about it. Perfect. Just what I needed to listen to.

"Just once I don't want to hear something disgusting," I tell her but I know she doesn't care. "What's wrong with 'My gift to Dean is some new sexy lingerie to make love in'? I mean what is wrong with that?" I question. It sounds less vulgar.

" _Make love in? What am I, a chick?"_ asks Ariana with a laugh. I have no idea how we are best friends, I swear.

"Yes, you have the lady parts remember?" I ask her with a chuckle.

" _I meant a girly chick,"_ Ariana corrects herself so she doesn't sound stupid. I know, it was a technicality. But it worked in my favour.

"Right (!)" I say and then decide to ask her a question myself. "Why is it that whenever you call me, you're in the bathroom and Dean's demanding to be let in?" I question her.

" _It's the only way I can talk to you,"_ answers Ariana casually. _"That crazy dude never let's go of me, especially in the night. So if I want to talk to you, I have to make sure he can't get to me,"_ she explains which makes me laugh softly. _"Speaking of, I better hang up before he breaks the door,"_ she says and we say our goodbyes before hanging up. I put my phone to the side and look over at Seth with a smile. I shuffle back down and put an arm around his torso, resting my head against his warm back and falling right back asleep.

* * *

I wake up find Seth gone. I get up slowly and rub my eyes, noticing Evan has gone too. I look at the time and see it's 10:00. Hmm, they're probably downstairs. I get up and take a shower, getting dressed and going downstairs. I notice not everyone is up yet and only see Lacey and Lily, Angie, Rose and Damien.

"Morning everyone," I say and I get greeted back by everyone except for Angie which I'm not surprised at. "Have any of you seen Seth?" I ask them but Angie looks like she could care less. She isn't going to lower my mood. Not today and nor any other day. I just have to figure out a way to connect with her, that's all.

"He's outside sweetie," says Rose and I thank her before leaving to go outside. Once there I see Evan is in Seth's arms and Seth is pulling all the funny faces he can to get his son to laugh. I love my guys so much.

"Morning," I say with a bright smile on my face. Seth looks at me but then goes back to playing with Evan which makes me frown. He normally doesn't do that. I wonder what's up with him? But I decide to just leave it, he might still just be tired. "How is our son today morning?" I ask, standing right in front of Seth.

"Fine," answers Seth in one word, making my smile falter. Now I know something is definitely up. His smile seems forced, he's given me a one-word answer and he hasn't demanded a morning kiss.

"Everything ok?" I ask, fearful at what he might say but knowing there's probably something we need to talk about.

"Fine," says Seth, that same one-word answer which makes me sigh in frustration.

"Seth, I know something is up so come on, let's have it," I tell him with my hands on my hips.

"Just leave it Iris," says Seth, getting a better grip on Evan. "Why don't I stick to taking care of our son and you can go back to talking to Ariana about how much better Dolph is compared to me, alright?" he says, bitterness lacing his tone as he pushes past me.

"Oh crap," I say to myself as I watch him walk inside to the living room. This isn't going to be pretty. So he was awake, but why didn't he say anything? But then again, if I heard him talking about another girl I'd be upset too. Damn it, this is why I told Ariana to shut up! I know how much of a light sleeper Seth is but I just had to let her go on about Dolph and rope me into talking about him too. But I shouldn't have answered either. I should have kept refusing instead of answering her questions just to get her to stop asking anymore.

"Trouble in paradise?" asks Angie, a smirk on her face as usual when she thinks something isn't going my way as I walk inside and slide the doors shut.

"No," I say with a smile as I shake my head. "Why would you say that?" I question her.

"Maybe because my brother never leaves anywhere without you?" says Angie, looking up at me as she narrows her eyes at me as if trying to catch out my lie. I can also tell she hates the fact that Seth spends so much time with me. But if we like each other's company then that's her problem, not ours.

"Oh, I just wanted some fresh air for a few more minutes," I explain to her, it being easy to lie to everyone here for some odd reason. "And staying outside for too long wouldn't be good for Evan," I then further explain so she doesn't catch on to anything. It is kind of chilly in the mornings.

"Now, what kind of a Mother would want to stay outside when her new-born has to be inside?" Angie then questions but I don't let my smile falter, she can be as vile as she wants but I'll just kill her with my smile. And what she says won't affect me because none of the things she says are true.

"Well that's what Fathers are for," intervenes Rose as I give her an appreciative glance. "Whenever I couldn't handle being with the girl's all day, Damien here would take them out from morning to evening, bless him, he really cares about us all," she says and I use that moment to slip out of there. I realize that I need to talk to Seth before he concocts any crazy thoughts. In my rush I don't see Lucy coming my way and I end up crashing into her and falling down onto the floor.

"Oh my gosh, Iris!" exclaims Lucy as I place a hand to my head and try to get up, feeling a little dizzy. If this was an animation, then I swear I'd see stars. Currently though, Lucy looking kind of blurry will do.

"Iris, you ok?!" asks Damien in worry, ushering Rose to stay at the side as he kneels down. I look down to see I'm all covered in food which is what Lucy was carrying. Oh crap, I really liked this dress too.

"I-I think so," I say and he helps me up just as I see Seth come down from the stairs.

"Iris," I hear him say and before I know it he's kneeled on my other side and puts a hand to my face. "You ok?" he asks in concern and I nod my head, kind of relieved to see he still cares about me. But I guess it would be stupid that he wouldn't care about me or love me because of my conversation with Ariana. Like I said, overanalysing mind. "What the hell happened?" he then asks, looking scarily angry.

"I'm so sorry!" Lucy quickly says. "I had the tray up and was looking down at my feet, I didn't even see you coming," she quickly explains, looking terrified. "I am so incredibly sorry," she repeats herself.

"It's fine Lucy," I tell her moving to get up and Seth keeps a hand on me as I do. "I haven't hit my head or anything so I'll be fine," I say with the biggest smile I can muster. I don't want anyone reprimanding her or anything, accidents happen all the time. It's not a big deal.

"Oh, look your clothes are all ruined," Rose points out and I look down at them. That they are. "Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower and get changed? Then bring your clothes down and we'll get all that food out," she says and I nod my head, about to move to go but Seth doesn't let go of me. "Seth, take her upstairs and make sure she doesn't fall," she instructs her brother.

"Like as if I was going to let her go by herself (!) comments Seth to which Rose puts her hands up in defence. "Come on," he says and I nod my head, keeping one hand on his as he takes me upstairs, I don't know if he notices that I'm staring at him the whole time but I do. I just get so smitten with him when he takes care of me.

"Where's Evan?" I ask, once we get to the room and notice he isn't in the cot.

"With Ma," answers Seth and moves to the wardrobe. He hands me a towel and says, "I'll be downstairs". He moves to leave but I grab his arm, stopping him. I can't leave things like this.

"Seth, we need to talk about this," I try to convince him but he shrugs my hand off.

"Everything that needs to be said has been," says Seth and leaves the room as if he can't wait to get away from me which hurts. He just needs time to process everything and calm down a little. I sigh but grab some new clothes, going into the bathroom and starting the shower. I switch on the water and close my eyes as the water hits my face, humming along to a tune in my head. I have really upset Seth and now I'll need a way to make it up to him. But how? What can I do?

"Agh!" I scream once I feel hands on my waist which then move to my back and push me against the wall. I turn my head and know I don't need to look at him to know it's him. "Seth, what are you doing?" I then ask him, unsure of what he plans on doing.

"What needs to be done," says Seth in a voice that instils fear within me. I try to move to turn around but he says, "You will do as I say and right now you're not going to move". I nod my head slowly, not knowing what to think of this or how to respond but with the way he's feeling right now I think it's best I do what he says. All the fear is washed away as soon as I feel his lips at the nape of my neck and my eyes automatically close. He slowly moves them down my spine, placing soft kisses as he does so. I feel him move his hands to turn me around and I do so. He places a kiss under my navel and starts to go down.

"Mmhmm," I say, enjoying the feeling of his soft lips against my skin. Gosh, I forgot how much I loved getting intimate with him. Each kiss is setting fire to the rest of my body.

"Open your eyes," says Seth but I don't. I'm afraid if I do open them then it'll just be me here by myself. Either that or I'll see he's still very upset from earlier. "I said, open them," he repeats in the same voice as before and I open them. "Look at me," he instructs and I move my head down, looking right into his eyes. He lifts one of my legs and place it over his shoulder, a small smirk gracing his face. He goes down and licks my clit, not removing his gaze from my eyes as I let out a moan.

* * *

"Seth, fuck!" I shout once last time before my walls come crashing down and I come. He continues licking me and letting out satisfaction sounds as I try to catch my breath. He then gets up and before I can tell him how amazing he is or how sorry I am he moves back and leaves the shower. "What…" I trail off and look to see him wash his hands and face in the sink before leaving the bathroom. I can't say I'm disappointed we left it like that but was he…was he trying to prove a point or something? I take the rest of my shower, wanting Seth in there with me more than anything.

Once I've had my shower I get out and get changed into some jeans and a pink top. I go downstairs to find everyone eating breakfast and take a seat in between Seth and Nicky, joining in with everyone.

"Iris, sweetheart you ok? Rose told me what happened," says Anne, looking over at me in concern. It's nice to know she cares about me. If only my Mother was just as concerned when it came to my health and wellbeing. But I don't want to think about all that right now.

"I'm quite fine thank you," I tell her with a smile.

"Are you sure? Lucy says you fell pretty hard," says Annette and I have to mention that's its touching how much they care for me. I'm actually surprised Lucy told them and made it seem like I've cracked my head or something. But it just shows how much of a good character she is.

"I'm fine, believe me I've had worse falls," I tell them both. I was kind of clumsy as a kid but grew out of it. Then I started getting clumsy if I got nervous. I'll admit, a couple of times I was checking out Seth without even realising where my feet were going.

"Like when you fell for Seth?" asks Nicky, letting out a loud laugh but being the only one laughing.

"Not funny Nicky," I let him know, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But don't worry, I still like you even if you can't make a joke to save your life," I say but he just shakes his head at me.

"What are we up to today then?" asks Rose and everyone starts throwing around ideas for what they want to do. Lacey and Lily suggest a theme park, Nicky suggests the cinemas and Angie suggests a baseball game in the park. But they all start disagreeing with each other's ideas. I guess that's the problem with having a big family, everyone likes different things. But it's always so fun to take part in the arguing though.

"Enough!" exclaims Nick and then gets a smile on his face. "We can do all of them day by day!" he says which makes the little girls very happy, as well as everyone else.

"I think we'll opt out of the theme park and cinemas, you young folk can get ahead on that," says Anne, looking at her husband cautiously. "We're too old for that kind of stuff," she says which makes everyone laugh. I reckon there's more to it than that, they might be kind of old but they're quite healthy. I glance at Seth and he's just smiling, keeping more quiet than normal. I nudge Nicky and he looks at me.

"Maybe we should invite Macy," I suggest in a whisper as he looks at me unsurely. Spending time with everyone is one way of getting them all together and talking and stuff. Plus, I think Rose will have more of an open mind now.

"I don't think that's a good idea," says Nicky but I just roll my eyes. If he doesn't give her the chance to gel together with his family, then how will she ever be open to them? How can she see that they can be trusted? I mean, clearly she has issues with trusting people, more so than your average person.

"Why not? If you keep her out of this kind of stuff then it'll hurt her," I let him know. "Look, she's been fine with me so maybe that'll give her some confidence to act better with others. Or at least a couple," I explain to him, trying to convince him. This can only be good for them. "If you don't agree then I have her number, I could always invite her myself," I warn him.

"Alright fine," says Nicky and I smile that I won this round. He probably doesn't want her to feel sad or anything but as long as I'm around I'll make sure she isn't.

"What are you two whispering about?" asks Angie, looking at us curiously and unhappily. I swear she doesn't like anything I do. Not even breathing. And the fact that I gave birth to her nephew still doesn't score me brownie points.

"That my sister is between me and my future sister in law," says Nicky, sitting back, placing an arm around me and throwing a wink in my direction which makes me chuckle.

"Not if you scare her away with your face," comments Seth, making everyone laugh at him.

"Iris, tell him off, he's being mean," says Nicky with a pout and that does it for me.

"Stop being so mean Seth, he's your younger brother," I tell him and he just nods his head and eats more of his breakfast. Ok, not awkward at all (!)

"I think he's mad you like me more than him," Nicky comments. We finish off our breakfast and I then take Evan off of Anne and go upstairs, getting him ready to go out, I decide to put him in some cute, black, dungarees. I still need to do something about Seth though, I don't know what. One minute he doesn't want to talk to me about it, then comes and gives me a mind-blowing orgasm only to go back to acting upset with me. He's upset but he doesn't want to talk about it, how am I meant to fix it then? How does he expect everything to be ok again if he keeps mum? And they say women are complicated. Try handling Seth Rollins for a day.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Hi," I say, having dialled Roman's number. I wanted to make sure he got home safely and everything. He left quickly too, got on the first plane that took him home. It was kind of weird because he wasn't saying a word. I have no idea what's going in that Samoan's mind and it's annoying the hell out of me.

" _Hey Ariana, you ok?"_ asks Roman and I let him know me and Dean are fine. I'm more worried about him.

"How are you?" I ask, hearing a pause on that end. Something is up. Me and Dean both think it but we're just not getting anything from Roman. Don't even get me started on Iris either. We're still debating whether to let her know. But then, what can she or Seth do from there? It'll just worry them unnecessarily and me and Dean are handling it. I think.

" _Alright, JoJo was happy to see me so we're spending the day together,"_ responds Roman and it puts a smile on my face. JoJo will be good for him for a couple of days.

"That sounds fantastic, give her my love," I say and feel frustrated. It is so annoying that he isn't here right now for me to read. I'd be able to do it so much better if he was before my eyes. Dean would be able to as well.

" _I will do, I'll talk to you later because she's hounding me for some food,"_ he says at which I laugh and then hang up. I stare at my phone wondering what we should do. Roman's not saying anything to any of us. Well, he might have said something to Paige. But I can't put her in that kind of situation. Plus, Roman certainly won't be happy about me going behind his back. I should respect his privacy as he has done for me on many an occasion.

"I'm ready for round four!" announces Dean, coming into the room in only his boxers. I let out a giggle from where I'm sat, leant up against the headboard. He was supposed to be answering the door for our food that we ordered.

"Where's my food first fucker?" I ask and see the horrified look on his face that I care more about food than him. "I can't burn calories unless I eat them," I remind him and he leaves, coming back with a bag. He jumps into bed with me and we unpack, well I do because I know he'll spill it everywhere like last time. I think we'll need to get on the jet and go back to Dallas soon. It'll be just under a three-hour flight. The beauty of this whole thing though is that Dean managed to convince Nikki to convince John to let us borrow his jet.

"Did you talk to Roman?" asks Dean, in between his big bites of his burger. Wow, he really wants that round before we get out of here.

"I did but he's keeping to himself which means we can't investigate," I answer, Dean letting out a sigh. He looks like he's about to say something when I say, "We can't ask Paige because he'll be upset about us going behind his back". I just hope whatever's going on with Roman is something less worrying than I'm thinking it to be.

"Damn it," says Dean when he finally has no food in his mouth. "We need to find someone who was close by when he got into it with Kane," he suggests and I nod my head. Hmm, my fiancé can be smart when he wants to be.

"But we won't be able to get it done by the time Roman gets back," I tell him, there's just no way. Not with work and everything. "Maybe we should just ask face-to-face. He might surprise us and just tell us," I then say which we end up deciding as our plan. Once we've finished eating, I pick up everything and throw it in the bin. When I come back I remove Dean's phone from his hands and straddle his waist. "Round four sounds good," I comment, leaning down and kissing his lips.

"I am so fucking lucky," says Dean, already getting excited, I can tell because Dean junior has come alive.

"Not today," I say, shaking my head and disagreeing with that statement. "Dean," I say, catching his gaze with my own. "Thank you, for everything, you remembered our anniversary, you went to all this effort to make it special and everything. I just…I love you so much," I tell him, trying to keep my emotions in check. Dean lets out a chuckle and kisses my lips.

"I love you Ariana, there's no one else I'd go to all this trouble for," he says, right before flipping us over and having his way with me. I didn't need to worry about Dean at all. I should have just trusted my feelings and had faith but from now on, that's all I'm going to do. He's never shown me that I can't pin all my hopes on him so that's exactly what I'm going to do from now on.

* * *

 **Reviews would be awesome! :)**


	15. Theme Park

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next one guys! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks so much! That means a lot :)**

 **Calwitch: Maybe he's not focusing on the positives when he should do. Thanks for the review :)**

 **Jade: My grandma is better thanks! Your grandpa sounds like my grandma because she's the exact same. In pain but still making jokes! Reading glasses? That's new. You got to keep reminding yourself to take them off. It would be funny if you kept a note attached to your laptop to remind you ;)  
I know! Time flies, especially when you have it off and find yourself busy with things you enjoy. Unfortunately, I have to spend my time revising for an exam and working on an assignment, so not much else I can do. I've got a pretty tight schedule worked out though.  
I know! My cousin would always cry when someone really big would hold him.  
True but remember, she knows everything that happened between Seth and Iris. So of course she'd be nice to Iris, after everything that's gone on.  
Don't worry, the whole Kane issue will be less confusing later on.  
You sound beyond confused my darling. Evan is just over 2 months. One month when Iris was in a coma, one month when she was recovering from the coma and then flew to meet the parents. Haha! I know it's going a bit slow but that's the way I've written it. Maybe things will pick up a bit of a pace later. But I just really want to show their relationship developing at this moment! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 15:**

 **IRIS POV**

We're all set to go to the theme park. I made Nicky all Macy to get her to come. I even stood there watching him like a hawk whilst he did so. Even though that problem looks like it's going to be resolved, the one with Seth doesn't look like it will anytime soon. He's staying with one member of the family or another. He's doing it on purpose too because he knows as long as someone is with him, I won't ever be able to approach him to talk about our issue. I stand to one side in the living room, watching Seth with his family and Evan. We can sort this, I'm sure. My phone rings and I smile when I see Roman's name flashing across.

"Hey Roman," I say, a big smile on my face. I don't think I've spoken to him since I got here. Ariana's been calling loads and I've heard Dean's voice in the background but when it came to Roman, nothing!

" _Hi Iris. I'm just checking in with you,"_ says Roman and it's sweet how he is doing so. It's also cute how he thinks I can't tell when there's something wrong with my brother. But I'll give him time to come out with it.

"I'm doing good, so are Evan and Seth," I say, a sad smile overcoming me at the mention of Seth. "We're really happy and Seth's family are really nice. I guess I had nothing to worry about," I explain to him which makes him chuckle.

" _Yeah, they are awesome,"_ comments Roman. _"Ariana told us about Angie, how you holding up?"_ he asks. I think I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would.

"Good, you taught me to protect myself well remember?" I remind him, getting a laugh out of him.

" _Whoa, are you beating people up there?"_ asks Roman cautiously which makes me laugh. _"I'm glad you're having fun. It has been really weird without you since you left,"_ he lets me know and I feel the same about all of them. It's like we're one constant big family going around to different places.

"But I'll be back soon and then we can…well get up to no mischief," I comment because that's how it is with Roman. A lot laidback. "How's it going with Paige? More dates?" I question, a smile on my face. It's nice to see Roman with someone too.

" _Actually, no,"_ says Roman, an automatic frown appearing on my face. Has he stopped dating her? Why? Everything was going so well? _"I asked her to be my girlfriend a couple of days ago,"_ he admits and I swear my mouth drops all the way to the floor.

"Oh my gosh, seriously?" I ask, my voice getting all high which is what happens when I get all excited.

" _Yes,"_ answers Roman and I do wonder if he's blushing on the other end. _"We've been dating a while and I don't know, it just seemed like the right time. I have a girlfriend,"_ he states proudly at the end.

"I am so incredibly happy for you Roman," I say truthfully. I haven't seen him so happy as I have done with Paige and the fact that it's going in the right direction just makes me even more happy for him.

" _Thanks,"_ says Roman and we chat for a bit longer. I still get the feeling something is up though so I decide to question it. He might or might not tell me what's going through his mind but I have to ask for peace of mind.

"Roman, is everything ok? I mean, is there anything I should be worried about that I don't know?" I ask, a feeling overcoming me that there is such a thing. "You also sound kind of different on the other end. Is something wrong?"

" _No, no, everything's fine,"_ Roman assures me but I still don't feel like it is. Or maybe it's just me wanting to find things that are wrong. _"I'm just a little tired because I've taken off a couple of days to see JoJo. She hasn't seen me in a while so I'm constantly on my feet chasing after her,"_ he says, chuckling to himself at the end.

"That's nice," I say in a soft voice. He hasn't seen her in a while so it makes sense I guess. "Were Stephanie and Hunter ok with you taking the time off?" I then question, it doesn't sound like this was planned at all to me. So the fact he's done it makes me think something else is up.

" _Yeah, they were cool with it luckily. I just had to come and see her,"_ says Roman which you can't argue with. I'm a parent now too so I understand him. I can't keep my eyes off of Evan for two seconds and he goes days without seeing his little girl.

"Is that all it is?" I ask one last time, just to be on the safe side. You never know.

" _Yes Iris, that's all it is,"_ says Roman in a calm manner. _"I called you because I just wanted to see how you were. You know I worry about you,"_ he explains which I know happens to be true. It's what you get with a protective brother like him.

"I know," I say after which we say goodbye and hang up. I do hope everything is ok. Why wouldn't it be though? None of them have any reason to be keeping anything from either me or Seth. It wouldn't make sense. My overactive imagination as usual.

"Guys," says Nicky as he comes into the living room with Macy at his side. She looks nervous. I just hope she lets her real side show because she's actually a nice person.

"Macy," says Rose with a smile on her face but anyone can tell from a mile off that it's fake. Ok, she may have acted like a cow when she first met them but what happened to giving people chances? Giving them the benefit of the doubt? It seems lost in here. No worries though, that's what I'm here for.

"Hi," says Macy in a small voice looking around them all and I can tell they're surprised. Seth once told me when she greets you it sounds very obnoxious. So she's making the effort. That's really great.

"Hey, glad you could make it!" I exclaim, going over to her and giving her a hug, receiving an appreciative glance from Nicky as I do so. He needs someone on his side at least. Hopefully overtime, we can change that.

"Me too," says Macy and then whispers, "Thank you". I give her an extra squeeze and then pull away. "Erm, so what's the plan for today?" she asks me, keeping her focus on me. I think it's easier since we have been messaging each other. Even though we met the other day.

"Theme park!" I tell her and then walk over to where Evan is laying in his basket. "Evan, say 'Hi' to Aunt Macy," I say and walk over to Macy, handing Evan to her. The girls don't call Macy 'Aunt' and I don't know why. But maybe if they did then she'd feel more like a part of the family. It's not like we can force them to though.

"Oh wow, he's so small," says Macy as she takes him carefully. "Am I holding him right? He won't fall will he?" she asks which makes me and Nicky laugh.

"Only if you drop him," comments Nicky, trying to lighten the situation.

"Like Nicky was as a child," comments Seth making us laugh but Nicky doesn't look amused. "Now that everyone's here, shall we get going?" he asks, getting up and everyone nods in agreement.

"Yeah, Neil's meeting us there," says Angie, looking excited, and is the first to leave through the front doors. Someone seems eager. I do wonder about her and Neil.

"How about you guys drive with me and Seth?" I suggest to Macy and Nicky who look thankful for that. "Oh, I'll go get the car seat," I say, moving to go to my room. It was in the pile of stuff Seth's family left in our room. Though they gave us mainly Seth's old thing they did throw in something else here and there.

"Uh, Iris?" says Macy, holding out Evan for me. She looks beyond mortified at me leaving him with her. But if Dean can do it then so can she.

"Take him outside, I'll be two seconds," I say, rushing up the stairs to our bedroom. Once in there I grab the car seat and turn around only to bump into Seth. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there," I say, noticing he's avoiding looking into my eyes. He coughs and then takes the baby seat out of my hands. "Wait," I say, holding onto one of his arms. "Are we seriously not going to talk? About any of it?" I ask him nervously.

"We have to get going," says Seth and shrugs my hand off, leaving the room. I follow him out and don't feel excited for this day anymore, not when Seth is behaving like this with me. I really messed things up. I shouldn't have even been talking about Dolph, or even thinking about what I did with him. It should have been a 'no discussing' thing but, I didn't adhere to that. I think I'll get a migraine if I keep thinking about it.

"Nicky, stop it! If I drop him then you're getting done for it, not me!" I hear Macy say as I get outside and watch Seth get the baby seat ready in the car. I see Nicky trying to tickle Macy as she tries to keep a good grip on Evan. She's right, I'll blame him if my baby falls.

"I call shotgun!" shouts Nicky and runs to the front of the car like a little kid.

"I'll drive," says Seth and gently takes Evan off of Macy. He puts him into the baby seat and gets him tied in securely. "There," he says and gets back out. Me and Macy get into the back, I sit behind Seth who's in the drivers' seat and Macy sits behind Nicky who's in the passenger seat with Evan in between us both.

"How old is he now?" asks Macy, keeping a finger under Evan's chin as she continues admiring him.

"He's two months and half a week," I answer her in a soft voice, staring down at my son.

"Aw," says Macy and I notice Nicky looking back at us, his eyes all on Macy. I bet there's one thing on his mind right now.

"Are you two planning on having one anytime soon?" I ask, looking at Nicky and before he turns I swear I see him blush.

"I don't think I want another child on top of the one I already have," comments Macy which makes us both laugh. "What about you? Any other buns in the oven?" she asks and I know I've gone slightly red.

"Ha ha, no chance," says Seth making my smile falter. What…what does he mean by that? Does he not want any more kids with me now?

"Evan takes up all of our time," I tell her and she nods her head, going back to Evan. I turn my head to look out the window, quickly wiping the corner of my eye before my tear falls out. I'm too bloody emotional for my own good. I look forward and notice Seth's eyes on me in the rearview mirror but just look away. Once we get to the theme park, Seth gets the stroller out and I unbuckle Evan, taking him out of his seat. I then put him into the stroller and start to push it, making our way to where we would meet the others.

* * *

"Oh, dudes we have to go on that rollercoaster! The death ride!" exclaims Neil, putting his arms around Seth and Nicky. "It's going to be totally awesome," he says and then looks at me and Macy. "Oh, hello ladies, it's nice to see you again Iris," he says and I nod my head.

"Same here," I say after which he bends down to Evan.

"And it's very nice to see you again little man," says Neil, holding onto Evan's hand and shaking it. "Has his hair grown longer since the last time I saw him?" he asks which makes me chuckle. It's only been like a day or something.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming just stop dragging me!" I hear a voice and then see Isabel walking over to where we are, her arms linked with Angie. Great, this day just couldn't get any better (!) "Hey Iris, Macy," she acknowledges us.

"Hey," I say but Macy just smiles at her.

"Which ride shall we go on first?" asks Angie, looking around.

"We've already decided it's the deadly rollercoaster, so let's go!" says Neil, taking charge and walking off so no one has a chance to argue with him.

"I think I'll stay back with Evan," I tell everyone once we do get to the ride.

"What?" asks Macy, looking disheartened. "I was hoping I could ride with you, Nicky will just scream like a girl the whole way through," she comments.

"I do not!" exclaims Nicky in a horrified voice.

"Well someone has to, besides, I'm not really into rollercoaster's," I tell her and manage to convince her to leave me and go.

"Come on Isabel, Seth can be your partner on the rollercoaster," I hear Angie say loudly which makes me frown. I swear, sometimes it seems like she does that on purpose. Obviously, she'd prefer if Seth was with Isabel right now and maybe he does too. I see Seth glance my way but I just turn the stroller around, maybe I could win a nice stuffed animal for my boy. "Hello?" I say, answering my phone when it starts to ring.

" _Hey Iris,"_ says Ariana on the other end. _"Listen, I just wanted to ask you if Dean's a well behaved guy? He's not right?"_ she says, louder than usual and I know she's probably teasing him.

"Oh no, he goes in the bathroom and messes it all up," I start, listing everything Dean does that we all hate and no one else does. "He tries hugging us when he's all sweaty, he thinks he's always right, he's stubborn," I continue and before I know it I'm listing off stuff about Seth. "He's ignorant, hates talking about feelings, thinks just because he hears something he can act like a drama queen," I say and then stop.

" _Whoa, you really hate Dean don't you?"_ asks Ariana, sounding amused.

" _What's up her ass today?"_ I hear Dean ask in the background. _"Half of those things aren't even me,"_ I hear him defend.

"Nothing, I uh, I have to go," I say and quickly hang up. I need to make sure my emotions don't get the best of me or else I'll ruin the whole day for everyone. After walking around for a few minutes, I end up bumping into the most unlikeliest person of all. Never thought I'd see him here.

"Oh my gosh," I hear him say and put a smile on my face. This is not what I was expecting.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I feel like such an ass, making Iris cry like that in the car. But once I feel angry, I can't help it. It really hurt me that she would talk about Dolph like that with Ariana when I'm sleeping right next to her. I can't even blame her much right now because she has tried to talk to me but I keep avoiding it like the plague. I just don't want to hear how Dolph is so much better than me or anything like that.

"Is Iris ok today?" asks Isabel from next to me as we get into the rollercoaster and I offer her a hand to help her in. It should be Iris here right now, not Isabel.

"Yeah, why?" I ask her.

"I dunno…she seems a bit…off," answers Isabel, choosing her words carefully. "You haven't done anything to upset her right?" she then asks me but I shake my head.

"She's just tired," I tell her. "Evan is a handful," I then comment, hoping she wouldn't catch on. The last thing I need is everyone finding out something's wrong and try to fix it. Because believe me, my family are the meddling type and neither me nor Iris need that in this matter.

"Ok, you don't have to tell me just don't lie to me," says Isabel and I chuckle. I never could hide anything from her. We spend so much time together growing up that I should know better. "Remember the last time we were on a rollercoaster?" she asks me.

"Yeah," I answer her. "I took you to take your mind off of David," I say, David being Isabel's boyfriend all throughout high school. Then they got married. I used to be so jealous off of him, he had a great girl but he'd never treat her right. I knew they would never last.

"So how about I return the favor today?" asks Isabel and takes my hand just as the ride starts. "Let's forget about all our worries and just scream the hell away!" she exclaims and we start to go up.

"I'd like that," I tell her and look ahead. A few minutes not having to think about anything is probably what I need right now. Throughout the whole ride me and Isabel are either screaming or laughing and I can honestly say that I'm glad I was sitting with her rather than anyone else. I'd choose Iris in a heartbeat although things are not running smoothly right now so it would be awkward.

"We are so going on that again!" exclaims Neil and him and Angie start bickering about something trivial as the rest of us walk behind them.

"Ooh, there's Iris!" points out Macy. She's probably really excited to see Iris because she's the only girl that Macy can have a proper conversation with right now. God knows no one else is making the effort to talk to her or include her in anything. "Hey, who's that guy?" she asks which gets my attention. I look over and feel anger as soon as I see him laughing with Iris and holding my son.

"Seth are you listening?" I hear Isabel ask but just ignore her and make a beeline for where my girlfriend is. There is no way I'm having him come here and ruin things for us.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Rick," I state, really surprised to see him standing before me in all his glory. I wonder how he ended up here.

"Hi to you too," says Rick with a smile on his face as well. "What are you doing here?" he asks me. "I know for sure that you don't live around here," he then says and I shake my head.

"I…uh…Seth lives here," I tell him and he nods his head.

"Of course," says Rick with a nod of his head. I don't think he liked my answer. "You guys, uh, together now?" he asks awkwardly. Don't go there Rick.

"Yeah," I tell him and the joy on my face at telling someone I'm with Seth is incomparable with anything else. There's nothing else like it, the way I feel when I say we're together. "We're visiting his parents to show off Evan," I say, gesturing to my son.

"Oh, yes," says Rick and bends down to Evan's level. "Wow, he looks just like him," he comments as if expecting the opposite.

"I know," I say and tuck some hair behind my ear. "What are you doing here? Obviously you don't live here either," I state and he shakes his head.

"May I?" asks Rick and I nod my head, allowing him to take Evan out of the stroller and into his arms. "I am here on some business work and decided to check out some places," he then says.

"Oh, all by yourself?" I ask, not knowing why I feel bad about it.

"Well, actually I met this girl," starts Rick after which a genuine smile grows on my face. "I told her to meet me here today and I'm just waiting to see if she'll show up," he says, excitement on his face. I'm glad to see that he's moving on rightly.

"I'm sure she will," I tell him and he nods his head. "Oops, watch it," I say, seeing Evan gurgle and let out spit. I grab some tissue paper from the stroller and move forward, wiping the corners of Evan's mouth as Rick holds him out for me. "There," I say, looking at my son lovingly.

"So how've you been?" asks Rick and I have no idea where to start from.

"Ok, long story short," I start, running a hand through my hair. "The day I last saw you, as soon as you left I got into an elevator, it stopped and we were stuck in there, went into labor and gave birth to Evan, nearly died but got revived, went into a coma for a month, woke up and recovered for a month and then came here with Seth!" I finish as he looks on in amazement.

"You nearly died?" asks Rick and I nod my head. Not the part I like talking about the most. "How?"

"There were some complications when I was pregnant, they told me it was either Evan or myself," I start to tell him. "So I chose-" I get cut off before I can finish.

"Evan," Rick finishes for me and I nod my head. "Too damn obvious," he states which makes me chuckle. "I'm glad you're ok," he says and I once again nod my head.

"Me too," I say.

"I'm honestly very glad you're both doing ok," says Rick, placing a hand on the side of my cheek.

"We're glad you are too," I tell him, placing both my hands on top of his.

"Iris," I hear Seth's voice which makes me jump as I move away from Rick's hand.

"Oh, hey honey," I say, trying to make it seem like everything looks normal. "You guys enjoy the ride?" I ask just as everyone else gets there in time, they all murmur in agreement.

"Who's the guy?" asks Nicky shamelessly and I see Macy throw him a glare.

"Oh, guys this is Rick, my ex," I introduce them and I can tell they don't know what to say about that. "Rick, this is all of Seth's family," I then say, not bothering to tell him all their names. There is no point in him remembering them or knowing them, we'll hardly ever see each other again.

"You meet all of your exes like this Iris?" asks Angie with a small smirk but I just ignore her like I have been doing. I see Rose roll her eyes though so at least I know she sees nothing bad in this.

"Hey everyone," says Rick with a small wave. Sensing the awkwardness, he then says, "Ok, I best get going." he announces and Seth takes Evan off of Rick, a little too eagerly if you ask me. "If you're ever back home then give me a ring and we can catch up," he tells me.

"Sure, I'd like that," I say and see Seth's head snap towards me. Just because he can't get along with people he used to date doesn't mean I can't. Me and Rick never really parted in an ugly way either, I can tell he just wants me to be happy and he's fine with me staying with Seth as long as I have a smile on my face. "Good luck on your date," I tell him with a thumbs up.

"If she turns up," comments Rick. "Bye everyone," he says and leaves from there.

"Whoa, now that is one hunk of a dude," comments Isabel and we all look at her. She coughs when she realizes what she's just said and looks away, I don't think she meant to say that out loud.

"What did he want?" asks Seth, not even waiting till we're along to ask this.

"He wanted to know how we were doing," I reply to him, wiping the corner of Evan's mouth again as he gurgles some more.

"And?" asks Seth and I wish I had some idea of what was going through that mind of his.

"That's it," I say. "I told him I'm here meeting your family," I simply explain noticing Seth still doesn't look happy. "What?" I then ask, seeing him give me somewhat of a glare.

"I think I know," says Nicky, holding his arm up in the air. "The green eyed monster is lurking about," he says, poking Seth's sides who doesn't look amused and tries kicking Nicky.

"I am not!" defends Seth as I place a hand over my mouth and try not to laugh.

"Dude, don't deny it, it'll only make you look worse," comments Damien with a small smile.

"Leave him alone, I think it's so cute that he's possessive over Iris," says Rose, leaning into Damien's side. "It shows how much he loves her," she says and I just wish things were normal right now. It feels like me and Seth are in a fight despite the fact that neither of us have shouted or anything.

"Excuse me, don't you think I have a right to be suspicious of the guy who asked my girlfriend to marry him on the day my son was born?" asks Seth and I see everyone's mouths drop open on shock. Thanks Seth (!) Now all they'll say is I'm the bad guy.

"What?!" they all shout at once and I swear I could just kill him right now. It's one thing acting like that but to tell everyone that? It's my personal business and I don't want it to be flaunted like that for everyone to know about. Why is Seth turning into more of an asshole as the day goes by?

* * *

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)**


	16. Talking Things Over

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **I hope everyone likes this chapter!**

 **Wolfgirl2013: You're very sweet :)**

 **Calwitch: You're very fixated with the girls just upping and leaving aren't you? Haha! Is that what you do to stick it to people? :)**

 **Daken's sister: Dude, really? Review when you can! You shouldn't be apologizing for not reviewing, I'm thankful for every one you send me. I know what you mean though. I'm currently studying for a test I have in two weeks. Good luck to us both! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 16:**

"No way!" exclaims Nicky, looking amused at what Seth's just told him. Ok, maybe his head is screwed on loose because he's the only one finding this amusing. Apart from Angie of course, she's smirking but I have no idea if that's because I'm supposed to be in some sort of deep shit cause of talking to Rick or because she genuinely finds it amusing.

"He asked you to marry him?" asks Macy and I reluctantly nod my head. I can't lie now can I? Why does Seth always do this? He gets angry and makes my life a living hell for a while.

"And you rejected him?" asks Rose and I again nod my head. They're all looking at me as if I'm a specimen of some sort that they're going to dissect with questions.

"Why? He's so dreamy," says Isabel and then bites down on her tongue. Again, I don't think that was meant to come out either. But hey, I'm not complaining if she's not hung up on Seth anymore.

"It just wouldn't work out," I tell them all. "Now if Seth's finished telling everyone about my personal life, shall we move on?" I say with a fake smile, my annoyance at what Seth just did being obviously evident. I push the stroller and clench my teeth down together. How could he embarrass me like this?

"Iris, wait up," I hear Macy say and slow down to walk side by side with her. As I glance back at her I notice Isabel walking with Seth and trying to make him and Evan laugh. Oh, so now he doesn't even care that he was being totally inappropriate? That's a new low, even for him! "You're mad aren't you?" she asks. That is not even a question that's needed to be asked.

"Yes," I say and look at her with a sigh. I thought once we were together this pettiness would disappear. But apparently it won't because Seth just can't help himself.

"Come on, let it out, they're all slowcoaches anyway," says Macy, almost making me laugh.

"I just cannot believe that he'd tell everyone that without even thinking," I start my rant. "There's a time and place and this wasn't either of those. Me and Rick have both moved on, I'm with Seth and he's met a girl but Seth just can't let it go, can he?" I continue and then sigh once more. "Ugh, I'm so mad," I finish but look at Macy weirdly once she laughs.

"Oh come on, it's so obvious that Seth did what he did because he's so mad at seeing you with your ex, he's jealous," states Macy but I still don't find that a reasonable excuse for what he did. It's just not on.

"That's no reason to do that to me," I tell her, shaking my head. I thought despite anything that ever happens Seth cares about me. But then when stuff like this happens and he reacts this way? It makes me doubt that.

"Well maybe it just built on from the fight you two are currently in," says Macy and I raise my eyebrows at her. "Oh come on, anyone can tell that something's off between you two. When I went out with you guys the other day, he couldn't keep his hands off you. Today, he's not anywhere near you," she explains and I guess it does seem more obvious.

"Still," I say. I'm glad she's here though because then I don't think I'd have anyone else I could talk to like this. "It's just inappropriate and petty Macy, and I can't stand for it," I tell her.

"I understand but maybe you guys need to talk about it all?" suggests Macy at which I scoff. I can only talk to Seth about things if he's willing to actually talk.

"I've tried but he's avoiding it," I tell her. It's what he does. Something happens and instead of talking about it, he avoids me like the damn plague. "I can't exactly tie him to a chair and make him talk to me," I then say which makes her chuckle.

"No, especially because he'll get the wrong idea of what you're about to do to him," says Macy and I gasp, pushing her to the side a little but she just laughs as I shake my head.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"Since when did those two get all friendly?" asks Angie, not liking the fact that the two girls she hated the most were forming an alliance, specifically because it could backfire on her in the future.

"We went on a double date with Seth and Iris, them two really hit it off!" exclaims Nicky, happy that at least Macy was getting along fine with someone other than him. And the fact that it was his brother's girlfriend made him even ore happier.

"Whoa, that Rick guy really made you jealous didn't he?" Isabel asks Seth who's giving all his attention to Evan. He never remembered a time when he was so angry and he didn't know if being with Iris was making that part of him worse.

"I'm fine," says Seth, shrugging his shoulders. He's trying not to think of Rick at this moment.

"Wanna make Iris jealous?" asks Isabel with a smile, standing right in front of Seth and stopping him in his tracks. "We could initiate that kiss from high school, it certainly made David think twice about making me cry again," she says and Seth gives her a weird look. Isabel was never this forward with him so he knew something was up.

"Why are you acting like this?" asks Seth, watching the others walk down and out of earshot. He didn't understand what just happened.

"Like what?" asks Isabel innocently, but she knew exactly what Seth was talking about. After all, her intentions had now changed.

"Like you want to be with me," Seth finally says after a moment of silence with a sigh. "You're acting way too clingy and it's not you. So, what's up?" he then asks her, looking at her closely. Seth thinks maybe she's worried about something and it's making her act all loopy.

"Maybe I want to be with you?" says Isabel out loud which makes Seth think he heard it wrong.

"Come again?" asks Seth, knowing for sure that Isabel couldn't say something like this. She was his friend and she knew how happy he is right now.

"Seth," starts Isabel, putting a hand on his forearm as he looks at it. This was wrong, it was all wrong. He's with Iris, he has their son in his arms and here was Isabel, propositioning him. "Come on, you can't be that thick!" she then says. "I…we never got a chance to work things out. To get together and see if what we had was something really special".

"Yes, because when I told you how I felt you chose David over me," Seth reminds her, that being one of the main reasons he first left and he's never regretted it.

"I know, but it was a mistake," says Isabel, something that surprises Seth. "I never should have chosen David over you and maybe if I hadn't this beautiful boy would be ours. Not yours," she explains as Seth starts feeling a migraine coming on. Was his childhood friend really telling him she had feeling for him at a time like this? A time where he has the girl he wants?

"Isabel, what exactly do you want from me? I'm with Iris and I'm happy," says Seth, trying to reason with her. "You chose David and I choose Iris," he then says.

"Happy? Really?" asks Isabel and starts to walk around him. "You've been sulking all day, you haven't even talked to Iris, you didn't care where she would be when we went on the ride on which you held my hand the entire time and from the looks of it, she isn't happy either," she explains. The only reason he held her hand because it's what they always did, he didn't think anything of it. If he knew it would give Isabel, the wrong idea then he wouldn't have done it. The last part of what she says is what gets Seth's attention.

"What do you mean? Of course she's happy," says Seth. He'd made sure to give her everything she needed and wanted. Iris always had a smile on her face. It let him know she's happy.

"Really? Then why was she so up close and person with her ex?" questions Isabel, a smirk on her face which then disappears as soon as she's on Seth's other side and he looks at her. "He had his hands all over her and she didn't look like she was complaining," she comments.

"Isabel, stop trying to imply things because Iris isn't like that," Seth states firmly, Isabel feeling frustrated at what Seth had just said. If she wanted to break them up then she'd need to make sure doubts would fluster up in both their minds, especially Seth's.

"Fine, but why are they making plans to meet?" questions Isabel. "Seth, you guys obviously aren't happy together. But me and you? We could have an amazing life together, heck I already love Evan as if he's my own son," she then says.

"He already has a mother," says Seth, getting annoyed by Isabel. She'd changed. She wasn't acting like the Isabel he knew and once had feelings for, she was acting like a stranger. And Evan didn't need any other mother other than Iris. She's the best Mother he could ever have. She risked everything for Evan, something which Seth can't put into words how amazing it was of her.

"I'm not trying to take him away from her," says Isabel, looking horrified and placing a hand over her chest. She gets close to Seth, almost as if pressing up against him.

"No, just me right?" asks Seth in a monotone voice as Isabel's smile falters for a second. Seth didn't realise his Isabel would end up like this. It made him sick to stand here with her, Iris not too far ahead.

"Seth, I could make you happy. You've been miserable all day but I can make sure that you never live to see a day like this, ever," Isabel tries to convince him. "Besides," she says, placing her hand on the side of Seth's cheek. "She doesn't have to find out for now if you don't want," she whispers in his ear as Seth's eyes widen. He moves back and looks at Isabel who winks at him. He doesn't even realize what's happening till Isabel's moved too forward and has placed a kiss on his lips.

"What the fuck Isabel?" asks Seth, moving back and looking at her horrified.

"Relax, no one saw," says Isabel with a smirk all over her face. "You know, David always used to brag about how great I was in the bedroom. I'm staying over at your house tonight so maybe I could give you a private show and you can find out exactly why I'm amazing," she says, leaving with one last wink.

"What the fuck is going on?" says Seth aloud to himself, confused by what the heck just happened. He was sure he had somehow stepped into some other dimension. He looks at Evan and says, "You're not going to tell your Mom are you? Because she doesn't need to know". Seth places a kiss on Evan's forehead before walking forward. Once he reaches Isabel he walks past her quickly, something he notices she laughs at. He's just thankful no one saw. But what he didn't realize was, someone was watching. Someone saw their exchange and she couldn't be more thrilled about it.

"Good girl," Angie whispers to Isabel who smiles and nods her head. Angie had seen everything and she was more than happy by what happened. It would be just a matter of time before she could completely break up Iris and Seth before they leave.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Ooh, we should all go on the love-boats!" exclaims Rose, pointing to small heart shaped boats that were disappearing into a tunnel. "Oh, it would be so romantic," she swoons which makes me chuckle and I'm in complete agreement with her. It would be. Just not today. I can't even look at Seth after what he's done and he's the same with me.

"Ok guys, grab your girls," says Damien with a laugh, putting a tight arm around Rose who lets out a giggle.

"What about the kids?" asks Macy, looking down at Lacy and Lily who were really intrigued by the water.

"Oh, I'll take care of them," says Isabel, lifting her hand in the air. Hmm, that's nice of her.

"Come on then," says Neil, putting an arm around Angie who gives him an annoyed look. "Don't worry bestie; I won't try anything with you. I mean, you should be so lucky right?" he says and a few of us snicker. If I was asked, I'd say he wants to try something with her. There's definitely something there for sure.

"You alright Iris?" asks Nicky and I nod my head. I don't really want to go on a boat with Seth at this moment in time. Not with the way he's acting.

"Yeah, you guys go I'm staying back with Evan," I tell them all and Rose lets out th

e biggest groan.

"Iris, we've come out here for some fun not that so you can skip out on all the best rides," says Rose, her hands on her hips as she sends a frown in my direction.

"Yeah, I'll take care of Evan," says Isabel which isn't going to sit well with me.

"No offence, but Evan isn't really used to you and I don't want anything happening to him," I speak my mind but make sure it sounds more like I'm worried rather than annoyed. Isabel hasn't done anything yet but I still get bad vibes. Or maybe this is just because of what those women said and what Seth told me.

"We'll take care of him!" Nicky suddenly exclaims and I swear I saw Macy hit him on the ribs using her elbow seconds before.

"No, you guys go on the ride," I say, waving a hand in the air. They didn't need to miss out on the ride because I seemed distrustful of Isabel today. I don't know but something doesn't seem right with her, my gut tells me this. I don't like the way she's looking at Seth and I don't know if it's because something is actually going on or I'm just getting worked up for the sake of it.

"Don't be silly, I don't mind missing a stupid ride for this cutie," says Macy and forcefully taking Evan off of Seth. "You guys go in and enjoy the ride," she says and I look over to see Rose give an approving nod. She then mouths 'I like her' to me so at least something good is coming out of today. Everyone gets to see the real side of Macy.

"Yes, come on!" exclaims Rose and grabs my hand, dragging me with her before I can even start to protest.

"We'll wait for you on the other side!" Nicky shouts to everyone as he, Macy, Isabel and the girls wave goodbye to everyone. I can't say I'm not nervous because all I know is everything will be awkward as soon we're left alone together. I hang out at the back, behind everyone as they all get on.

"Miss?" I hear a voice and look at the attendant who's gesturing for me to get on. I nod my head and walk over to the boat. Seth holds his hand out, not looking at me properly but I don't take it. Instead, I decide to get onto the boat by myself, even though I wobble and nearly fall. But, Seth being Seth grabs my waist and stops me from falling.

"Should have just took my hand," comments Seth but I divert my gaze and sit down on the right. Seth takes a seat on the left and the boat starts moving. The tunnel's dark except for the lights that have it decorated, it makes the whole place look pink which makes me smile. "You've always loved lights," says Seth and I nod my head absentmindedly. "So what did Rick really want?" he asks and I knew this silence would be too good to be true.

"Do we have to do this?" I ask him, turning my head to look at him. "You've already embarrassed me in front of everyone and now you wanna do the same thing whilst we're alone too?" I don't think I can take much more of this.

"Embarrass? Iris, I didn't mean to do any of those things," says Seth and damn him for looking so genuine about it. "I was…I was just angry and it came out alright? I'm sorry," he apologizes. Something he's still doing ever since he came back into my life.

"It came out? Seth, they're all thinking god knows what about me!" I exclaim, my arm out. "And you've given Angie a new reason to say things about me," I add on and then let out a sigh. He didn't mean to, that's what I have to keep reminding myself. But it doesn't change the fact that he has.

"I'm sorry that I was pissed off that I saw you with your ex who wanted to marry you, ok?" asks Seth and I stare at him. I don't know what to say so I look away, this is all going downhill. He's pissed off, I'm annoyed.

"Seth," I start, staring down at the water as I say what I need to. "I know Rick is a part of my past, but there's a reason that I'm not with him. There's a reason that I didn't marry him so will you please focus on that instead of thinking the worst just because you saw us chatting?"

"What reason's that then?" asks Seth and I can feel his gaze on me. Like as if he doesn't know. I swear sometimes he just loves to hear how much in love with him I am and always have been.

"I love you," I say, turning around to face him and I think the fact that tears are running down my face right now is what makes him look guilty. "I've always loved you and that's why I've never been able to move on to someone else, ok? When Rick proposed to me, yeah it would have been easy to accept it and marry him and be happy but my heart's always wanted you. And that's why I rejected him. Not because Evan was your kid or because I thought I was going to die but because I love your dumb ass," I finish explaining, the last part making him chuckle.

"I'm sorry for over reacting," says Seth with a sigh and I nod my head acknowledging his apology. At least he does apologise when he's done something wrong. Which happens a lot more than it should.

"Thank you," I say and use my hand to wipe my tears. I then see him deep in thought and wonder what he could be thinking about. Then, it comes to my mind. "I never said Dolph was better than you, all I said was that he was good at doing what we did. I wasn't thinking and I'm sorry that it hurt you so much," I apologize, sniffling to myself.

"Iris," says Seth and places his hand on mine. "I'm not mad that you said he was good, I know us guys talk about stuff like that all the time," he admits which I find very big of him. Most people right now wouldn't point that out because all it does is make me have the upper hand.

"Then what was it?" I ask him in a small voice.

"When you had to choose between me and him and you didn't even instantly take my name, that hurt," reveals Seth, avoiding my gaze. "It hurt that he was the last one to be that close to you and that I couldn't even get that close to you and I'm your boyfriend," he explains. I don't say anything because I know he needs to let it out. "You know us men, we have an ego," he adds on with a dry chuckle.

"The reason I wouldn't give Ariana an answer was because I didn't remember," I tell him truthfully which gets his attention because he gives me a questioning look. "I've tried to forget about our past so many times it sometimes feels like a distant memory. All I remembered was that you could make me feel good, make me scream and make me want more. But I couldn't remember exactly what I felt when we did have sex," I explain, not sure if he gets it or not. "But then you decided to remind me today," I add on, remembering what happened in the shower.

"I'm so sorry," says Seth and this time I give him the questioning look. "I shouldn't have just barged in there and ordered you about, been so rough with you," he says. "But, I just wanted to prove that I was good enough," he then says. He doesn't need to prove anything to me. I'd take him over anyone else any day.

"Don't be sorry, I found it hot," I say honestly, a small smile starts to cover his face. "I haven't felt that, alive, in ages," I comment, feeling myself going red as he stares at me. "I can give Ariana my answer now," I add on and look away.

"Really? And who would it be?" questions Seth, shuffling closer to me as I bite down on my lip.

"Isn't it obvious?" I ask him and close my eyes when I feel his hand take a grip of my chin, moving my head in his direction.

"I'm so sorry cutie pie," says Seth and a small smile covers my face.

"Why are you apologizing now?" I ask him and open my eyes, not having realized how close his face is to my own.

"For making you cry," says Seth and before I can say anything he puts his finger up to my lips. "I saw you in the car and…I felt like such an ass. I've made a promise to make sure you never cry again but I we haven't even been together a week and I've already broken it," he explains. "I didn't mean anything by that comment. In my head, I thought well we're not exactly having sex so there's no chance of it happening and only after I said it I realized how bad it sounds to everyone else".

"So it's not the fact that you don't want more kids with me or anything?" I ask for clarification. I know we're not at the stage of even thinking about having more kids but it would be nice to know for future reference.

"No, if anything I want a whole football team," mentions Seth, making me so happy that I move and put my arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as I can.

"It seems like this whole waiting to have sex thing is just going to keep getting us into trouble," I say.

"Only if we don't talk about the things that don't upset us," says Seth, pulling away from me.

"Seth, I know you get real upset about things very quickly but you need to stop making assumptions and then blocking me out," I tell him, seeing his gaze go downwards. "Whenever you're upset about something, you don't talk to me and then you ignore me and make comments and I don't deserve to be treated that way. Like when you got upset about my night with Dolph or when you thought I'd slept with Cody and Ted. Or even now. We're parents and everything we do affect Evan massively. I stopped acting immature when I realised I'll have the responsibility of a child and I think it's time you understood that and did it yourself," I explain to him nicely. I know he hates being told what to do sometimes but this is important.

"I know. I just get too angry that I don't even think…" Seth trails off which I understand.

"That's ok but I want you to remember that you can't do stuff like that anymore," I say, placing my hand on the side of his face and getting him to look at me. "If anyone understands how upset you get when you care and love someone, it's me. I mean, remember the time I punched that woman at the bar for touching you?" I say and he lets out a chuckle as he thinks back to it.

"You were something else that night," comments Seth fondly.

"I was but now I wouldn't even think about doing that, remember, Evan is our priority. You need to talk to me if you're upset, not walk away because then it makes me question whether I can trust you," I explain to him and he nods his head. I hope nothing else happens that he gets angry but if it does, I don't want a repeat of what has happened the last few times.

"I promise I'll talk to you whenever I'm upset about anything," he says and I nod my head. I then realize that despite having talked about everything, something still seems to be bothering Seth.

"Anything else the matter?" I ask Seth, snapping him out of whatever daze he's in.

"No, just, uh thinking about us," says Seth, keeping a hold of both of my hands. "Do you trust me Iris?" he asks me, a question that I find odd that he's asking me this. Is that what's bothering him? That I don't trust him. Because I do.

"With everything in me," I say with a smile. "Why?" I then ask him. He looks beyond relieved at my answer. But he's not given me a reason not to trust him since he's come back into my life.

"Nothing, just asking," says Seth and he has to know that I don't believe him. Something is bothering him that I don't know about but I won't force him to tell me. "You know how much I love you Cutie Pie?" he then asks me and I shake my head with a cheeky smile. "Oh really?" he asks.

"Really," I say with a serious look but can't hold it in as a smile erupts onto my face.

"Fine, I'll show you," says Seth and pulls me to him, keeping one hand around my waist and the other on the side of my cheek, kissing my lips as I giggle. "What's so funny?" he asks in between kisses.

"Nothing," I say but continue to giggle. "I love you," I tell him again.

"I love you too," says Seth and looks in my eyes. "Always know that," he says and I nod my head as he continues to devour my lips with his own. If this is how we make up, then maybe I don't mind a couple of fights here and there.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	17. Plans

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next one guys!**

 **Daken's sister: Thanks! Your wish is my command. I wasn't going to put it in but how can I say no? :)**

 **Calwitch: Because you're psychic? Haha! Let's see what he does then :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 17:**

 ***FLASHBACK***

 **IRIS POV**

" _So, how's it going with you and Dean?" I ask my best friend, nudging her with my elbow. The guys went to get some more drinks for themselves and us, leaving me and Ariana alone together in the booth. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly though, I've been wanting to talk to her all night._

" _It's going good, surprisingly," says Ariana but I can tell something is wrong right now. Otherwise, my best friend wouldn't be looking at Dean Ambrose with a longing look on her face._

" _What's wrong?" I ask her and her gaze averts from Dean, landing on me. "You've been dating for a whole now, what could have already happened that's got you sitting here looking all…sullen?" I try and use the correct words for how she seems right now._

" _That's the problem though, just dating. Nothing more," answers Ariana with a loud sigh. "I know Dean hasn't been in many relationships and neither have I but I'm pretty sure we should be thinking about being exclusive," she explains to me, my eyes widening at what she just said._

" _You're not?" I question, mostly in shock. Ariana shakes her head. All this time I thought they were._

" _Technically, we're just dating which means we can be looking around," says Ariana, at which I roll my eyes. Who cares about technicality right now? She's dating Dean Ambrose. "Which Dean made clear when he was openly flirting with some chick at the hotel earlier today," she says and I have half a mind to go over to Dean and give him a good telling off for hurting my best friend._

" _I can't believe him!" I exclaim, shaking my head in disbelief. "Why did you agree to go out with him again?" I question and she narrows her eyes at me._

" _Because he kissed me, something which I couldn't forget about after which you were constantly badgering me to say yes when he kept asking me out," Ariana reminds me and a sheepish smile over comes my face. Oh yes, I was the idiot that encouraged her. But in my defence, she barely dated and I wanted her to have someone in her life. I just didn't think Dean would be an ass about it since Ariana's my best friend._

" _Do you want me to ask Roman or Seth to talk to him?" I ask her, trying to think of ways to help her. Dean clearly likes her a lot but hanging on to his old ways, he'll lose her._

" _No, if he continues on like this then I'm just going to call the whole thing off," says Ariana, looking determined in her decision. I notice the boys taking seats at the bar, I wonder what they're discussing. "There's no point hoping for something more when it clearly won't be there," she says, sounding like a dud. I try to rack my brain for ideas about what we can do but seem to come up short._

" _You know what Ariana?" I start, sitting up straight and looking at her. "Put your foot down. I mean, you're the kind of girl that doesn't take nonsense like this so you don't have to put up with it. If Dean won't give you what you want, then fight for it!" I encourage her, hoping to instil a bit of enthusiasm in her._

" _What do you mean?" asks Ariana, tilting her head to the side._

" _Fight for your rights in this…whatever kind of relationship this is between you and him," I say, confused by the whole thing myself. "I don't get it thought. You act like you're in a relationship and not just dating but when he's not with you he flirts? It's weird," I say, thinking to myself and then realising that I have gone off track. "What I mean to say is, if he isn't giving you what you want then take it from him," I go back to the whole point of this situation. I'm glad I don't have that problem with Seth. We agree on almost everything. Except for how the colour green looks on him. I think it looks great and he hates it but what can you do right?_

" _And just how do I do that?" asks Ariana but I just shrug my shoulders. I'm giving her a way of doing things, she needs to figure out how she's going to get it done though. "Speaking of fighting for what's yours, some girl has got her hands all over your man," she informs me. My eyes shoot to Seth who has some brunette chick standing way too close to him for my liking. Without a word, I get up and go over there._

" _Honey!" I say Seth's name with a bright smile on my face, Seth turning his head and looking kind of panicked but who wouldn't if they see their girlfriend when some other girl is standing too close to him. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your little friend?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest._

" _Iris, she was just leaving," Seth begins to explain but I give him a look which tells him to just answer my question. "This is Julie," he states, not looking very happy._

" _Hi Julie, I'm the girlfriend and if you don't take your hand off my boyfriend within the next five seconds then it'll be broken," I say, but she just laughs it off._

" _And what if I say not because I'm enjoying myself too much?" questions Julie, a smirk on her face. I look at Ariana who's stood beside me and let out a chuckle. "You know, I could probably show him a better time," she then says and this isn't doing anything to lower my anger levels._

" _She thinks she can give him a better time," I say to Ariana and let out a laugh, Ariana sending me a warning look. I continue laughing till Julie decides to move her hand closer to Seth's package at which point I see red and without warning deliver a punch right to her nose, knocking her to the floor._

" _Iris!" says Seth, immediately getting up and moving to stand in front of me so I can't do further damage unfortunately. Roman and Dean stand up too, looking impressed?_

" _Let's see you try and show him a better time skank!" I shout, people looking at us now but I don't care. I don't like people touching what's mine. Seth quickly drags me away from there though, leaving Ariana, Dean and Roman to clean up the mess I made. Seth only lets of me once we get outside the club and I stop struggling. "Ugh! Bitch!" I exclaim, letting out a grunt. I really feel like punching her for a second time._

" _What the hell was that? You punched her?" questions Seth and I just stand there with my arms crossed because I don't give a crap. She had it coming. "What if she decides to press charges?" he then asks me._

" _I really don't give a crap Seth because she had it coming!" I exclaim, my hands at my sides now. "If some random skank thinks she can press herself up against you and touch you like that then do you expect me to sit back and just watch the show?" I ask him, something which I find ludicrous._

" _But punching her?" asks Seth and I can almost see a hint of amusement on his face._

" _She asked for it," I answer, shrugging my shoulders. I've never done that before but with Seth, I saw red. "I knew you weren't going to shove her off because you're too kind like that but she obviously wasn't going to learn by you saying no kindly," I go on to say._

" _You know, I wasn't interested in her at all," says Seth, stepping forward and placing his hands on my hips, pulling me closer to him. "But after that, I am a whole lot more interested in you," he lets me know, a small smile appearing on my face. "That was kind of hot," he then whispers in my ear._

" _You're not mad?" I ask him and he shakes his head._

" _Those were extreme lengths but…wow," he says, pulling me to him and kissing my lips. "How about we spend the rest of our night in my bedroom because after that, I am quite turned on," he suggests and I nod my head eagerly. He kisses my lips once more before taking me away from there._

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

"So, what made you change your mind?" I question Isabel curiously as I pull her to the side. Me and Neil were the first ones out of the ride and I decided I had to know the reasoning behind why Isabel was now on my side with this whole situation. Not that I'm complaining.

"Seth," answers Isabel. "I've wanted him for so long and I just don't think it's fair he's with Iris because he knocked her up," she says, that being too much of a blunt comment for someone like Isabel. But what do I care? As long as she can help me separate Seth and Iris.

"That's a drastic change," I comment, looking at her suspiciously.

"David rang the other day," starts Isabel and I nod my head. "He's with Lisa, the girl who was always trying to get his attention in high school. He rang to tell me that he wants to sell his half of the house and move with her to California," she explains and I place a hand on her arm. Love hurts and sucks. "I thought, why should he just get to move on and I don't because Iris is in the way?"

"If you're doing this to get back at David for being with Lisa then I won't let you," I let her know straight. "Seth is my little brother and I love him, if all you're going to do is give him false hope then no way in fuck are you getting anywhere near him," I lay down the ground rules.

"The call with David only made me think about what I want," Isabel tells me. "I want Seth; I'll never be happy with anyone else unless I give what I have with Seth a go. And if that means making sure he and Iris have to break up then so be it. I'm past being the nice girl because all that happens is I get trampled on," she explains as I nod my head. "People think they can walk all over me and that's not happening this time. This time, I refuse to let go of something that belongs to me," she says with finality and I smirk up at her. This is exactly the kind of attitude I need from her right now.

"Well then, we better get a plan into motion," I say to her, looking up at her as she smiles.

"Don't worry, I've already started it," says Isabel with determination. "I'm staying at yours today so all I have to do it make sure me and Seth spend some time alone together. Once he realizes he can't resist me, then he'll get to a point where he can't come back from even if he tries," she says and I nod my head approvingly. This…is going to be fun. All of a sudden Nicky shouts something and we both look to see Seth and Iris kissing each other's faces off.

"Ugh, that cow!" says Isabel in an annoyed manner and I've never seen her this worked up. Must be because of how deep her feelings run for Seth.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Whoo, get in there brother!" I hear Nicky's voice and look to the side to see we're out at the other end of the tunnel. As I try and pull away from Seth her moves his hand from my waist to my back and pulls me closer to him, I can feel the smirk on his lips as he kisses me. I hear a few wolf whistles and swear I've gone as red as a tomato by now.

"Seth," I say, trying to get him to let go of me. He only does so when the boat stops at the right place and the attendant coughs awkwardly. Seth gets up and instead of moving he bows down in the direction of his family as I place my hands on my face.

"What's wrong Cutie Pie?" asks Seth innocently, taking my hands away from my face and helping me up. I shake my head and he gets out of the boat, helping me out afterwards. We walk over to everyone and Seth keeps his arm around my waist, not showing any signs of letting go.

"So, you guys had fun in there, didn't you?" asks Macy teasingly but I just move away from Seth and take Evan off of her, bouncing him up and down and using him to cover my red face.

"Uh oh, looks like someone's shy!" says Damien, calling me out on it.

"How about we all go and get some candy floss?" suggests Rose, everyone seeming to agree to that.

"Candy floss, candy floss, candy floss!" shout Lacy and Lily, skipping all the way to the stand excitedly. I put Evan in the stroller and Seth begins to push him. He gestures for me to come next to him and I walk at his side, my arm interlocked with one of his and a smile on my face that's not going to disappear anytime soon. I am so glad we worked things out.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"Seth!" exclaims Iris, swatting him away after he'd hit the candy floss they were sharing on her nose. She laughs when he says sorry and puts the candy floss in between them, allowing her to take a bite. Everyone was in their own world, Seth and Iris, Damien and Rose, Macy and Nicky, Neil with the girls but Angie and Isabel looked on with disdain at the scene in front of them.

"Maybe I should just go over and make sure she chokes on her candy floss," comments Isabel which makes Angie burst out in laughter. She couldn't believe how jealous Isabel was right now.

"Remember, you have one thing she doesn't," Angie reminds her as Isabel looks at her curiously. "Seth's curiosity," she states. "He's always wanted you and now he has the chance. After your proposition on keeping it a secret I know he'll be more than intrigued," she comments, sure of it. After all, Isabel was the one girl Seth always wanted but could never have.

"And after he sees me in what I've brought, he'll be all over me," says Isabel with a smirk of her own. She and Angie hit their candy floss together, ready to take down Seth and Iris.

"Don't be so mean," Iris warns Seth as he hovers a piece of candy floss over her mouth, having offered to feed her.

"Me? Mean? I think you have me confused with someone else," says Seth and just as Iris is about to take the piece of candy floss in her mouth, Seth moves it away again.

"Such a troublemaker," comments Iris, shaking her head at him. "You know what? I'll go find Rick and see if he's happy to feed me some," she then says but before she can go anywhere Seth grabs her wrist and pulls her to him.

"Just you try," challenges Seth and Iris looks down shyly. "Ah!" screams Seth as soon as Iris quickly bites down on the candy floss as well as his finger which makes Iris and some of the others laugh.

"That's what you get!" says Iris sticking out her tongue and this time Seth shakes his head.

"Mommy's mean, right Evan?" says Seth, bending down to the level of his son, as if about to have a deep conversation with him.

"Right and Daddy's isn't too far off," comments Iris. This time Seth sticks his tongue out.

"Mister Rollins!" exclaims Iris in mock horror. "I'm sorry but you are going to have to do two years for that specific felony," she then states but Seth just laughs.

"You've done a lot worse," retorts Seth, thinking back to their past.

"Oh really? Like what?" questions Iris, leaning on the handle of the stroller, intrigued to know what he was going to come out with.

"Remember that night in the Jacuzzi and the bleeding scratch marks I got?" asks Seth too loud for Iris's liking because she swears everyone heard but are trying to remain indifferent.

"Seth!" reprimands Iris but he just gives her a blank look as if he's done nothing wrong or doesn't even realise what the problem

"You asked!" he defends as Iris wonders what she's going to do with him. She shakes her head for what feels like the millionth time. The rest of the day goes by great for the couple, Seth plays a lot of the games and wins a bunch of stuffed animals for Evan. As Isabel watches the scene unfold before her she feels more than just jealous but Angie calms her down and reminds her that they still had the plan tonight.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"That was a lot of fun," I comment as we get into our bedroom. I put Evan down on the bed and we put all our stuff away. Just as we're about to head downstairs there's a knock on our door. "Come on in!" I say and Macy shows her face from the other side.

"Hey guys," says Macy, walking in and immediately sitting down next to Evan. "I couldn't stand being down there with everyone sending me glares here and there," she comments and I nod my head in understanding. Not the nicest of things to experience. "I cannot believe Nicky has convinced me to stay the night," she says, shaking her head. Macy and Nicky don't live far from here and I don't think she has work tomorrow so she can stay over.

"Don't worry, you can be my official babysitter if it'll keep you occupied," I tell her and I can tell she appreciates that because she smiles up at me. I end up spending most of the evening with Macy in mine and Seth's room, we were talking about anything and everything.

"You're still here? Unbelievable!" says Seth with an annoyed look as she comes into his room. He'd been coming and going the whole of the evening and each time he rolled his eyes at me and Macy laughing about various things.

"Seth, be nice," I tell him, giving him a slight glare.

"That's alright Iris, he's just hating because I'm cock-blocking him," comments Macy with an evil smirk as I try not to laugh. Seth disappears into the bathroom not looking too happy.

"You had to go and do that, didn't you?" I ask Macy who gives me an innocent look. She loves to annoy Seth and she is succeeding in doing that.

"It's not my fault he can't take it," says Macy but I just shake my head and go in after Seth.

"Seth?" I say his name, closing the bathroom door behind me. I see him leaning against the sink and walk over, wrapping my arms around his torso from behind. "What's wrong?" I ask him, leaning my head against one of his shoulders.

"What's wrong is I just want to spend some alone with my girlfriend and son but I can't because other people won't allow it," replies Seth in annoyance and I hold in my chuckle. He can be really sweet sometimes.

"And we want to spend time with you," I say and then move, making him turn around to face me. "But I'm not going to fight with everyone just so that'll happen, alright?" I say to him. "Look, Macy is our guest in this house and I can only imagine how she must be feeling when everyone acts the way they do. So, if she finds a little comfort in me or Evan or even you then we should entertain her. Nicky loves her and he needs her to fit in somewhere," I remind him of his younger brother.

"I hate it when you bring Nicky into this," comments Seth which makes me chuckle. He only hates it because it makes him feel bad and then he has no choice but to concede.

"He's kind of the main guy in all of this, you can't let him down honey," I tell him and he nods his head, leaning down to kiss my lips. Once he starts to deepen the kiss I pull away. "We have time for that later Romeo," moving back and pulling him with me out of the bathroom.

"Hey guys," I hear Isabel say and then look to see her standing in our room with Macy keeping Evan close in her arms and glaring at Isabel. Hmm, that's odd. I wonder what her problem with Isabel is. "Seth, the heater in my room isn't working and everyone else is asleep. You mind coming and having a look at it? It's really cold tonight," she says and I glance at him to realize he looks even more annoyed. Why do I get the feeling he's hiding something?

"Me? I doubt I can do anything," says Seth, declining instantly and shaking his head.

"Seth, there's no harm in looking," I say with a smile, being friendly. I might have a disliking feeling about her right now but if she needs help then she needs it. Plus, if she stays cold all night then it'll be our fault.

"Iris, I'm not good with stuff like that," says Seth, turning to look at me and gripping onto my hand even tighter.

"Just have a look? Maybe you'll see something she missed," I say but he still looks unconvinced. "I won't be able to take it if Isabel stays cold all night when we could have done something about it. Ok? For me please?" I beg him and he nods his head not looking too happy. "Thanks," I say, pecking his lips and walking over to the bed. "I'll wait for you to get back," I say and he leaves the room with Isabel.

"Why the heck did you do that?" asks Macy and I give her a questioning look. "You basically fed him to the lion's den, by yourself!" she says, getting a bit too dramatic in my opinion.

"Will you relax? I may not trust her but I trust Seth with all my heart," I tell her, taking Evan from her and making him lie down on the bed as I lift up his shirt and start massaging his belly. Something which he happens to love because he lets out the cutest sounds.

"Because that worked so well for you last time (!)" comments Macy and I look at her in surprise. "Sorry, but I just get a bad vibe from her. Have been all day," she admits to me. "How can you be so sure that she won't try anything with him?" she then questions me. I have thought about that a lot but then I realised at one point that I didn't need to.

"I can't," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "But when Seth tells me he loves me; I can see how much he means it in his eyes. He wouldn't do that to me again, or even Evan. So will you please relax?" I then say and continue with what I'm doing. I know me and Seth have had our issues but what's a relationship without trust? I trust him and that's enough for me.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I smirk as I watch Seth trying to fix my heater, he looks to sexy in this position right no. Bent down with his muscles flexing here and there, I'm surprised I have any self-control right now.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom," I say and close the door behind me. I smirk as I look at the outfit and quickly get changed. It's a tiny, black nightdress with thin straps and about as low from the top as it can be. If this doesn't get him excited, I don't know what will. I put on the matching robe but leave it open, this should definitely do it tonight. "Any progress?" I ask him as I step outside of the bathroom but he shakes his head and grunts. "Can I help at all?" I ask, standing right next to him.

"Not real-" Seth stops mid-sentence as he looks up at me, his eyes widening at the sight of me.

"Something the matter?" I ask with a knowing smirk but he shakes his head and quickly looks back at what he's doing. He's tempted alright. "You sure?" I ask in a breathless voice as I bend down to his level but he just ignores me. I place a hand on his biceps and say, "Wow. Working out has really helped you over the years".

"Stop it," says Seth and gets up as I do too with a questioning look. "I don't know what you're trying to do but I love Iris and I won't have anyone come in between us," he tells me straight which makes me frown. He was in love with me too once so things can change.

"Who says I'm going to come in between?" I ask him, stepping forward and getting as close to him as I can. "I'm just trying to give you what you want and what you…" I trail off, my lips inches away from his. "Need," I whisper, glancing down at his lips.

"All I've ever needed is Iris and she's all I'll ever want," Seth says before pushing me off gently and heading for the door. Nope, I'm not having this. He is mine.

"Oh come on," I say and quickly run to stand in between him and the door. "I know you find me attractive Seth and like I said before, no one needs to know," I remind him, moving closer and placing my hands on his chest. "Not even Iris, it'll be our little secret," I whisper in his ear.

"Listen here Isabel," starts Seth, moving me away and grabbing a hold of my arm as he looks into my eyes. "I don't know why you're acting like this because I've known you for years and you're a good person. So whatever it is that you think you're doing, stop it," he orders me but I just smirk.

"Being a good girl doesn't get you anywhere in life," I state. "You're not getting any from your girlfriend, why not take what I'm offering?" I ask him and he gives me a look. "It's obvious you guys are not having sex," I comment but that just seems to make him angry.

"Stay away from me, Iris and our son. This is the first and last time I'm warning you," Seth threatens me before letting me go and moving to get out of the room. Hmm, I didn't think it'd be this hard to crack him. That Iris definitely has done a number on him. The Seth I knew wouldn't think twice about my offer, he'd jump at the chance. But it's only a matter of time before he does.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	18. Issues

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next chapter guys! I was supposed to upload it yesterday but somehow it slipped my mind. Off to a wedding today and thought I'd get it done before I leave. :)**

 **Daken's sister: I am so glad you did! I managed to do my job then :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: You're too kind :)**

 **Calwitch: Yes she has, hasn't she? We all know Seth loves Iris so maybe that won't happen :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 18:**

 **SETH POV**

I walk back to my bedroom not understanding what I should do. I mean, do I tell Iris or not? She's already been so worried about coming here and trying to fit in with my family that I don't want to put any more pressure on her but she trusts me and I feel like I'm betraying that trust every time I come into contact with Isabel. I love Iris, with everything in me but I don't want to hurt her. Will she even trust me after I tell her what's been going on today?

The thing I don't get is Isabel's sudden change in demeanour. She's been her normal kind self, till today. What could have changed that she's gone from saying she's happy for me to trying to seduce me into sleeping with her? I'm not going to deny that she didn't look attractive back there but I don't want her. I want Iris. Once I open the room to my door I see Iris waiting for me on the bed, flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," says Iris, looking up at me as I close the door behind me. "Everything go ok?" she asks me.

"Yeah, I couldn't fix it and I was tired so…" I trail off and check on Evan in his cot. I smile down at him and place a kiss on his forehead before going over to the bed and sitting down next to Iris. "Come here," I say and she shuffles over as I wrap my arms around her. I need her close to me right now.

"Is everything alright Seth?" she asks me in a soft voice and I nod my head, keeping my eyes closed and keeping Iris close to me. "Are you sure? You seem kind of…different," she then points out.

"I'm fine Cutie Pie," I tell her, knowing its best if she doesn't find out. I don't want to worry her right now and if things get too far then I'll tell her and knowing Iris she'll understand my reasons. I open my eyes and see her looking up at me in concern. "I'm fine," I reiterate and she nods her head, placing a kiss on my neck. "You shouldn't do things like that," I tell her.

"Why not?" asks Iris, giving me an innocent look. She knows exactly what she's doing. Although, it is a good distraction technique.

"Because," I say and then make her squeal when I all of a sudden lift her into my lap and kiss her lips passionately. "It'll get you into situations like this," I finish off and start trailing kisses down to her neck as she giggles, the sound of her laughs driving me absolutely crazy.

"Hmm, maybe this was my intention," comments Iris and I look up at her. "Come on, let's go to sleep. I'm going jogging with Rose in the morning for some exercise," she tells me.

"Ugh," I say, planting my face on her chest in disdain.

"I know," says Iris with a chuckle as he runs her hand through my hair. "Come on, put me down now," she says and I lift her up and lie her down, looking down at her lovingly. I shuffle down and wrap my arms tightly around her, holding her close and knowing more than ever that this is the only woman that I want now and forever.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"You ok Iris?" asks Rose, lightly jogging by my side. I nod my head, still finding something weird with how Seth was acting last night. I can see right through him, I mean I am his girlfriend and I've known him for a long time to know when something is bothering him.

"I just…how do you get Damien to open up to you?" I ask her, feeling kind of weird because this hasn't been a problem since me and Seth got back together. "How do you get him to tell you things that he maybe doesn't want to tell you?" I then question her, keeping my breathing in check.

"Oh, well usually I just get all sexy and he blurts it out," says Rose which just makes me laugh. That isn't what I was asking her but I guess she did make me laugh. "Why? Everything alright between you and Seth?" she asks me and I nod my head.

"Yeah," I say. "I just have this weird feeling that he's hiding something from me," I admit to her. "Ever since yesterday, something doesn't feel right. I asked him but he denied it," I tell her. I hate it when he does that.

"That's the worst, they think they can hide things from you when they can't," says Rose, shaking her head. "Why can't they just be upfront like normal people?" she questions which I guess would make life a hell of a lot easier.

"It's just…me and Seth have decided that we won't keep secrets, they just screw us over after everything we've been through," I tell her. The whole Seth being Evan's father, how we both love each other etc. Everything would have been fine from the start if we were just honest.

"Well then if he is keeping something from you it's gotta be serious," says Rose which I agree with. "But we all know Seth, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you, he loves you silly," she tells me.

"I know," I say with a smile and we continue the rest of our run. I really hope if he is hiding something from me then it's nothing that will change our relationship or anything, I like how we are. I love us and our little family.

"Good run?" asks Seth as I meet him halfway up the stairs.

"Great run," I say which makes him chuckle. He leans down about to kiss me but I pull away. "Are you crazy? I'm all sweaty and dirty," I say, looking down at myself in disgust. "I need a shower," I then state.

"Lucky for you I happen to like sweaty and dirty," says Seth, moving to stand on the same step as me. He leans in and gives me a slow, soft kiss. "Hmm, sweet," he says which makes me blush.

"Where's our boy?" I question, having expected him to be with Seth.

"He is with my Mother because she can't get enough of him," Seth informs me and I nod my head. "Want any help in the shower?" he then asks me, taking my hands in his, about to kiss me again.

"Excuse me," says Isabel, shoving past us and breaking us apart.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," I comment as a joke to Seth who now looks pissed off. "Honey, what's wrong?" I ask him, his mood having changed dramatically all of a sudden. Seth looks at me and shakes his head.

"Nothing, I just want a shower with my girl," says Seth, pressing my back against the staircase barriers and placing a kiss on my cheek.

"Hmm, I don't see anything wrong with that," I say, putting an arm around his neck. "But, I refuse to be one of those parents who gives their kid to the grandparents so she can have alone time with her boyfriend. So, get your ass over to see if Anne needs any help," I say, pushing him off of me.

"Aw man, struck my heart that arrow did," says Seth, faltering backwards and keeping a hand on his heart.

"I know how to fix it!" I exclaim as I walk up the stairs. I turn back around and blow him a kiss. "All better?" I ask him innocently.

"Definitely," says Seth and gives me a wink before he leaves and I do too. He's too cute sometimes. I take a shower and get dressed. I then go to Anne's room to find my boyfriend and son. I stand at the doorway, smiling at the sight in front of me. Seth's blowing on Evan's tummy which is making Evan giggle. "Are you going to just watch us or come in?" Seth asks, glancing at me for a second.

"Hmm, not sure," I say and then walk in. As soon as Evan sees me he starts flapping about for me to pick him up which I do. I hold him close and place kisses on his cheeks. He knows his Mama.

"Traitor," says Seth which makes me laugh. He then gets up and hugs me from behind.

"Seth, where's your Mom?" I ask him, realizing its her room we're in right now.

"She left to get Evan some milk," answers Seth and places a kiss on my collarbone.

"Looks like he could do with changing his nappy," I comment and hand Evan to Seth. We get him changed together just as Anne comes in with a bottle of milk for him. She hands it to me and I feed Evan, sitting on her bed. "This room is really nice," I compliment her.

"Thanks dear," says Anne, walking around as she moves things about. "You know, this is the room where Seth took his first baby steps," she tells me as I raise my eyebrows.

"Really?" I ask her and she nods her head.

"Yeah, he walked all the way over the bed, bumped into it and fell right back down," she tells me which makes me laugh.

"Ma!" complains Seth who gives him an innocent look.

"What? I'm sharing stories with my future daughter-in-law," says Anne, making me blush. I think she'll be waiting a while till she can call me that, if at all. I mean, I don't exactly know what Seth's views are on marriage. I know when we were together before he'd say it would be way, way down the line. I'm guessing that's still his view. In any case, we won't be getting married any time soon. "Now, since you guys are going to the movies today would you mind if I kept Evan?" she asks me.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea," I voice and feel bad when she looks sad. "I mean, we'll be gone all day and I don't want to just throw him at you and leave," I explain, making Seth chuckle. I wonder what he finds so funny?

"Honey, Ma has raised all four of us kids. I think she can handle a little baby for the day," says Seth, finding the whole thing amusing. But I don't.

"Seth, why don't you take Evan and go do something else for a second," says Anne, not even coming up with a proper excuse as its plainly obvious she wants to get rid of him.

"Alright Ma," says Seth, leaving without a word as he takes Evan off the bed.

"Iris, I know exactly how you must be feeling," starts Anne, sitting down next to me and taking her hand in mine. "You're a new Mother and put with the time you've been in a coma, I don't blame you for not wanting to part with Evan for such a long time," she explains and I nod my head.

"I just…I feel like something isn't right when he's not with me," I admit to her and she smiles at me.

"I know dear, we all feel the same way," says Anne with a comforting smile. "I wouldn't let anyone take Seth out of my sight when he was a baby. They weren't even allowed holding him unless I was keeping a watch right there," she says which makes me chuckle. "But, you have to let go sometime. I promise you, nothing bad will happen to Evan. He'll be with his grandmother after all," she says and I nod my head. She's right, I doubt Anne would let him out of her sight. "So, will you let me keep him?" she asks.

"Of course, I'm sorry," I say with a guilty look on her face.

"Don't be," says Anne, placing her other hand underneath my cheek. "You're a new Mother and after everything Seth told me you've been through, It's not surprising how much you'd want Evan to stay with you," she says and I nod my head again.

"I'm so glad you're Evan's grandmother," I tell her and I can tell my comment means a lot to her.

"And I'm glad a girl like you has gotten my Seth to settle down," comments Anne which makes me laugh. "I mean it; I was shouting profanities at him down the phone when he told me what he put you through. If that boy ever does something like that again then I'll disown him in ten seconds," she says, making me laugh again. I don't know whether she was being serious or not but that was a good one. But I don't think I have to worry about Seth doing that again.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"Ari? Have you seen my grey jacket?!" I call to my fiancée, looking through my jumble of clothes that should probably be put away in some sort of a neater way.

"It could be in the cupboard!" Ariana calls from the shower. Man, I wish I was in there with her. Too bad I have to leave for some stupid signing. That's all by myself too. How in the fuck is that fair? One SHIELD member for a signing? It's all a ploy to cockblock me. I'm sure of it. "I'm sure I put it there myself!" she then calls and when I look, sure enough it's there. I grab it and get it on, placing my hands in the pockets. Realising something is there I take it out and see that it's paper.

"What the fuck…?" I trail off. I don't remember putting anything there. I open the paper up and once I do I realise it contains Ariana's writing. "Dean, I don't know what's gotten into you these days," I read and the more I read it the more my anger builds. Just as I finish reading it I see Ariana walk out in a towel, a smile on her face. Her smile falls when she sees what's in my hands. "What the fuck is this?" I demand off of her.

"Dean," starts Ariana but doesn't get a chance to explain because my phone rings. It ends up being Dolph on the other end, asking me where I am because we're both going to the signing.

"I have to go," I say abruptly and without another word leave from the hotel room. She was going to leave me? Ariana was going to leave me? I don't get why she would leave me. I thought we were happy together? At least I know I have been. Is there someone else?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Hey, he's up!" I hear Isabel's voice and roll my eyes. I grab the paper towel on the kitchen counter and wipe the corners of Evan's mouth. He decided to throw up once I started to burp him. "Can I hold him?" I hear her ask, refusing to look up at her.

"No," I say using a monotone voice. I don't want this woman anywhere near my kid if she thinks for one second she can try and replace Iris. No one can.

"Seth, don't tell me you're mad at me," says Isabel, standing on the other side of the counter. "I only did what I did because I hear you have a thing for me," she says and I stop what I'm doing and finally look up at her.

"I don't have a thing for you," I let her know. "I might have had once but you made your choice and I moved on. You see this right here?" I ask, holding Evan up. "This is my son and he's been gifted to me by the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with. So butt the fuck out," I warn her and then walk off from there. I need to make sure she doesn't catch me on my own because I won't be able to control myself. By that I mean actually putting my hands on her. Doing that to a woman is wrong and that's how I've been brought up but it doesn't mean I haven't had the urge to do so, once or twice. A girl can slap a guy to get off her but what is a guy meant to do? Gently push her off?

"There are my boys," I hear Iris's voice and look up to see the most beautiful woman ever walk up to me. She pinches Evan's cheeks softly and he ends up gripping her fingers tightly. "Everything ok?" she then asks me and I nod my head.

"We're fine, aren't we?" I say, looking to Evan. "So, what's the plan?" I then ask her.

"We're leaving Evan with Anne," says Iris and I smile at her. If anyone could get her to come around I knew Mom could.

"That's great," I tell her. "It means my hands can play about in that darkened theatre," I comment, Iris playfully hitting my arm as her cheeks flush red. "I love it when you blush," I blurt out and that makes her go even more red if that's possible. "What made you change your mind?" I ask her.

"Well, I have to trust other people with Evan some time or another right?" she says to me, looking nervous.

"Don't worry Cutie Pie, he's going to be absolutely safe," I reassure her and she nods her head. I place a hand on the side of her face and say, "Everything's fine for now. You have me, Evan and our friends along with my family. Nothing's going to go wrong and it's natural to feel like this. You're a new mother after all".

"How on earth did you manage to sound like your Mom?" she asks me at which I chuckle.

"Oh thank god, there you are!" exclaims Macy, coming over to us and linking her arms with Iris. "I swear, Angie glares daggers as if she actually thinks you'll die from them," she comments, making us both laugh. "It's not funny," she then says.

"Well maybe you should have been your real self instead of acting like a superior being when you first met. Angie hates those kinds of people for sure," says Iris which starts to get me worried. Angie was still being off with Iris and despite what Mom says, she still makes comments at her. It really annoys me. I love Iris and Angie needs to accept that.

"Wow, I had no idea your girlfriend liked to point out other people's past mistakes Seth," says Macy but I can tell by her tone that she's kidding.

"Well what did you think was going to happen if you acted like you did? Do you know how many months I have spent hating you just to find out in one night that you're actually kind of cool?" I say and I can tell she appreciated the comment about her being cool.

"Should I thank him for that?" Macy questions Iris who shrugs her shoulders. "I won't but I'll acknowledge it. I think Rose is coming round anyway, she was very chatty with me this morning". A hint of a smile on Macy's face.

"See? Told you it'll work out," says Iris, patting Macy's arm.

"For now," says Macy, always an optimist (!) "Are we going to the movies or what then?" she asks, her hands on her hips.

"I'm just going to give Evan to Ma and be right back," I say, leaving after pecking Iris on the lips. It'll be nice that I get to give Iris all my attention, then maybe all these problems will leave my mind for once. Iris hasn't persistently asked me but I know she can tell something's up since last night. I keep shrugging it off and saying everything's fine but I can only do that for so long.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Now that Seth's gone, back to business," says Macy, standing opposite me and looking around as if this is a great big secret that even the walls can't listen to. "Isabel," she states.

"Isabel?" I question, giving her a confusing look. "What about her?" I then ask.

"That bitch is cooking something up," says Macy with a determined look on her face.

"And you didn't get on well with Ariana?" I question in disbelief. She rolls her eyes and grabs my arm, taking me to the side and talking in a lower voice.

"Iris, this isn't the time for fun and games," says Macy, looking actually kind of serious. "She's up to something," she states. "Last night, after Seth left her room I was walking past and the door just happened to be open. You should have seen how she was dressed!" she exclaims.

"Why?" I ask, still not getting what Macy was trying to tell me.

"I have never seen anything to skimpy in my life," states Macy. "It's something I would wear if I wanted Nicky to lose all focus on everything else and have me right there," she says which makes me frown.

"Maybe she put it on after Seth left," I offer up as an explanation. Isabel seems too nice to do something like that.

"Yeah right (!)" says Macy, not looking like she believes that one bit.

"You were with me last night after Seth left so how would you know that's not a possible explanation?" I question her, one hand on my hip. I refuse to not trust Seth on this.

"Because I saw Seth going into your room," says Macy as if it was obvious. "He looked off to me so I went to check out what could have gone wrong," she says casually, shrugging her shoulders. "Why would she wear something like that to go to sleep? There's only one reason a girl would put on something like that," she says, a frown appearing on my face.

"So you weren't strolling past just casually," I comment.

"Obviously not, whoever does. I just didn't want you to think I go round looking into people's rooms," says Macy as I try not to laugh. "Really Iris, was Seth off with you last night? I think she may have tried to do something," she says and my smile falters as I think of last night. How different Seth was acting. How it felt like he was hiding something. How, despite the fact he said everything was fine, it clearly wasn't. Did…did something happen between them?

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Daddy, do you have to leave tomorrow?" asks JoJo and I nod my head, hating to see the sad look on her face right now. It was the look she always gave me when I had to leave her. I honestly don't feel like leaving her when she gives me that face.

"But I will see you soon, ok?" I ask her and she nods her head, hugging into my side. She then gets up and starts to draw at the table. The phone rings and I pick it up. "Hello?" I say, leaning against the doorframe of the living room, keeping an eye on my little girl.

" _Hi Sailor,"_ says Paige on the other end, making me chuckle. _"I thought I'd check in on you,"_ she says which is another way of her telling me that she missed me.

"I'm doing alright, how are you doing?" I ask, falling into easy conversation with my girlfriend. Wow, my girlfriend. It sounds right to call her that.

" _Long story short, if she decides to accidentally hit another one of us then I might just accidentally knock her teeth out,"_ Paige explains, talking about something to do with Summer. Apparently, she's been accidentally hitting hard in the ring.

"Why don't you just complain to Stephanie?" I suggest and by the sounds on the other end, she doesn't really like that idea.

" _All that will happen is she'll get a slap on the wrist all the while calling us all liars,"_ argues Paige. If some dude hit me accidentally too much, well then like Paige said, bye bye teeth. _"But don't worry sweetheart, I'll take care of it. That cow just wants to get on our nerves,"_ she says, making me laugh. "Did you manage to talk to Iris then?" she asks me.

"Yeah, she's doing fine," I inform her. I wasn't going to tell her what happened but Paige had suggested if I talked to Iris and heard how she's doing; it would help calm me down. The anger is still boiling inside at what Kane said about her. Truth be told, I'll have no control over my actions if I go back and he runs his mouth again.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	19. Alone Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next one guys! It might be a whole week till the next chapter because I have an exam this coming Friday. Hopefully I can make time for the update but if I can't then I can't :)**

 **Bajor10: Communication is always the key right? :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: I think if Seth told his Mom that then she'd find something fishy. We all know what happens when Dean Ambrose gets mad though. Here's your change bitch? That made me laugh big time! Yes, they are. And that is completely fine. Damn, I could not live without my wifi, good luck! :)**

 **Moxley Gal1: That would be the smartest thing for him to do :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 19:**

 **IRIS POV**

"No," I say aloud, refusing to acknowledge the fact that there is a real possibility something might have happened. "Seth…no…he wouldn't…" I say, starting to panic. He wouldn't do that to me, not again.

"Iris, hey," says Macy in a soft voice, grabbing a hold of my hands. I give her a scared look. "Seth wouldn't do that to you, he loves you too much. I'm not saying they did anything together, all I'm saying is she's tried to do something and failed," she explains. That would be a better result for me to be honest.

"Seth, he looked unhappy last night. Angry even but I didn't pay attention," I say, running a hand through my hair. I should have pressed on more and maybe he would have told me. "I let him make me believe nothing happened and everything was ok," I say, my eyes starting to water.

"Huh," says Macy and I look at her. What bad news is she going to give me now?

"What?" I ask her, wondering if she could tell me anything that would make this even worse.

"He was angry, right?" asks Macy and I nod my head. "That means the bitch must have tried to pull something but it didn't work," she says. "Seth didn't want to go to fix her heater but you made him go. She tries something, making him angry because he loves you and leaves from there. She did look more than just annoyed at breakfast this morning," she explains as I start to feel myself calm down. She's right, he didn't look like he wanted to go. It was my fault for sending him.

"What do I do?" I ask, looking up at Macy.

"Trust your love," answers Macy. "If we confront her she'll deny the whole thing and make us look like bad guys. And I already have a bad rep," she says, her hands on her hips. "Just make sure to keep your distance from her today and don't leave Seth alone. I'm sure Seth will shrug off all her advances but that doesn't mean she won't try shit," she says and I nod my head. Maybe I'll end up punching this one too. I do get very overprotective when it comes to me and Seth.

"That sounds like a plan," I say in a soft voice.

"I'm really sorry about this Iris," says Macy, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I never wanted to make you upset. I just, I don't want Isabel thinking she can walk all over you. That you have no one here that won't look out for you and isn't on your side," she says and I place my hand on hers.

"Thanks," I say with a smile. It's sweet how much she cares for me.

"Anytime, now go find your boyfriend and stick to him like glue," she instructs me as I give her a wry smile. I walk off as thoughts plague my mind. Seth probably hasn't told me because he doesn't want me to worry. Which I find really sweet but we promised no more secrets. Although, this is minor compared to the ones I've kept in the past. I just have to trust Seth will do the right thing.

"Finally!" I hear Seth's loud voice as I help Lacey and Lily gather their things so we can get going. I look to see Seth hugging some girl who I've never seen before. I wonder who she is, it seems as if they haven't seen each other in ages. He pulls away from her and then brings her over to me. "Iris, this is Anna Winters, my best friend. Anna, this is my Iris," he says, standing at my side with a beaming smile.

"Hi," I say, shaking her hand and she greets me back, sending teasing looks in Seth's direction.

"It's nice to finally meet the woman Seth cannot stop talking about," says Anna, a friendly smile on her face. And cue the blushing. "I've known Seth since we were like two, our Moms are good friends, and he's never raved about a girl so much. I thought you must be made out of gold or something," she jokes which makes us all laugh.

"Where have you been all this time anyway? You were supposed to be here a week ago," Seth complains to her.

"Don't even ask, work had me doing extra shifts till I finally said no and sent them on their way," answers Anna and I find out that she's a doctor. Which is pretty cool. "Oh my god, is that your little boy?" she asks, noticing Evan in Anne's arms on the couch. She takes him from Anne and holds him, gently bouncing him. "He's even more cuter in person," she compliments, making me smile wide.

"Well he takes after his Father," Seth brags, sending me a wink.

"How can that be? His Father is beyond help," comments Anna, teasing him of course which makes me laugh, something I can tell Seth doesn't appreciate. "Hi Evan," she coos, continuing to bounce him. "I can't believe you're a Father, the last time we met up you were having a watermelon eating contest," she says and I feel Seth's arm around my waist. I think there's a lot about Seth Rollins that I don't know. It'll be fun to find out whilst I'm here.

"Which I won by the way," points out Seth, looking pretty proud of himself.

"Only because you got Nicky to stand in front of me and make goofy faces," points out Anna, shaking her head. "How did you even fall in love with him Iris? And how did you manage to get her to stick with a bum like you?" she says, joking of course and Seth sticks out his tongue, acting childish. "I can't believe you put up with that," she says. I never realised how many people Seth bickers with. Dean, Nicky and now Anna. Anna finally hands Evan back to Anne and we all head out to go to the movies, Anna decided she'll put her luggage away when she gets back. The car ride is filled with Anna and Seth talking about all the things they've done before and it's nice to hear about it all. It turns out, Anna, Seth and Isabel were very close friends, Anna and Seth more best friends than Isabel was with either of them.

* * *

"You alright Cutie Pie?" Seth asks me once we get out of the car. Everyone's gone inside and he's kept us back, looking at me for some answers. "You've been really quiet," he states. I look up at him, not knowing what to say.

"I just…" I pause for a second, deciding on what I should say. "I'm worried about you," I then finally say and he gives me a confused look. "You've been different since last night. Is everything ok?" I really hope he tells me the truth or something. I'm just going to overthink things otherwise.

"Yeah, everything's fine," says Seth, giving me the same answer again. I nod my head and move away to leave when Seth grabs my arm and presses me up against him, his arms wrapped around me. He looks down into my eyes and says, "Nothing you need to worry about".

"Seth, I love you but we decided on no more secrets and I can't help but feel that's what you're doing. Has something happened that I should know about?" I ask him, looking up into his eyes.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he reiterates and then places a kiss on the top of my forehead. So something did happen. "Don't worry about a thing. Let's just enjoy our day out," he says and I nod my head. He then takes my hand in his and we catch up to the others. I trust Seth. Ever since I've come back into his life he's not given me a reason not to trust him and I'll continue to trust him till he gives me a reason not to. We head inside to the theatre, all except for Damien and Rose who take the girls to a movie suitable for their age. I frown as I sit down next to Seth, Isabel being on his other side.

"If you want the bitch to stay away let it be known Seth is your man," Macy whispers in my ear before the movie starts as she munches on some popcorn. Hmm, that is an idea. The movie starts and Seth keeps an arm around me. I lean in to him and rest my head on his shoulder. I feel his grip tighten on me which makes me smile. What am I doing? Seth loves me and I love him and I don't need to prove that to anyone.

"Enjoying the movie?" asks Seth, leaning his head closer down to mine.

"Not as much as the feeling I get when you have your arms around me," I say to him, making him smile. As I look up at him I realize I'm being stupid. The way Seth looks at me, I'd be a fool to question him. If he is hiding Isabel trying something, then fine. I won't badger him about it because I know he'll only keep it from me to stop me worrying. Heck, Macy gave me her theory and that stressed the crap out of me enough. I can't imagine how I'd be if Seth confirmed it.

"My arms would be doing a lot more if others weren't around," comments Seth, making me giggle. "You wanna get out of here?" he then asks me and I nod my head all too eagerly because he laughs.

"We're leaving and we'll catch up with you guys in a bit," I tell Macy who gives me a teasing smile.

"Doing anything fun?" she asks me, making me blush. "I'll tell Nicky and everyone else," she says and I nod my head thanking her. Who knew I'd end up being the closest to Macy out of all this? Seth then takes my hand and gets up, moving past Isabel too quickly for her liking.

"Hey, where are they going?!" Nicky shouts in a loud voice but we just ignore him and leave as Macy tells him to shut up and stop ruining the movie.

"Where would you like to go?" asks Seth, just as we exit the cinemas. I look around and start to think as we randomly walk down the street. What would be fun to do?

"Are there any swings around?" I ask Seth, him knowing much more about this place than me.

"Come on, I know a place," says Seth with a smile and leads the way. I have to say, I think we need this time. This time to not have to worry about Evan or spending time with others. Just, spending time with each other. As a couple. Which has been hard to do since we got back together.

"Whoa, not too fast," I tell Seth as he stands behind me, pushing me on the swing.

"Why? Scared you're going to fall Cutie Pie?" asks Seth, letting out a laugh.

"I'm not scared!" I defend myself, laughing as I continue to go back and forth. "This is such a nice place. It must have been great growing up here," I comment, enjoying the sunshine.

"It was alright," says Seth which makes me chuckle. "I was thinking," starts Seth, moving to sit on the swing next to me.

"About…?" I say, wondering what we could possibly discuss. Or is he going to tell me about what happened last night that's got him so wound up?

"What we're going to do after here," says Seth, as I glance at him sideways.

"We go back to the WWE, duh," I say which makes him laugh.

"Not work silly, where we're going to live," says Seth and I give him a confused look. "I want you and Evan to move in with me at Davenport," he reveals, my eyebrows rising of their own accord. He wants us…to move in?

"What…why?" I ask him and this time he chuckles.

"Seriously?" asks Seth and I nod my head. "Well because both of you are my life and I can't spend a second away from you," he says, a smile gracing my features. "What?" he asks this time.

"Nothing I just…" I pause for a second before looking back up at him. "Still not used to you saying things like that. I never thought I would hear you say it," I admit to him.

"Well believe it," says Seth, reaching over and intertwining our hands which then stay in between both swings. I lean my head against the chain and continue looking at my amazing boyfriend. "So, will you?" he then asks me again.

"Um…I'm not sure," I tell him honestly and feel guilty when his face falls slightly. "Seth, we agreed we'd do this slowly. I mean, we've barely been together a week and you already want me to move in with you," I then point out to him. I love Seth, I really do. But I don't want to screw things up by doing everything too quick.

"We did and I should have taken that into account," acknowledges Seth with a nod of his head. "But I also need to take into account that the heart wants what it wants," he says which makes me chuckle. I get up and move over, sitting onto his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck as he wraps his around my waist.

"I love your Mister Rollins," I tell him and then lean down to kiss his lips.

"I love you too Cutie Pie," says Seth, kissing me. "What does this mean then? Will you move in with me?" he asks me which makes me laugh. He is relentless.

"It means…I'll think about it," I tell him, resting my forehead against his. That's the best I can do for now. One thing that I'm constantly afraid of since getting Seth back is…losing him again. I don't want to make any mistakes. I guess you could say I'm being overcautious. I mean, during my whole pregnancy I was travelling with him and since delivery he's been staying at mine. We've been living together a lot longer than you would think.

"Good enough for me," says Seth, kissing me again. "But just to tip the scales in my favour a little bit, we're already living together. I mean, since we've had Evan I've been living at your apartment and now we're here with my family and technically we are living together," he goes on to say, stating my thoughts exactly.

"You are very…unrelenting," I tell him. "Let's just see what happens once this whole visit is over. Maybe you can try things to win me over," I then say and I try not to laugh because his face goes all serious as if he's trying to think of ways that that could happen.

"Ok, I'll start right now," says Seth which confuses me until he gets me into his lap properly and gets up, lifting me bridal style.

"Seth, what are you doing?" I ask him, glad no one was in the park otherwise they would have thought he'd gone mad.

"Putting the odds in my favour, remember you love me picking you up like this?" says Seth and I shake my head. For someone who didn't want to be in a relationship with me at that time, he certainly remembers quite a lot.

* * *

*FLASHBACK*

" _Oh, that is so romantic," I say, watching the movie that was on. It's a typical romance movie and he's just picked her up bridal style and looking into her eyes as he walks with her in his arms to the bedroom._

" _What, picking her up?" asks Seth, completely not getting it. He's a guy after all, why would any of them get how beautiful a moment like that is?_

" _Yeah," I say in a soft voice. "You know, any guy that can pick me up like that as well as look at me like that will have me eating out of the palm of his hand," I say, loving the whole concept of romance._

" _Really?" asks Seth, still not getting it and looking confused about it also._

" _Mmhmm," I say, nodding my head and letting out a dreamy sigh. "If my husband does not do that on my wedding night then he'll be getting a divorce straight after," I comment which makes him laugh. Of course I didn't say 'When we get married…' which is what I wanted to say. It's what I'm thinking of right now but I don't want to scare Seth away._

" _Wow," says Seth, still not understanding what is so special about a guy lifting a girl like that. Oh well, I have time to sort that out before we actually do get married. Since the movie finished, I feel like getting a snack so get up to go to the kitchen when suddenly I'm lifted up in the air._

" _What the…" I trail off and look at Seth's face. "What are you doing?" I then ask him._

" _Making my girlfriend happy," says Seth and before I know it he starts spinning me around which makes me laugh._

" _Seth, stop it. You'll get dizzy and I'll fall!" I manage to get out in between laughs._

" _Ok, let's go make sure we fall in the right place," says Seth, stopping spinning me around. He heads into the direction of the bedroom and spins me around a few more times before dropping me on the bed. Before I even have time to breath he's already on top of me and kissing my lips. I am definitely going to spend the rest of my life with this man._

* * *

"Stop trying to sucker up to me and put me down," I order Seth but he just laughs. I know what he's doing.

"That's what you're saying but it's not what you want," says Seth, somehow knowing me inside out by now. It's amazing how he didn't know anything about me before but now he knows so much. In a way that's proof that he serious this time round.

"And what do I want?" I ask him, securing both my arms around his neck.

"Hmm, let's see," says Seth, looking like he's thinking. "You want this," he says, putting his lips on mine.

"I guess that makes you a mind reader then," I state with a giggle. He eventually sets me down and places his arms around my waist.

"Ever since you've come back into my life Iris," starts Seth, tucking in a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "Everything seems to be going just…perfect," he finishes, making me blush.

"And ever since you've asked me to be yours, everything's more than just perfect," I tell him and he pulls me into a hug. "I love you," I tell him.

"I love you too," says Seth, kissing the top of my head. He then pulls back and asks, "What shall we tackle next?" I look around the park and he looks around too.

"Slide!" we both shout at the same time, laughing and giggling as we make our way over to the slide. We spend the rest of the afternoon taking goofy pictures and videos as we play around the park like little kids. I never thought I'd get here but I am, with Seth and I couldn't be more thankful.

"No, don't!" I shout as we both enter the house. Me on Seth's back as he threatens to spin around. "Seth, don't!" I say again but he doesn't listen and starts spinning around. "Seth, you'll get dizzy and we'll both fall," I say, in between giggles as he only goes faster.

"Well I am a daredevil," says Seth, making me laugh.

"In your dreams," I say, holding onto him tighter because I really don't want to fall.

"Finally!" shouts a voice and Seth all of a sudden stops, leading him to stumble and fall down. I scream as we both go down but since I'm on his back, I fall on top of him. Well that worked out perfectly for me.

"Ha ha, that was great," I hear Damien's voice and look up to see him recording us with his phone.

"Oh my gosh, Iris are you ok?!" says Rose, she was the first person to talk and caused this. Now she's sorry.

"Fine," I say, a hand in the air as I start to get up.

"What about me?" asks Seth, probably feeling left out. "She fell on top of me!" he exclaims, sitting up. We take each other's hands and get up, keeping ourselves steady. It's so weird being able to fall. During the pregnancy I had to constantly make sure I didn't.

"Oh you've been falling since you were 2," says Rose, waving a hand in the air and not caring.

"I told you not to spin me," I say, noticing everyone is actually there and not just them two. By everyone I mean, Neil, Angie, Macy, Isabel, Anna and Nicky.

"Yeah yeah," says Seth, looking slightly annoyed as I try not to laugh.

"This is so going into the family's video collection," says Damien, Seth immediately chasing after him. "What are you going to do? Curb stomp me? You have to get me on the floor to do that!" I hear Damien shout as he runs up the stairs with Seth hot on his trail.

"Where did you guys disappear off to anyway?" asks Macy, coming over to me. A certain look on her face which tells me she approved of us doing that.

"We went to the park," I answer, shrugging my shoulders. "Went on the swings, had some ice cream and ran around for a little while," I say as we all start to walk into the living room. That actually sounded like a date a 10-year-old would go on. But we had fun.

"Any other physical activity that we should know about," says Macy, winking at me as I turn red.

"No," I say to her. "I'm going to go see Evan," I say and leave again. As I walk up to Anne's room, which I'm assuming is where she is since she's not downstairs, someone goes whizzing by me. I turn to look and see that it's Damien. "Keep running, Seth will eventually get you!" I shout and then laugh as he looks back at me with a glare. I shake my head and turn around when I bump into someone.

"Oops," says Seth and holds me to stop me from falling. I keep my hands on his arms as he smiles at me. "I would totally kiss the hell out of you right now but I have to go," he says, looking torn on what to do.

"Too bad, would have been romantic," I comment, licking my lips to tease him.

"Fuck," says Seth before leaning down and quickly giving me a kiss. He then steadies me on my feet and runs off after Damien, telling him that he won't survive once Seth gets his hands on him.

"What am I going to do with you?" I say aloud with my hands on my hips. I laugh and turn around, walking off to go find my son. But, I will need to think about the moving-in-with-Seth thing. He's right in everything he said but I seriously don't want to jinx us this time around.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Where is Dean? I was waiting for him to get back from the signing and he didn't turn up. I thought he might be running late or something but it's evening now. What is taking him so long? I pace our hotel room trying not to overthink things. It's my own stupid fault anyway. I should have gotten rid of that letter as soon as I realised nothing of the sort was going on with Dean. But I got so lost in him and his surprise that I completely forgot about taking care of that letter. What do I do? Dolph! He was with him! I can ring him and find out what's going on. Before I can though, he rings me.

"Hey Dolph, I was just about to ring you actually. Dean's not back yet and I was wondering if you knew where he was?" I ask him eagerly. I can't just not do anything. I need to explain things to Dean before his imagination takes over.

" _That's the reason why I'm calling,"_ says Dolph, my heart beating fast at the thought of what Dean's doing right now. _"Dean is at the Hotel bar and refuses to leave,"_ he says, my eyes closing for a second. I should have guessed it. He always drowns his sorrows with alcohol. _"I think you better get here fast before he does anything we all regret,"_ he says after which I hang up. I quickly get out of my room and head on down, instantly spotting them both.

"How is he?" I ask Dolph, before approaching Dean.

"Angry about who knows what," answers Dolph and guilt starts to eat away at me. "He won't even listen to me," he says and I could have guessed that. He doesn't listen to anyone when he's angry. That is what makes things really difficult.

"Alright thanks, I'll take it from here," I tell Dolph, ready to do this. He offers to stay and help but I decline because that never works. "Dean," I say his name, standing to his right. He spares a glance at me, lets out a scoff and then pours himself another drink. "I think you've had enough," I say, reaching for the bottle but he snatches it away from me.

"You cannn think whateverrrr you like," says Dean, slurry. He has actually managed to get himself drunk and it's only 6 in the evening. Just perfect (!)

"Dean, you don't need to drink anymore, ok?" I say, grabbing onto his arm but he pulls it away, very roughly might I add. Out of me and Iris, why did I get the difficult one? "That's it!" I say, snatching the bottle out of his hand and getting it far away from him. "You are not drinking anymore; you understand me? You're coming back up to our room and we're going to talk about this like adults," I say with authority because that's what's needed in this situation. I grab his arm once again and get him to stand up, despite him protesting. I put one of his arms over me and get him to our room. It was beyond difficult. He kept walking slower with each pace and also thought it would be fun to press all the buttons in the elevator. Once we're in our room I get him to lie down on the bed.

"Don't leave me," I hear him mutter amongst several other things and it breaks my heart.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to," I say, taking off his shoes and socks. I put them to one side and then look down at him. I hope he knows how much I love him. I've never loved anyone like I love Dean Ambrose. And it's about time he knew that. I just need him to wake up first. Deciding that I'm hungry I order some food for myself. I was in two minds about getting some for Dean but I do since I don't believe he's eaten properly throughout the day.

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated! :)**


	20. Backwards Thinking

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Thanks for bearing with me guys! Exam went good so the first thing I thought to do was update this story!**

 **Calwitch: I thought some alone time was needed, away from everyone else. Haha! Read on and find out. I think you might be surprised. But he is different around Ariana :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: It might happen quicker than you think :)**

 **Guest: It definitely has :)**

 **Jade: Hey! You're back into the account. Glad you finally managed to do it.  
Well it's difficult to break the habit, at least you're not doing it all the time. I definitely did have fun. Watched a few movies and caught up with some stuff. Eating a lot of chocolate to keep myself happy.  
I know, guys are guys. But I'd like to think after reading this chapter, you'll think more of Dean since he's been with Ariana for a long time. As opposed to Seth who's starting over his relationship with Iris.  
Whoa, you used the word bitch like three times. Cool, I am doing my job in making sure you hate her.  
Well, I'm going to wait till you hear Macy's story properly. They do have the wrong impression of her but that's not all their fault. You'll find out later. But for now, she's Iris's wing woman.  
It does! My cousins love their Dad and it's so obvious! But we shall see. I'd like to think Evan thinks they're both his favorite. I mean, I want him to love Iris because she sacrificed so much for him but then I want the same to happen with Seth because they've spent so much time together when Iris was in a coma. Lol. Indecisive on this still.  
Yep, Angie is another problem. It doesn't help that she's working with Isabel. You see, the problem with Iris is she wants everybody to like her. But what she needs to understand is not everyone will but that that's ok because the people important to her love her.  
Good, because I want you to feel torn. I mean, I want Iris wants to let go of the past but no matter what it will always play a part. It's up to Iris to fight against it and believe in her relationship with Seth. Which is what she's doing half the time. She'll still have doubts, anybody else would. A lot of it as well is how she perceives herself. Seth wanting Ariana over Iris knocked her hard and she isn't as confident as she used to be. So quite a bit of self-doubt.  
He may frustrate you but you love him. He just doesn't want anything screwing all this up.  
Thanks so much! It went good. Let's just hope the marking goes alright :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 20:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Here, I'll take them," says Isabel, picking up a plate of pancakes I just made for breakfast and rushing out of the kitchen with them. It's such a beautiful morning today that everyone's decided to eat outside on the tables there. Lacey and Lily were insisting on pancakes so I started to whip them up myself. Isabel hasn't helped out at all, from the window I could see she was too busy trying to stick like glue to Seth. It would bother me but I know Seth loves me and he shows me just how much every single day. I take off my apron and leave to go outside.

"Wow, these are incredible," says Mason and I smile. But my smile drops when he's looking at Isabel and complimenting her. What is going on?

"Thank you, I made the entire batch myself," boasts Isabel as I stand there in disbelief with my eyebrows raised. She really does need to get over herself, Macy was right. I don't know what Isabel is trying to pull but I'm not going to stand for it.

"Impressive," says Annette as I scoff. From the little I heard, she isn't the type of person to do these things.

"Thank you," says Isabel with a sweet smile. I don't understand how someone can just stand there and lie about something they've not even done. Take the credit for what I did, not her. "Have some Seth," she says, putting a pancake on Seth's plate and sitting down next to him. In my spot no less. Isn't she ashamed about lying? That too in front of me?

"Hey Iris, what's up?" says Macy, walking over to me. "You look dead set on murdering someone," she then tells me. I look at her and tell her what Isabel's doing. "That bitch," she says and is about to walk over to her when I pull on her arm and bring her back. "What are you doing?" she asks me.

"Don't make a scene, at least not in front of everyone," I tell her, never having had any fun belittling anyone in front of others. I don't stoop so low.

"You serious?" asks Macy, looking at me in disbelief. "You're going to let that wench go over there, spew bullshit about her making the pancakes and feed your boyfriend?" she asks me in which case it does seem like something should be done.

"I'll talk to her later," I say in a small voice, making Macy scoff. Now, what does that mean?

"You cannot let her intimidate you Iris," Macy tells me, pointing a finger at me. "You have to show her that she can't go around doing whatever she wants just because she grew up with Seth and the rest of the lot," she says, sounding kind of like Ariana right now. Always pushing me to confront someone which I've never really had much confidence in. I mean, if it's needed then I'll do it. Like the time I slapped Dean. But not over something trivial. I'll talk to Seth about it later. See what he thinks is going on and what Isabel could possibly gain from doing something like this.

"These pancakes are delicious," says Seth and I look to see him glancing at Isabel which makes me feel quite sad really. I mean I know he's complimenting my pancakes but he thinks she's made them. Macy gives me a look which I just ignore. Maybe I should have said something. "So good in fact that the cook will get a special gift," he says, Isabel starting to look all excited.

"Totally!" says Angie in encouragement and I guess I can't blame her. After all, she'd rather have Seth lying in a ditch fighting for his life than see him with me. I just don't understand why. What have I ever done to anger her in any way?

"You seriously going to let her get away with this?" asks Macy but I don't answer her question.

"I'm going to go sit down," I say, moving around the table and past Isabel and Seth. It hurts that he's actually going to gift her. When has he never gifted me on my cooking? Before I can get past though, I feel a hand on my wrist which stops me. I look to see Seth has got a hold of it.

"I think a kiss will do it," says Seth which makes me feel angry. Now he's going to kiss her in front of everyone? And me?! I look at the ground because I definitely don't want to see it happen. I anticipate he'll let go of my hand but he doesn't and the next thing I know is I feel a pair of lips on my cheek. "Great breakfast," says Seth as I look at him and he has a smirk on his face.

"Wait a sec, Isabel made these," says Angie, looking unhappy at what just happened as I look on confused.

"No she didn't," says Seth with a chuckle. "I don't know what kind of a game you girls are playing but those pancakes were definitely made by my beautiful girlfriend," he says, placing an arm around me as I look up at him in shock. "I know her cooking from a mile away," he says proudly which makes me laugh.

"Damn, and we thought we had him!" says Isabel, making the others laugh but I don't. I don't because I know the truth and by the way she's looking at me she realizes just how wrong she was to do that.

"You best be marrying this girl one day Seth, I need my stomach looking after," comments Mason and Seth leads me to sit down. He keeps a hold of my hand throughout the rest of breakfast and I can't stop the grin that remains on my face. I can't help but look at Isabel with superiority because her little plan to win over Seth failed. Once breakfast is over and done with I leave to put the dishes away with Lucy's help. Seth keeps the baby monitor. It is unusual of Evan to be sleeping this time of the morning but I think he's just getting lazy. He seems to be fine so I'll leave it for now.

"Hey Iris," I look up to see Isabel as I load the dishes into the dishwasher. I ignore her and look away, continuing to get on with my work. "I hope you didn't take to heart what I did out there. I was just seeing if anyone would even notice the difference," she says sweetly but I know it's bullshit. However, I don't have the proof so I can't exactly accuse her of it.

"It's fine," I say in a low voice. I notice from the corner of my eye that she's about to leave so speak up. "I know you were probably doing it out of fun but it's just helped cement the belief that I have that Seth loves me. So, thanks I guess," I say, closing the dishwasher. I give her a fake smile and get out of there. Seth is mine and she needs to accept it or there are going to be a lot of problems.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

I scrunch up my face, feeling rough. I don't feel so hot. I open my eyes and realise I'm in mine and Ariana's hotel room. I vaguely remember her getting me back up here. Damn, I wasn't planning on getting drunk. It just happened. I was confused by that stupid letter and just wanted a drink before I went and talked to her. One turned into two which turned into three and before I know it I'm drinking a bottle. I don't know what makes me more nervous, the fact that I might get yelled at for drinking or the conversation I need to have with Ariana about that letter. I get up slowly, a slight headache and see it's dark outside. Hmm, I must have slept for a good few hours. I feel more sober than before. I grab my phone and see it's half 11. I don't even really want to face my fiancée right now.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I hear a noise and turn my head to see Dean coming out of the bedroom, sliding the doors apart and leaving them like that. I turn my head back and continue to watch TV. I still don't know what I should do. Yell at him for drinking so much? For not coming back to talk to me? For being irresponsible? But then thoughts come to me of how I'd feel in his place and it justifies this. I'd be beyond upset.

"You ok?" I decide to ask Dean, not having heard anything from him. Plus, he hadn't come into view yet so it made me think he's faffing about near the doors, wondering on what to do or say.

"I'll live," answers Dean. I see his body from the corner of my eyes and he takes a seat on the adjacent couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, letting out a small sigh. I restrain myself from going over there, straddling him and playing around with his curls. "I can't believe I got drunk," he comments. I can't believe it either.

"I can't believe you thought drinking would solve anything," I comment, keeping my eyes on the screen. I see his head move up from the corner of my eye. Great, now he's studying me (!)

"I know it doesn't," states Dean, something he found out when we first got together. I'm amazed he still acted out like this though. "I went for one and ended up having more," he says which is a bullshit excuse.

"Ended up having more?" I question, sitting up properly and turning my head to look at him. "You needed me to keep you up on your feet!" I remind him, keeping my voice low. One reason being he's probably got a headache and the second reason being I don't want anyone else hearing us.

"What did you expect? You were going to leave me!" he counters, effectively shutting me up. I look at the floor and then back at his face, unsure of what to say. "So that's it?" he asks and I take a deep breath.

"Now you want to talk?" I ask with a sigh of disbelief. "Fine. I wrote you that letter because I didn't know what else to do, ok? You were acting all weird and I thought you didn't want to be with me anymore. And it's not like you were willing to tell me what was going on," I justify myself. "It's beyond sweet that you did all that for your anniversary but when you come back smelling like perfume with a big grin on your face what was I supposed to think?" I question him, his gaze leaving my eyes. "Tell me you wouldn't have reservations if I was acting like that," I then say.

"Why couldn't you just fucking confront me?!" he questions all of a sudden, making me jump on the inside. "That letter Ariana? Coward's way out," he says, getting up and going back into the bedroom. Coward? I'm not a fucking coward! Or am I? Was leaving him better than actually facing up with everything and sorting it out? Damn it, I hate him! If I said it to his face, then it wouldn't have been cowardice. With a sigh I get up and go over to the bedroom, spotting Dean out on the balcony. I go there myself and hug him from behind. I hate it when we fight. I mean I know we have our playful fights but I don't particularly like the serious ones.

"I'm sorry," I apologise in a small voice. I didn't think about the repercussions of that letter one bit. I didn't think about how Dean would feel, all I thought about is myself.

"I'm sorry too," says Dean and an automatic smile appears on my face. "I know I was acting odd but you have to trust me that I'm not cheating, if I ever start acting weird or otherwise. I love you too fucking much," he says in a stubborn way, eliciting a chuckle from me. I take my hands off of him and he turns around, leaning against the rail. "Scared," he states and I look at him in confusion.

"What?" I ask, not understanding what he's getting at.

"That's what happened when I read that letter," says Dean and I feel even more bad. "The only thing that's ever terrified the hell out of me is losing you and that letter…" he trails off, looking at the floor. I step forward and place my arms around him, knowing this is going to be alright when I feel his arms around me too.

"I made a stupid decision Dean," I state, nodding my head. "But I was scared of losing you too and that's why I did it. I love you, a lot. And I'm sorry for not thinking the best of you but I promise it won't happen again. You're my everything," I say, looking into his eyes and meaning it too. I hope he knows just how much he means to me. If there was one thing I would never be able to get over, that would be losing Dean Ambrose.

"Don't do it again," he says, well more like orders. I nod my head in agreement and reach up, pressing my lips to his. He still looks like he's in a bit of a mood but that could be the alcohol. I'm sure all the effects have worn off in the space of just over 4 hours.

"Are you hungry? I ordered you some food," I say, about to turn to go inside when I feel he has a good grip on me.

"Nope, I'm fine," he says and I put my arms around him, embracing him. I guess Iris is right when she says communication is key in relationships. Then again, this is Dean Ambrose so nothing will ever go smoothly. There was a time where he'd get mad and I wouldn't see him for a couple of days. But that's changed. Things are different now.

"You still want to marry me?" I ask, even though it's stupid. I guess I'm a lot more insecure than I sometimes let on to be.

"Fuck yes," answers Dean, making me laugh. We head inside and clear things up before lying on the bed together.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Ow, you're pulling on my hair!" says Lacey as I do Lily's hair who's combing Laceys'. "Aunt Iris, she's pulling," Lacey then complains to me as I try not to laugh. We're sitting in a line doing each other's hair which is proving to be quite fun. Rose and Damien had to go for Rose's check-up and I offered to take care of the girls. They always have a way of brightening up your day. Unfortunately, Macy had to go take care of some work and Nicky left with her. Seth's gone shopping with Evan, Anna, Anne, Annette and Marie. Mason and Nick are playing chess outside in the garden. And Isabel has thankfully gone back home. Unfortunately, home is right next door but that shouldn't be a problem. As long as she's not annoying me around here.

"Lily, be gentle," I say, as I continue to put her hair into 2 braids. I would love to have a daughter in the future. It would be even more perfect of my daughter and Ariana's daughter end up being best friends.

"I'm trying," says Lily in such a sweet innocent voice that I can't help but chuckle.

"It's alright sweetie," I say. "Just do it like this," I say and stop doing her hair for a few seconds. I place my hand over hers and show her how to do it in a gentler way. Then Rose can't complain one kid pulled the other one's hair out.

"Like that?" says Lily just as I remove my hand from hers.

"Just like that honey," I say, finishing one of her braids. I then start on the other. Anyone who'd walk into the living room would find us in a line on the floor. The girls were running around and making a lot of noise and this was the only thing that would stop them from doing that. "Are you girls excited to have a new brother or sister?" I ask them both.

"I think so," says Lacey which makes me laugh. "I want her to be a girl cause then we can all play hide and seek," she says which is such a kid answer to give.

"What makes you think you can't do that with a brother?" I ask the six-year-old.

"I dunno," answers Lacey, shrugging her shoulders and sighing as she plays with her doll. These girls make me laugh.

"What about you Lily?" I ask her instead.

"As long as it doesn't cry I'm happy," says Lily and even though I can't see her face I know she's smiling.

"You know, I don't have a brother or a sister," I tell them and both girls turn their heads to look at me. I stop doing Lily's braid not wanting it to come out all wrong.

"Really?" asks Lacey and I shake my head.

"Not even a little sister?" asks Lily and I once again shake my head. "Then who did you play with?" she asks me with an innocent look on her face.

"You guys know Ariana right?" I ask them both and they nod their heads. "Well, growing up she's been my best friend. Such a good friend in fact that I consider her to be my sister," I explain to them both. "We looked out for each other, like you guys do," I tell them.

"But then who did you sleep with in the night?" asks Lacey. "Whenever its windy outside the noises scare me and Lily comes into my bed," she says which I find so incredibly cute.

"I slept all by myself," I tell them and they look at me as if it's the most horrible thing in the world. I guess for a little kid it is, isn't it?

"Wow, that's scary," says Lacey.

"Whether the baby is a girl or boy he or she will need you," I tell them both. "You're going to be big sisters so it's going to be your job to make sure he or she is always safe," I instruct them.

"But I'm already Laceys' big sister," says Lily which makes me chuckle.

"Does that mean I have to go sleep with her if it's really scary in the night?" asks Lacey, looking at me with her cute big brown eyes. I nod my head and she says, "Ok. But Lily has to come as well then".

"I am going to come silly, I can't leave you by yourself," says Lily and I then tell them both to turn back around so we can continue on with the hair. They are so cute and adorable. I can't wait till Evan can start talking, it's going to be a lot of fun.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

I stand there watching Iris with Lily and Lacey. Although I hate to admit it, she's not bad at handling kids. It's quite cute how she has them sitting as they do each other's hair. My smile falls as I realize what I'm doing. I'm breaking up Seth and Iris. My brother claims she's the love of his life but I can't let her stay with him. They don't belong together. With that thought in my head I call Isabel, knowing what we need to do next.

" _But how am I going to get him alone? It was hard to do the first time and the only reason he agreed to it was because Iris told him to go,"_ says Isabel which surprises me. Why would Iris send Seth to help Isabel when its clearly evident that they're getting too friendly? Or that a lot of people thought they would end up together.

"Why would she do that?" I question Isabel.

" _Because she's being nice, it's sickening,"_ says Isabel and I'm quite surprised at her. She's turned into something else alright. If this is who she really is then I don't want her with Seth either. But, I'll need her for now if I want to break the couple up. _"Ok, so if you get everyone away and out of the house and make sure Seth stays in then I can have him by the end,"_ she says and I nod my head.

"That's a plan," I say and then hang up. Hopefully this will work and Seth will stop being so damn stubborn about this whole thing. It's alright if Iris hangs around as Evan's Mum but not as Seth's girlfriend.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I laugh at my Mum and Aunt bickering over what vegetables they need. It's even more funny with Anna and Marie standing there, looking between the two. When I realize Evan needs a nappy change I leave them all to it and get out of there, going over to the car. I think I'll go mad if I listen to another word. Once I get to the car though, I notice a package sitting on top of the hood. I look around but don't see anyone. I wonder what this could be. I open the car door and set Evan lying down, picking up the package. I tear open the seal and open it to reveal pictures. As I go through them my eyes widen at the images. These…these are of me and Isabel! In her room that day!

"What the hell…" I trail off, seeing a note amidst it all. "Someone's been a naughty boy," I read the note and let out a sigh as panic sets in. What the hell am I supposed to do? I quickly shove the pictures back into the envelope and shove that into the dashboard, knowing no one will look there. I start to think who could have done this. It then comes to my mind that the person who's done this is probably the person who invited me there in the first place. Isabel.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"There, how's it looking?" I ask Lily and her face turns to that of someone who's got the greatest surprise of their life.

"Ribbons!" squeals Lily, taking a hold of her braids. I nod my head as she shows Lacey. I promised the girls they could have my old ribbons and I've weaved them into her braid.

"I want some!" says Lacey, getting up and trying to get in between me and Lily. Because there's no space she ends up jumping into my lap. Once I get both of them settled down I start on Laceys' braids and Lily decides she wants to sit behind me and comb my hair. She ends up sitting on two pillows so she can reach it, it being short and all as well as she being short herself.

"Ok, girls," I say, trying to be as nice as possible. They are both sat behind me now, trying to do my hair and they are pulling it more than necessary. "Be-be careful," I say, hoping to god that they don't pull anymore.

"You're not doing it right," Lily tells off Lacey, pulling one side of my hair.

"No, you're not doing it right," says Lacey, pulling the other side of my hair.

"You shouldn't have given them free will over your hair," I look to the side to see Angie standing there, trying not to laugh at the sight before her.

"I know that now," I say with a loud sigh. "Girls, stop bickering otherwise I won't make either of you lunch," I then tell them both and immediately they stop talking over each other. Just then the doorbell rings and Angie moves to go get it. I get the girls to get off of my hair and get up. "Alright, go run around outside for five minutes and the first one back gets a chocolate bar off of me," I say and before I know it they've both vanished. I shake my head to go and see who's at the door but as soon as I get there I find a couple standing opposite Angie who looks madder than she normally does.

"Oh, hello," says the girl and I smile at her. "You must be Iris, everyone's been talking about you," she says and I nod my head. I move forward and shake her hand.

"I'm sorry, you are?" I ask her and she looks over to who I'm assuming is her husband.

"I'm Jean and this is my husband Jason," introduces Jean and I nod my head.

"How do you guys know each other?" I ask them, feeling some sort of a tension.

"Here, I'll introduce you," says Angie with what I can tell is a fake smile by a hundred miles. "This is Jason my lying cheating ex and this is Jean, my supposed best friend who was fucking his brains out behind my back. And now they're here to invite me to their wedding anniversary party because apparently doing all the shit they did to me wasn't enough," she says before stomping off in anger and jogging up the stairs. Well, this is awkward.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

I stand at the top of the stairs, behind the wall so no one can see me but I can hear them. Knowing the kind of girl Iris is she'll probably just welcome them with open arms and tell them that I'll get over it one day.

"I-I think you should leave," I hear Iris say and I look around the wall because I can hardly believe she would say that. "Your coming here has obviously upset Angelina and it'll only make matters worse," she says and I try not to smile at her calling me 'Angelina'. I didn't think she'd actually stick to calling me that since no one else does.

"But," starts Jean and I roll my eyes. She always thinks she can get her way by showing up with fake crocodile tears. "All we want is to have Angie back in our lives again," she says as I scoff.

"I, uh, I don't really know the details of what happened between you all," starts Iris as I wonder what she's going to do. She was surprising me right now so who knows where this will end up. "But It's clearly evident that Angie doesn't want to see you, let alone talk to you. And you can't force someone to change their feelings. If it goes away with time, then fine. But turning up here, confronting her like you did it doesn't solve anything," she explains, being completely right for once.

"We…we understand," says Jason as I look on surprised. I didn't think anyone could get them to go unless they were shouted and screamed at.

"Ok," says Jean, looking like she's going to cry. "Uh, can we at least see Evan? We were away when you had the party earlier on this week," she says which angers me. How dare they ask to meet my nephew? I have half a mind to go and sock her right now!

"He's out with his Father," says Iris and I wonder what her response would be if Evan was here. Would she allow them couple who completely broke me to see her son? "I don't mean to be rude but I don't think it's a good idea that you do see him. The only reason you were tied to this family was because of Angelina right?" she asks and I look to see Jean nod her head. "I guess the connection has been severed then. It's probably best you stay away," she tells them.

"You…you barely know Angie," says Jean and I feel anger. How dare she call me by that name? She's no one to me, not anymore. Neither of them are. "You don't even know what happened properly so how can you not let us meet Evan or tell us to stay away?" she asks Iris.

"Because she's family," states Iris, shrugging her shoulders. "She's my son's Aunt and by that relation, she's family to me. I've never been cold with anyone unless they give me good reason but this is an exception. No one messes or hurts a member of this family because you have the rest of us to deal with," she says with finality after which Jason and Jean leave. I can't believe she just said that. She considers me family? After the way I've been with her? The things I've said to her? She still wants to do what's best for me? What kind of backwards thinking is this?

* * *

 **Reviews always make me happy! :)**


	21. Another Person

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! Enjoy the next chapter! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: Well, they do make my day. Well the first thing that goes through his mind isn't that it would be Angie right? I think Iris just managed to surprise Angie in a good way. Isabel thought she could try and win Seth over by pretending to have cooked but come on, that wasn't going to work :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 21:**

"What up blobby?" asks Neil, bursting into my room with the biggest smile on his face as I try not to laugh. I look at him from where I am, leaning against the headboard of my bed. I was still thinking about what Iris did. It's starting to make me question my motives. She could have easily invited them in for some coffee or something to get back at me for all the comments I've made and the way I've treated her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask with a coy smile. Neil probably doesn't know this but he's the only person that can make me genuinely happy in any situation. He is my best friend after all. I am so glad that he's always there for me.

"I was thinking, what do I do today?" starts Neil, throwing himself onto my bed which is nothing new. He always acts like as if he owns this room. "Then I thought, 'Duh Neil. You have a best friend that loves it when you hang about so here I am!'" he says which makes me laugh.

"You're such an idiot," I say, shaking my head. "But I'm glad you've turned up. What do you want to do?" I ask, ridding my mind of all thoughts to do with Jason and Jean. They don't deserve taking up my time. And Neil happens to be great at distracting me from anything and everything.

"Ooh, let's play cards!" exclaims Neil and goes to my desk drawer, knowing exactly where they're put. We start to play and as always I call him out for cheating because that's what he does. I don't know what I'd do without him though.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Do you girls like it?" I ask Lacey and Lily as I sit down at the end of the table with each of them on either side. Both nod their heads, their mouths full of spaghetti meatballs which makes me laugh. Kids bring such joy.

"Where's Aunt Angie? Isn't she going to eat as well?" asks Lacey and I give her a small smile. It's cute how they're thinking of her right now. Angie still hasn't come down but I'm hoping that's not a bad sign and that Neil has worked his magic.

"She's not hungry just yet, but don't worry. I've left some for her in the microwave," I tell Lacey, tapping my finger on her nose which makes her giggle. The girls eat their food and after settling them down to watch some TV, I start clearing away the table.

"Something smells great but I don't see it," I look up to see Neil walking down with Angie. And Angie has a smile on her face. Thank god!

"In the microwave," I tell him and he nods his head, immediately going over to it. I hand him two clean plates and forks as he puts it in and then begins to warm the food. "I'll go check on the girls," I say, leaving them both to it. Angie needs to be around people that make her happy right now and I know I definitely am not one of them. I sit with the girls and watch cartoons till Neil and Angie come into the living room.

"Great food Iris," compliments Neil and I thank him. They both sit down on a couch and watch with us. It's actually quite nice because we're all laughing at the stuff Lacey and Lily come out with. Children are always a good pastime. The things they do are just too funny. After a good couple of hours Neil says, "Ok, I think I'll go". Angie doesn't look happy about that.

"What?" says Angie and I smile as I look in between them both. Why can't they just confess their feelings and get it over with? Then again, things were never that simple with me and Seth either. "Come on, you have to stay a few more hours," she says to him, standing up as well.

"And get yelled at for going into work late tomorrow?" asks Neil in mock horror. "Never!" he then says, his hands on his hips as Lacey and Lily continue to giggle as they look at him. "I'll see you tomorrow evening though toots," he says and the smile on Angie's face is like no other. Neil leans in and places a kiss on her cheek before saying goodbye to us all and finally leaving. Angie immediately goes back upstairs but I notice Neil's left his phone behind.

"I'll be right back girls," I tell them both before picking up the phone and quickly running out of the house with it. "Neil!" I shout his name just as he's driving off. His window is thankfully rolled down so he hears me and stops. He gets out of the car as I walk up to him. "You left your phone," I tell him and he takes it off of me.

"Thanks," says Neil and I nod my head. Should I ask him? Or will that be too interfering? I should just do it. He can call me out on prying or whatever.

"I was just wondering," I start, deciding this is a perfect time as any to talk to him about it. "Are you ever going to tell her that you love her?" I ask him directly, not beating around the bush. He gives me a surprised look before chuckling. Well, I wasn't expecting that.

"Is it that obvious?" asks Neil and I shake my head. He does everything right, exactly as a best friend should and keeps a mask on so people can't see. But I've been where he is. Kind of. Hiding your feelings is something me and Seth know a lot about. "Then how….?" he trails off.

"I know what it's like to be in love with someone and having to hide it," I let him know. Ever since Seth had come back into my life, I had tried so many times to keep my feelings buried. But I couldn't. I bet the others could tell but never said anything.

"Seth?" asks Neil and I nod my head. There never is anyone else in my life but Seth, is there?

"Are you alright?" I ask him, knowing this must be tough for him. It can't be easy. He's so in love with Angie but if he reveals it, everything's on the line. Their friendship and his heart. There's a chance he could lose her if he tells her. But there's also the chance that she might feel the same.

"I will be as long as she is," answers Neil, shrugging his shoulders. I place a hand on his arm and he says, "You're not going to tell her right?" I doubt if I told her then she'd believe me.

"Not my place," I tell him. His secret is safe with me. "I keep your secret and you keep mine," I state, reminding him about before. I don't want anyone knowing, especially Angie. She'll probably blame me for trying to control her life or something.

"That you called me over here to cheer her up?" asks Neil and I nod my head. I knew Angie wouldn't like it if I came and tried to cheer her up so I got someone who I knew could get the job done and who she'd allow to. Because let's face it, she'd never let me cheer her up. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," he then says, sending me a wink.

"I'm just glad you managed to put a smile on her face again," I tell him and he looks mighty proud of himself for doing that. It takes a special kind of person to do something like that. Especially with Angie.

"My life's mission," says Neil with a small smile. He then turns around to get back in the car but all of a sudden turns around to look at me again. "You think she could ever love me? The way I love her?" he asks me in a scared, timid voice which lets me know just how much he cares about her. These are the thoughts I once had about Seth. Now though, I don't doubt his love for a second.

"She'd be mad not to," I tell him with a smile. He chuckles and leans forward, surprising me with a hug. I don't think anyone knows how much he likes his best friend.

"You know, all these years' no one in this family has caught on," says Neil, still hugging me. "But I'm kind of glad someone finally knows, I feel a lot better," he says and then pulls away. He places a kiss on my cheek and then gets back in his car. I wave at him as he goes off and then head back inside. The way to make Angie happy is by bringing them together and whilst you can never force something, I think they both need to be nudged. Who knows, maybe it might make her less uptight.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

I wonder what they could be talking about. I continue to look at Iris and Neil as they seem to be talking about something serious. What could they possibly be talking about that they couldn't have done in front of me? My eyes widen in horror as I see Neil hug Iris and stays clung to her for a good minute at least. What the fuck is he doing? And what the fuck is she doing? He's my best friend and she's my brother's girlfriend! He pulls away and kisses her cheek as I walk away from the window. I throw my pillow across the room in anger. Iris is going to pay for whatever game it is that she thinks she's playing. And to think, I actually started to think she was genuine. But all she wants to do is take Neil away. I'm not going to let that happen though.

"Isabel," I say her name with a smirk on my face. If Iris is bent on taking things from me then I'll make sure she loses anything she has. She is never going to keep my brother by her side.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hello little guy," I say as I take Evan out of Anne's arms when they get back from shopping. "Where's Seth?" I ask them both, looking behind them but not seeing him coming.

"Oh, he had to go run an errand dear. I'm sure he'll be right back," says Anne and I nod my head. "Why don't you go fetch Evan's bottle? I think he's hungry," she says and I decide to do so. I hand Evan over to Annette and go upstairs to my room. I find Evan's bottle on the nightstand and I'm about to leave when I look out the window and see Seth. I see Seth and Isabel together in Isabel's room. What…what is he doing in there?

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Roman!" says Ariana, opening the door of her hotel room. I just got back this morning. It was hard to leave JoJo as always but we've already set our next meeting date. I'll see her soon.

"What's up?" I say and move forward, giving her a quick hug. She moves to the side and I walk in, confused at not seeing Dean lying around anywhere. "Where's the stooge?" I question, not even seeing a clue of him having been here.

"He wanted to work out a bit longer," answers Ariana, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sure you can annoy him later," she then says which is an idea. But until then, I can talk to Ariana and even go and see my girlfriend. She said she wanted to catch lunch and I am more than looking forward to it. "How's JoJo?" she then asks me. I take a seat and she does too.

"Bright as always," I answer proudly. My little munchkin made me feel all better. I didn't even feel angry whilst I was around her. It's the kind of effect she has on me. Not being angry is exactly what I needed too.

"Great, did Hunter call you about the match you guys are in tonight?" she asks me and I nod my head. It's me and Dean against Gold and Stardust. He also gave me a little bit of a warning about kicking off again. Which is understandable. But anyone in my situation would have done the same. "Cool. I'm not needed tonight so I was just going to hang around backstage," she lets me know.

"Too bad you can't hang around with Iris," I comment, Ariana nodding her head in agreement. Iris and Evan always help pass time if you have nothing else to do. Speaking of, I am beyond relieved they're still over there.

"But I also need this calming few days, you know before she talks my ear off," says Ariana but we all know she loves it. If Iris didn't go on and on, Ariana would be annoyed.

"Honey, I'm home!" shouts Dean, entering with a bang as always. Ariana just rolls her eyes, a small smile appearing on her face. "Dude!" he then shouts and comes over, holding his hand out for a high five. I decide to indulge him and hit his hand with mine. "When did you get back?" he asks me and I tell him a few minutes before. We start catching up on everything we've missed in the last couple of days before I leave them to it.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What did you find out?" I ask Dean, as soon as Roman left. I felt bad for lying to Roman about where Dean really was but I couldn't tell him the truth either, now could I? 'We feel like you're hiding something so Dean was going around to try and find out who was around you when you attacked Kane'. I trust Roman to tell us anything if it's necessary but at the same time, it can be difficult to discuss certain things. And Iris is involved here so it's important.

"Absolutely diddly squat," answers Dean with a loud groan. "One guy led me to another and another and another till I got to Dolph who was apparently the first on the scene. He told me he just saw them fighting. Literally, no one saw or heard anything till the ruckus," he explains, which doesn't help one bit. Especially not if the Samoan won't tell us.

"That means Kane must have made sure no one was around when he started to run his mouth," I deduce which we both should have seen coming I guess.

"Does this mean I get to tie up Roman and torture him till he reveals everything?" asks Dean and I give him a not-now look after which he sits down, well more like throws himself down onto the couch.

"This means we can't do anything till Roman tells us what the fuck went on," I say. Knowing Roman, he'll tell us when he feels like it. Or not at all if he doesn't feel like it. All I know is Kane must have said something a lot more than Iris got what she deserved. Something ten times worse to make Roman lose his cool.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Ma, you guys head on inside, I have to go do something," I tell her and hand Evan over to her. She doesn't question me or anything but just tells me to hurry up. I nod my head and after they're out of eyesight, I go into my car and take out the envelope. I stare at it for a couple of minutes, not understanding what I should do. All the pictures are of Isabel pressed up against me. I should have just pushed her off and not cared about hurting her. I go over to Isabel's house and knock on the front door. When no one opens the door I open it and go in myself. "Isabel?!" I shout her name.

"Up here!" Isabel calls back. I go upstairs and realize she's in her room. After a moment of hesitation, I knock on her bedroom door. This is the last place I should be caught.

"Isabel," I say her name, knocking once more.

"Just come on in Seth," says Isabel and I open the door to see her standing in front of her dresser, putting a comb through her wet hair. "Hey, what's up?" she asks me and I clench my teeth together in anger. She does something as disgusting as this and then acts all normal. What happened to the girl who was decent? Who was happy that I'm happy?

"What's up?" I ask her angrily and her smile falters. "What's up is you sending me these and threatening me!" I shout, holding the envelope up in my hand.

"Whoa, threatening you?" asks Isabel, looking confused but I don't believe it at all. All this time, all she's been doing is playing about with me. And I've had enough. I can't take anything at face value with her.

"Don't act so innocent," I tell her as she puts her comb down. "So you tried to seduce me in your bedroom with an excuse of a broken heater and then took snaps? Since when did you get so sick?!" I question in anger, throwing the envelope down on her dresser as she cowers back.

"Seth, yes I tried to get you using an excuse but taking pictures?" asks Isabel, shaking her head. "I would never do that. Do you know how bad that would look for the both of us?" she then asks. I don't believe her for a second.

"Really? Then what are these?" I question her, pointing down to the envelope that now lay on her dresser. She looks at me and then picks up the envelope. Once it's in her hands, she opens the envelope and takes out the pictures. Her eyes widening as she looks at each one. If anyone ever saw these, I would be finished. I'd lose Iris without even getting a chance to explain.

"What the…" she trails off, looking just as shocked as I was when I first saw them. "What…how did you get these?" she asks me as if she doesn't know.

"I got them exactly where you left them. On top of my car," I answer her, sick and tired of her attitude. I never tried anything like this when she was with Michael. I waited patiently and when I got tired of waiting, I left. But she can't extend the same curtsy here?

"Me? Seth I haven't done this," says Isabel, standing right in front of me, the snaps still in her hand. "I would never do something like this," she says but I don't believe her. "You have to believe me, I would never try and disgrace us both like this," she says, her hands trembling as she keeps a hold of the pictures. I'm surprised they haven't fallen out of her hand yet.

"Yeah right (!)" I say with a hand in the air. "You've been trying it on with me for a while now. Even today when you said you made those pancakes. I wasn't stupid, I knew Iris made them. So you thought you'd try a different approach, one that will have me scared right?" I scoff and turn to walk away when Isabel grabs a hold of my hand.

"Seth, I know I've tried to do some terrible things," starts Isabel, moving to stand in front of me once again. "But I would never, for even one second, threaten you. All I wanted was for us to be together and I even said I don't mind doing it in secret. Why would I then threaten you with pictures? It makes no sense," she explains but I have a hard time believing her. Even if it does seem kind of stupid. I have no idea what she is capable of considering what she's done so far.

"Maybe you thought that by showing me these you could scare me into sleeping with you?" I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "But let me tell you one thing, Iris means the world to me. Her and Evan both, so if you want to threaten me, then fine. But you're never going to get me," I make that clear to her as her eyes start watering. At one point I would have done anything to rid her of those tears but now, they mean nothing at all to me.

"Seth, if I want you then I'd have to be on your good side. This puts me on your bad side, I know you'd never do anything with me if I did something like this then why would I?" questions Isabel and I hate to think it but that does make sense. "We've known each other since we were kids. I would never do something like this to you or myself," she says, looking in my eyes and as I look close I don't see any evidence of her lying to me. "Seth, something like this could ruin me," she says, starting to sob as she puts her hands on her face. It would in terms of no one in my family would speak to her again. Neither would Rita.

"Don't cry," I say, placing a hand on her arm, feeling compelled to. If she hasn't done it then that means someone else is out to get me. "If you didn't send it then who took them and who did?" I question her but she shrugs her shoulders as she looks up at me.

"I have no idea," says Isabel, shaking her head. "If I knew some sicko was standing outside my bedroom window then I wouldn't have done that," she says, shaking her head and putting her arms around herself. It makes me sick to no someone was doing that when nothing happened between the two of us. But looking at these pictures, no one would believe me when I do say nothing happened.

"You really didn't send them, did you?" I ask and she continues to look at me with sad eyes. "What do I do? All this person has done is shown me they know what happened. They've not declared what they want from me," I say aloud, not knowing what I should do right now. What could I have that someone else would want? Right now Isabel is the only one and she swears she's not behind it.

"I'm sorry, if I didn't do that then we'd be fine right now," apologises Isabel, looking at me with remorse. But is she even genuine or just saying it for the sake of it? "But Seth," she starts, placing her hands on my torso. "We can't let these pictures get out. My whole life will be ruined! Everyone will say that I couldn't keep my guy so I tried stealing someone else's," she says and despite the fact that that is what happened I stay quiet.

"Don't worry, whoever this is isn't going to get away with it," I say and before I can even say anything she puts her arms around me and hugs me. This is mega awkward. Because she's standing in her towel and sobbing into my shirt. Fuck, what do I do?

"Thank you," says Isabel and then looks up at me. "I've been horrible and you're still so sweet," she says, placing a hand on the side of my cheek. But I'm smarter than that.

"Yeah, alright," I say, taking her hand off my face and putting some distance between us. I learned my lesson from last time. I only let her do that because she was upset and needed it. But nothing further beyond that is going to happen. "Let me know if you get anything, this person could be targeting us both," I say and she nods her head. I turn around and leave, picking up the pictures and putting them back into the envelope. If she really hasn't done it, then I'm not leaving her with ammunition she can try and use later on. I leave her house and go back to my own. Back to my girlfriend who if she ever finds out will have my head on a spike. I really don't want to lose her.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"Oh Seth," I say, shaking my head after he's left. "If only you knew what was actually going on," I say aloud. I then pick up a picture that fell onto the floor that Seth missed. "Hmm, now who's playing games?" I wonder aloud, putting the picture into my music box and closing it shut. It's a nice picture though, me and Seth pressed up so close. I can use this and milk him for everything. Use my tears and sobbing to get his attention away from Iris and put it on me. Where it belongs.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"What are you doing Seth?" I question in a whisper as I stay seated on my bed. I saw her hug him, her arms wrapped around him. What is going on? And why did he let her stay like that? That was a longer hug than necessary for two people who claim to only be good friends. I know what her intentions are but…what are his? Can I trust Seth? Or is history going to repeat itself? I don't want to lose him again. I don't think I'd survive if I did.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Iris," I say her name as I walk into our room and find her sitting on the edge of the bed. "Honey, Ma's been waiting on Evan's milk bottle for a while now," I tell her and see it just dawns on her. I take the bottle out of her hands as she continues to stay sat down. "Are you alright?" I ask her, sitting down next to her. I don't know why but something seems off.

"Yeah," says Iris, putting a smile on her face. "Great, let's go," she says, getting up but wrap I my arms around her waist from behind and put my chin in the crook of her neck. "What are you doing?" she asks me. That's not her usual voice.

"I know your real smile from your fake smile Cutie Pie," I state and feel her go tense which means something is wrong. "Your real smile makes my heart beat a thousand miles a minute," I tell her. She turns her head to look at me and I can see the faint blush on her cheeks.

"You're doing a lot of sweet talking Mister Rollins," says Iris.

"And I know for a fact that you love it," I say, making her actually smile. "See?" I ask her, letting go of her and placing both my hands on the side of her face. "That's your real smile," I then tell her and she looks down shyly. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I then ask her, not being able to take it if she's sad for even one second.

"I just…is there something you're not telling me?" asks Iris and I keep my composure. I can't let her know what's going on. It'll ruin how nice things are. First, only Isabel was the problem now this mystery person who sent those pictures is one too. It seems like I can't catch a break here. But I don't want Iris getting worried about all of this. I've not cheated on her and I don't intend to.

"Why would you say that?" I ask her, playing it innocent but drowning in guilt at the same time.

"Seth, you'd tell me if something was going on wouldn't you?" questions Iris and I nod my head instantly. I'm going to burn in hell for his one day. I'm lying to the most amazing woman ever and it's not right. Not right at all.

"What's wrong Cutie Pie? Is there something I should know?" I then ask her instead. If she thinks I'm hiding something then it has to have come from somewhere, right?

"Nothing I just…I have a bad feeling. That's all," says Iris, shrugging her shoulders as I relax. She doesn't know anything so that's fine. But for how long? I don't know what this mystery person wants. They sent those pictures letting me know that they know. Their intentions are obviously not good. All I know is I can't do this on my own but I refuse to do it with Isabel. I need to talk to someone else, someone who can help me solve this situation. Someone cunning in that aspect.

"Here, let me take that feeling right away," I tell her, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Iris's lips. I open my eyes and see her with a smile on her face which in turn makes me smile. Just that one kiss and I feel better about everything already. Iris has a way of calming me when she's around. "I love you," I tell her, feeling like I need to say it more.

"I love you too," says Iris with a chuckle and after another kiss we both head downstairs. Everything will be fine as long as I have Iris. I definitely need another person's help but I know exactly who to call. After all, in times like this there are only certain people who will have your back. I just hope I don't get berated for letting things get like this.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	22. Party Planning

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. I have deadlines looming and the last week has been kind of shitty for me. But writing always makes me feel better! :)**

 **Daken's sister: The answer to your question is yes. Don't worry, more Roman for you in this chapter ;)**

 **Calwitch: Well all know Isabel has a hidden agenda. Who knows what she'll do? She is doubting herself and Seth. But I think she has good reason to be when she's going through what she is. There's always going to be that little bit of doubt for her even though Seth has proved himself. It just depends on what he can do to get rid of it. You'll find out in this chapter what went on :)**

 **Amnbama: Don't worry, it'll all be coming. Just try and keep a lid on that anger a little while longer :)**

 **Iamkhusbu333: I know I said 2 weeks. But I also said in the last chapter of 'Getting Over You' that this story will focus on the visit in this 2-week period. You don't need to apologize. If it's getting kind of boring, then it's clearly not for you. But as always, this is my story and I'm writing it for myself and not others. I am not going to change any part of it for anyone else :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Your little comments I always find cute :)**

 **Jade: Whoa, too much for me to reply back to. I am such a busy bee nowadays. I'll try and tackle the most important issues for you though. Picking sides huh Jade? Lol. Thanks.  
It might be confusing but I totally understand what you mean. It's what happened with Seth. He didn't know the real Iris but once he did he fell in love with her :)  
I have to say I love how you've described Angie! Made me laugh. I am a total hugger dude so I'll have to disagree with you on that.  
Don't worry, it'll all be revealed in this chapter. I hope I've done a good job of it since I built it up so much. Finger crossed.  
I know you'd expect Seth to stay away from her but he's been friends with her a long time. He wouldn't expect her to go to such lengths. Neither would the first thing that comes to his mind is that she's playing games and pretending to be upset. Don't worry, I can live with all the cursing, haha!  
I am not adding new characters anywhere. The only person I've introduced as an extra is Anna, Seth's best friend. Isabel. And Lucy the house worker. That's it. Everyone else was introduced at the beginning, I think you're getting a little confused. That's ok though, I understand.  
Don't worry, I have something special planned for Iris ;)  
**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 22:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Mmm, I like this," I hear Seth say as he holds me closer. I open one eye and see Evan in his cot, playing with himself. That boy is an early riser for sure. I feel soft kisses placed on the back of my neck which makes me moan. "You keep on making those sounds and I'll lose my mind for sure," Seth comments, making me giggle.

"Seth," I start but he just keeps on kissing and sucking on my neck. I think back to yesterday and I don't disbelieve anything Seth says but again, thoughts were coming to my mind. On me not giving him what he needs in the bedroom. He did agree on waiting but it makes me wonder if that really is the best thing for us. "Do you think we should wait?" I then ask him abruptly, this stopping him from doing more of a number on my neck.

"What?" asks Seth and I move to sit up. He does too and stares at me.

"Do you…think we did the right thing…waiting to…you know…have sex," I finally get out, definitely having gone red. I look at Seth and see him smiling. "What?" I ask with a small smile.

"You're so damn beautiful when you go red," says Seth and I look away shyly. "Listen," he starts and puts an arm around me, shuffling closer to me. "We both decided it would be best if we waited. Now, I guess as a guy it is disappointing because all I wanna do is make love to my beautiful girlfriend but at the same time my number one priority is making her as happy as I can," he says as I lean my head on his shoulder. "Where is all this coming from anyway?" he then asks me.

"Nothing I just…" I pause for a second, trying to figure out what to say. "I don't want you to get annoyed at me for holding off," I tell him but only feel him hold onto me tighter.

"I won't, I don't think I ever could," says Seth and I shake my head. He has to be sweet as always.

"You say that but what if you do?" I ask him. "What if…." I trail off, not wanting to say it. Not wanting to make him mad that I think he would ever cheat on me again.

"What if I go somewhere else?" Seth finishes off for me and I pick my head up, putting some distance in between us both. "Hey, don't do that," he says, reaching out for me but I push his hand away.

"I am a terrible person," I state, shaking my head. "You've proved enough how much you regret everything and how you love me but yet I keep thinking what if you…" I trail off again, knowing he knows what I'm talking about.

"Iris, I know I haven't been the greatest in the past," starts Seth and takes a hold of my hand. I try pulling it away from him but he keeps a good grip on it and doesn't say anything else till I look up at him. "But I'm making it up to you each and everyday. I know you trust me as much as you can but you can't help the way you feel and I'm hoping one day you can trust me blindly. Like you did once," he whispers and pulls me into his lap. I don't struggle and let him.

"I just…I don't want anything to ruin this. Us," I tell him in a soft voice, pressing my forehead against his.

"I won't let it," says Seth with a determined look on his face. I nod my head and close my eyes, enjoying the feeling of being this close to him. "You know, I called Roman yesterday," he tells me as I listen to what he says, my eyes still staying closed.

"What was he saying?" I ask him.

"That Dean's getting on his nerves," states Seth which makes me chuckle. I open my eyes and see Seth already looking at me.

"You always were the peacemaker between them two," I state.

"Yeah, I just hope they don't burn each other alive by the time we get back on the road," says Seth as I laugh. "So, what are we going to do today?" he then asks me.

"I think, we should get back in bed," I start and Seth nods his head, liking the idea. "And get Evan and have some fun," I then say after which Seth gives me a kiss.

"I like that," says Seth. He moves me off my lap and grabs Evan. Seth makes funny faces to get Evan to laugh as I wave different toys in his face. We spend the morning in the room, my own little family. For a second, it feels like I don't have to worry about anything. But then I come downstairs and see Isabel making herself at home. Trust Seth. He knows what he's doing or not doing.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

I walk down the hallway after my match. I'm glad I'm back at work but I do not want to see Kane again. I can't afford to get suspended again for a longer time. Paige was right in saying I need to think carefully about this during lunch yesterday. But how to do this?

"Hey, what's up Roman?" asks Dolph, stopping in front of me. We get into a conversation and he tells me how Kane is reveling in the fact that I got suspended. I roll my eyes at the comment though because that much is obvious.

"You know where he is right now?" I ask Dolph and he gives me a warning look. I am not going to go beat up Kane. I'm not stupid. Attacking him again would just get me suspended and make it seem like I have a vendetta against him.

"You're not thinking about doing anything stupid are you?" asks Dolph and at this point I need someone to define the word 'Stupid'. I give him a look and he says, "He's in his locker room. But if I find out that you attacked him again then I'll sing like a canary". I doubt he'll feel sorry for Kane if I did attack him. After all, he's Iris's friend too.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere near him," I say, just wanting to check where Kane is so that I can avoid him. Which seems really stupid because a big guy like me would always face up to things. But where family is concerned, self-control goes out the window. Especially when it's Iris.

"There you are!" I hear Ariana's voice and look to see she looks relieved to find me in our locker room. Where else would I be though? "I ran into Ziggler," she says at which I roll my eyes. That big mouth. I told him I wasn't going to do anything and he decides to tattle to Ariana?

"I was just making sure I won't run in to him," I say, noticing Ariana studying my face very carefully. She knows me better. She shouldn't judge me for a second because I wouldn't do something like that. Not again anyway.

"Ok, sorry it's just I'd never seen you like that before," says Ariana, shrugging her shoulders. She knows I'm hiding something. I can see it on her face. Whenever she thinks someone is keeping secrets, she tilts her head to the side just a little and looks them dead in the eye. Like she's doing to me right now.

"I know but trust me when I say the 2 days off did me a lot of good," I tell her and she nods her head, putting on a smile. She still doubts me. There's nothing I can do about that then. I don't need to tell her if I don't want to. It's best for everyone if I keep it all to myself. Kane is beyond vile.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _I walk down the hallway wondering where Dean's disappeared off to. He said he needed to talk to me. About what? I don't know. As I continue walking down, I come face-to-face with the last person I ever expected to see. Kane. I've seen him around a few times and just walked in a different direction. It's better that way. Makes sure I don't confront him. Iris is safe and happy, that's all that matters. I continue to walk forward when I see a smirk on Kane's face which makes me frown. What's he so happy about?_

" _Roman," says Kane and that's enough to make me come to a halt. "It's good to see you out and about all by yourself, I thought you'd all still be surrounding Iris like guard dogs," he comments, looking amused. I don't care what he calls us. As long as he doesn't say anything about my sister._

" _She doesn't need us since the monster has got no more teeth to bite with," I make a comment of my own, his own smirk appearing. Now I see why Dean has said things in the past to Kane, it's fun to see him react the way he does._

" _I don't need to do anything further, the next time I see her I'll be able to see the fear in her eyes," says Kane, something that doesn't sit well with me because I get up and close with him._

" _You go anywhere near her and you'll regret it for sure, believe that," I say, continuing to glare at him, unwilling to back down where Iris is concerned._

" _Oh but I did and that bitch got what she deserved," says Kane, at this point I have to restrain myself from hitting him for calling Iris what he just did. He's just trying to push my buttons._

" _And you got what you deserved, through the table and the suspension," I say, not letting him know his words have affected me. I don't want to give him the satisfaction._

" _Don't worry, I'll stay away from her. After all, I've already done the damage," says Kane as I repeat a mantra in my head that says that is not true. "You know how good it felt, when I had my hands around her throat?" he asks, circling me now. I remember that. I was livid. "I was slowly squeezing the life out of her. The sparkle in those brown eyes was starting to fade and I feasted on that. She begged me to stop but I didn't. She tried to fight me, but that didn't work," he says. But Iris survived. She overcame that and her and Evan were absolutely unscathed from that. "Too bad Cena got in the way of that, I'm sure it would have been a thing of beauty to see her pale, lifeless body on the floor," he says and I close my eyes for a second, willing that image to go away._

" _It doesn't matter what you did, she's alive," I state, turning around to face him one more._

" _But for how long?" asks Kane, my eyes knitting together in confusion. He steps forward and says, "The thing is Roman, I enjoyed watching her struggling to breathe. Maybe I might do it again". He then lets out a laugh. "Actually, I am going to do it again. I won't rest until she's buried six feet under in a coffin. And I'll be happy know that I'm the one that did that," he says. "You think you can protect her Roman?" he asks me._

" _I know I can," I say with a low growl. He's just told me he's going to come after my sister. I dare him to because he'll have to go through me to get her._

" _That's what you thought then as well but none of you were there," says Kane, a fact which we'd all finally moved on from. "There's going to be another chance where that'll happen. And when it does, well I'm going to be there. And Iris will be nothing but a lifeless pile of flesh and bones," he says. Before he can even laugh my fist connects with his face. I get on top of him and start punching and punching, not letting him get away with what he just said._

"Roman?" asks Ariana and I come out of thinking about what Kane had said to me. If she or Dean ever found out Kane threatened to actually kill Iris, I won't be able to hold either of them back. I couldn't even hold myself back. But that's not what we need. We need to be able to not play into his games Which is what I somehow managed to do.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I ask her and she gives me a weird look. I wonder how long she was calling my name for.

"I said, let's find Dean and grab some food," answers Ariana, giving me a suspicious look. I nod my head and put a small smile on my face, walking off with her. Telling either of them is a bad idea. I'm glad I had Paige to talk to. At least there's someone I can talk to without worrying that they'll go off on a rampage.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Where were you guys all morning?" asks Macy as soon as I come into the living room. I can tell she's been purposely loud to get a kick out of Isabel's reaction. I still don't understand why she's taking it so personal, I really haven't known her for that long.

"We were playing in bed," I answer without thinking and after I hear a few laughs my face goes red as I realize what I just said. "I meant with Evan. We were just messing around…with him," I correct myself before going over and sitting down next to Macy.

"Nice save genius," comments Macy with a smirk but I just stick my tongue out at her.

"Ok guys, Mum, Uncle Mason, Aunt Annette and Aunt Marie out and distracting Dad," says Rose, coming into the living room and clamping her hands together. "This is our moment to get everything sorted out. They've gone for the day," she says which confuses me. Is something going on that I should know about? "Oh crap, I forgot about you," she says, looking straight at me.

"What's going on?" I ask aloud.

"It's Nick's birthday today," Damien clarifies for me. "We've had this whole thing planned for ages. It's weird how you've been here for a week and you still don't know," he then says. I bet they were all too busy playing with Evan to even realize.

"So what do you guys have planned?" I ask them all eagerly. I love parties. Always gets me excited. I can't say the same thing for my friends though. Definitely not Ariana or Dean. I think Roman quite enjoys them too.

"We have balloons, cake, food and music," says Nicky, making me laugh. It sounds like a regular party. But I think the balloons are probably more to keep the kids happy.

"What he means is they have everything ready for a party but we just need to set it all up," Macy corrects and I smile at her. She's been getting more along with everyone and finding her footing. Needless to say everyone looks freaked out whenever she does something nice.

"And since it's just a family event," starts Damien, getting up and coming over to sit on Macy's other side. "We outsiders will stick together," he says with a fist in the air.

"Outsiders?" I question him.

"Not blood related," Damien clarifies for me.

"Awesome!" says Macy and gives Damien a high five. I shake my head at both their childishness. At least they're getting along right?

"You're not outsiders," states Rose, crossing her arms over her chest and I'm guessing it's because she's not happy with Damien encouraging me and Macy with this when she's trying to make us feel like family.

"Yes we are, we're plus ones for all you guys," says Damien, putting an arm around Macy. By the look on her face I can tell she wasn't expecting that. I guess it is weird.

"Too right brother," says Macy, that awkward moment going just as fast as it came. And she's settling in fine. They're all liking the real Macy, the one she should have started off with. Still, it's better late than never.

"Iris, please put an end to this," says Rose, looking like she's going to end up with a migraine. I look at her and then back at Macy and Damien.

"Sorry Rose but we're the outsiders," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Shouldn't I be sitting there?" asks Isabel, pointing to us all.

"Are you dating a Rollins?" asks Macy and Isabel shakes her head. "Sorry, no can do then. Unless you want to start dating Angie, you can't come into this elite group," she tells her and I feel glad. I feel like getting up and doing a victory dance because Macy said that.

"Even if she tried that wouldn't be possible, Angie's already got Neil," comments Nicky, snickering as Angie throws a cushion in his direction but it misses.

"Neil is not my boyfriend!" hisses Angie. She might not be able to see it but she really does like him. She just needs to give him a chance and maybe move on once and for all.

"Then why does he act like one?!" says Nicky in a whiny voice. "I got told off the other day for telling you that you looked kind of plump lately," he says as the rest of find this whole thing amusing. How could he tell Angie or any other woman that she's plump?

"Because he's a good friend, something you wouldn't know the meaning off," retorts Angie.

"Alright kids, that's enough!" says Rose in an authoritative voice. "I already have three kids of my own to deal with so I don't need anymore," she says with her hands on her hips.

"Honey, I hardly think Damien Junior is any trouble at all," says Damien with a laugh.

"I wasn't referring to him," says Rose, it becoming clear who she's talking about. To everyone except for Damien.

"Hey!" says Damien after a few minutes, finally realizing what Rose meant.

"Ok, jobs to do," starts Rose. "I am going to be managing all of you. Damien, you're going to pick up the cake. Iris and Macy, I want your guys help in getting all the food set up. Angie, find all of Dad's favorite music. And the rest are on decoration duty," she says, clapping for everyone to get going after she's done. "Hey, where are Seth and Anna?" she then asks, realizing he's missing.

"Seth is changing Evan and getting him ready, Anna wanted to watch," I tell her with a smile. I like Anna, she's sweet. But we've not spoken much since I first met her.

"Why, your arms broken?" asks Angie. I feel anger once I see Isabel snickering but ignore it as usual. Then I realize that I don't need to. I might want Angie to like me but that doesn't seem she can insult me.

"No but if Seth wants to do everything I can't stop him. After all, I did carry Evan for 8 months, the least he can do is get him ready," I say, a fake smile on my face. She is really testing my patience. And she's smart. She's doing it when Seth's not around.

"But he did take of Evan all by himself for a whole month," counters Angie and it's like she's purposely trying to make me mad. I feel Macy nudge me with her foot as if to say it's my turn to say something.

"But he didn't give birth in an elevator," I comment, Macy, Damien and Nicky snickering to themselves. Angie doesn't say a word further and I believe I just won my first round. I feel good. I should do this more often. In a weird way, Macy's doing what Ariana normally does. Giving me the courage to do what needs to be done.

"I'll go get Seth, you guys head to the kitchen for now," says Rose, leaving as me and Macy make our way to the kitchen.

"I swear, the kinds of things she gets away with," says Macy, fuming more than me right now. "No one says anything but dude, the way you argued back with her, awesome!" she exclaims. I'd hardly call it arguing. Just a friendly exchange of a few words.

"Well Angie needs to know I might be trying to make a good impression, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let my self-respect get thrown down the drain," I state, Macy nodding her head in approval. I know the new me, the one after Seth has wanted to stop picking fights with people. I starting finding it too petty when I thought I was going to die. But sometimes, that isn't the case. The new me needs a little bit of the old me. The little kick to keep things in order.

"Someone really needs to show Angie the kind of witch she is," Lacy complains as we enter the kitchen space.

"Are you volunteering?" I ask her.

"Oh, hell no," says Macy instantly which makes me laugh. She acts all badass and then runs the other way when it comes down to it. It's hilarious.

"Hey guys, Rose told me you were doing all the food?" asks Lucy and we both nod our heads as she comes into the kitchen. "Alright, the truck's going to be here any minute now so we'll need to unload and get everything in here before setting it up," she tells us.

"We're doing manual labor? That wasn't in the job description," she says but I drag her along with me outside anyway, despite her complaints. The truck comes just as we get outside and the driver hops on, pulling the shutter up. Me, Macy and Lucy get up to see the food.

"What? No!" says Lucy as she looks at everything.

"What's wrong?" I ask her in concern.

"This is the wrong order!" exclaims Lucy as he looks around frantically. "Our order was cupcakes, sandwiches, meatballs, burgers, spring rolls, roast potatoes, skewers, sausage rolls and lots of dips!" she says, panicking as she looks around. "Rose is going to go ballistic!" she then says frantically.

"Whoa, calm down Lucy," I say, placing my hands on her shoulders. "Let's talk to the man, he might know something," I suggest and she nods her head.

"Whoa, cuckoo!" sings Macy in a low voice and I give her a look which tells her off.

"Excuse me, this is the wrong order," says Lucy to the guy that has come to deliver the food. She then lists everything she knows was asked for as the guy checks his list.

"I delivered that a while ago," says the guy and looks at each one of us as he realizes his mistake. "They didn't say it wasn't theirs so I…I didn't think anything of it," he admits as we all let out sighs.

"What's going on?" asks a voice and we all look to see Rose standing there, giving us all curious looks. "Why aren't you guys unloading the food?" he then asks, walking over to us.

"Don't get mad," starts Lucy and then explains everything to Rose.

"What?!" shouts, well screeches Rose. "How could you mess this up?" she asks the delivery man. "All you have to do, is look at an order and load the food onto the truck and deliver it. How can you mess up something so simple?!" she says as both me and Macy cringe. I never knew Rose had this side to her. Then again, pregnant and hormonal imbalance.

"Rose calm down," I tell her, walking over to her side. "You're pregnant remember?" I remind her. I remember getting stressed out would only make me feel worse. This can't be good for her.

"Yeah otherwise I would have kicked his ass by now," says Rose in disdain. "What are you staring at now? Get the hell out of here!" she says and I've never seen anyone run so fast in their life. "What are we going to do?" says Rose, running a hand through her hair.

"We're going inside so you can have a sit down first, you don't look so good," I point out to her and keep my hands on her as I guide her inside. Once we're inside we end up in the kitchen, sitting around the table.

"We're screwed," says Macy, saying what the rest of us won't.

"Not till we know for sure that we can't do anything," I tell her, shaking my head. "We can always just go around ordering things from local shops," I then make the suggestions.

"No one will willingly do it on such short notice," says Rose, shaking her head. "Dad's going to be so sad. This is the first time in ages the whole family is together. Even Seth is here for once. It would have been perfect," she says and then places a hand on her head.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit pale," I say to Rose, placing a hand on hers.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little dizzy," admits Rose.

"What? Why didn't you say?" I ask her and then get up. I put both my hands on her shoulders and get her to stand up. "Macy, put some water in a jug and a bring a glass to Rose's room," I then say, holding her close as I help her to her room.

"What are you doing Iris?" asks Rose as I make her sit down on her bed.

"You're stressing out too much and its affecting your health," I state, lifting her legs and getting her to lie down. "You need to lie down, take a nap and relax. Otherwise it'll affect your baby," I say to her. She should take this seriously.

"Is she alright?" asks Seth, barging into the room with Macy right behind him.

"He wouldn't take 'she's alright' as an answer," comments Macy. "Where are you going? Who's that water for? Annoying really," she says, putting it on the bedside table.

"It's nothing to worry about Seth, Rose is just overworking herself," I tell him as he sits down next to her. "And it doesn't help when things go wrong. She just needs some rest," I explain to him.

"But…the party," says Rose, her hand on her forehead. "I need to get everything in order," she starts and is about to get up when Seth gently pushes her shoulders back.

"You dear sis, aren't going anywhere," Seth tells her. "We'll handle the party, won't we guys?" he says, getting up and looking at me, Macy and Lucy.

"You're kidding me right?" asks Macy at which Seth's smile falls. "I've never planned a party in my life, let alone do the work for it," she then says.

"You see? No one will do anything right unless I make sure it's all done," says Rose.

"Well, there is someone who can take over your job," says Seth and I look at him. "Iris," he says and my mouth forms an 'o' shape.

"Me?" I question him.

"Yeah, you've planned and managed tons of things before," says Seth, shrugging his shoulders. "She always does the birthdays ever since I met her. Heck, she even helped Dean plan a romantic evening with Ariana," he explains to her but I shake my head.

"He's exaggerating about me," I tell Rose.

"I am not," says Seth, shaking his head. Normally I'd be all for it but this is Nick's birthday party. Seth's Dad. If something goes wrong, then it won't end right and what kind of an impression will I make? "She's amazing at doing stuff like that," he goes on to say.

"Ok, done," says Rose. "So, you'll handle it all?" she asks me, looking in my direction. I glance at Seth who gives me an encouraging look before I look at Rose again. I can't afford to mess this up or anything. But I also know, Rose needs to rest. So for her sake, I'm going to have to do it.

"Ok," I say, nodding my head and smiling at her. I really hope everything goes fine. I'm not really happy about this though. I first have to sort out this whole catering mess. Then make sure everyone actually listens to me and for some reason I think that'll be hard. But as I see relief wash over in Rose's eyes I know I have to do this.

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated! :)**


	23. The Truth About Macy

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next one guys! I've had the time to get it done since it's a weekend. Enjoy! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you!**

 **Calwitch: Thanks for reviewing. I always love reading your thoughts on it :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 23:**

"You have to be fucking kidding me," Angie says after we've gathered everyone in the living room to tell them the change of plans. But since when is she ever happy with anything. I'm actually getting sick of her attitude. "How is she going to do it?" she asks, her feet on the coffee table.

"Iris has done parties before," Seth defends me but sometimes I think there is no point. Angie's never going to accept. The worst part is I don't even know why so that I can maybe change her mind. She refuses to even talk to me properly.

"I think maybe I should do it," volunteers Isabel, completely ignoring Seth. I see him roll his eyes and try not to laugh. At least he's getting annoyed by her too and not just me.

"Now that's an idea," says Angie, pointing at Isabel with a smirk on her face. It seems like they want to outnumber me in some way. But the fact that I don't give a crap should come into play here. Just because I've taken what she's said so far, doesn't mean that I continually have to. Or that I can't defend myself. I can do that just fine. I was hoping Angie would back off though, considering I'm her nephews Mother.

"I used to plan Seth's birthday parties," says Isabel sweetly and I try not to laugh when I notice Macy and Seth both roll their eyes this time. "Remember how well they used to turn out?" she then asks. I can't believe we're standing here wasting our time doing this when we could start getting things ready.

"Yeah well Iris did my birthday party last year and I loved it," says Seth, sending a wink in my direction. "It was the best one I've ever had," he adds on, keeping an arm around my waist. Ah yes, the surprise birthday party. He never even saw it coming. We had a lot of fun that night. It's one of the best memories from our relationship. Right before things started to go pear shaped.

"I think I'm going to be sick," comments Angie.

"I don't care who wants to do what," I start, raising my voice. Rose gave me a job to do and I sure as hell am not going to let her down. "All I know is Rose has given me this task and I can do it, it's just another birthday party. So I'm going to get everything sorted and if you wanna help then fine, if not then stay out the way so I can get things done faster," I say in an authoritative manner as everyone looks on at me. The only person I get like this with is Dean when he acts inappropriate but it doesn't mean I can't be like this when I need to. And right now, it's absolutely needed.

"I like this Iris," says Nicky, getting up on his feet. "What do you want me to do?" he then asks, ready to take orders from me.

"I want you to get the barbecue out and fix it up, we'll need that for the burgers and the skewers," I say, making sure to keep all the food exactly the way Rose wanted it to be.

"What about me Madame?" asks Damien, bowing down which makes me chuckle.

"You're Team outsiders and we're going shopping," I instruct him enthusiastically and he walks over and stands next to Macy. "If you girls want to get on with the decorations, that'll be nice," I then say to Angie and Isabel.

"What about us?" asks Seth and I turn my head to look at him.

"Baby sitting," I let him know, pointing over to Lacey and Lily. All of a sudden I hear crying and realize the baby monitor in Seth's back pocket is going off. "Duty calls," I then say and he gives me a kiss before saluting me and leaving which makes me laugh.

"Girls, who wants to play tag?" calls Anna, running off with them.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"We could always tie him up and stick needles in him?" suggests Dean and I roll my eyes for like the twentieth time. We don't need to result to torture to get the truth out of Roman.

"Somehow I think he can take it, JoJo was always biting him when she started to teethe remember," I remind Dean and he automatically rubs the back of left shoulder. She got him good there once. I've seen the video and believe me when I say, I have never heard such a girlish shriek.

"Well I don't see you making any suggestions," points out Dean and I knew this was coming. "Hey, let's ask Paige, she might know," he says all of a sudden and I look at him from where I am, unpacking my bag.

"You've been giving a lot of good ideas lately, are you taking something?" I ask, tilting my head to the side, Dean giving me a look of horror. What else does he expect me to conclude though?

"I have a brain Ariana, I'm not just a pretty face," states Dean, making me laugh. I get on the bed, using my knees to get to where he's standing on the opposite side with his own bag. I put his bag to the side and put my arms around his torso.

"Definitely got a pretty face though," I comment, kissing him on the lips. Life with Dean is anything but boring. His idea is good but we just need to make sure we can get what we need without there being brutal consequences. Last time, we came up short. This time we might not but Roman just may not appreciate it.

"Not again," we both hear and look to see Roman's walked into our bedroom. I laugh and push Dean away, going back over to my side and getting on with unpacking.

"Oh, come on!" complains Dean. It's like I'm constantly between them two battling. I give Dean what he wants and Roman complains. I give Roman what he wants and Dean complains. I can't believe my life right now revolves around what Dean and Roman want.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"I could just strangle that bitch!" exclaims Macy and I give her a look which tells her to be quiet. We're shopping right now and Macy, as usual, is sounding frustrated. The closer we become, the more she starts acting like this.

"Keep it down, people will hear. What if Damien hears?" I then ask her but she just rolls her eyes. Nope, she doesn't care one bit. "You know, with the way you're acting you might as well be Seth's girlfriend," I then tell her.

"What? Ew," says Macy, making a disgusted expression. "No offence, but that would just be weird. Plus, I'm completely in love with my boyfriend," she then tells me. I push around the cart and soon we're joined by Damien again.

"Ok," I start, looking at the list of things I wrote down. "We have the stuff to make the cupcakes, we got everything to make sandwiches, the meat for the meatballs, potatoes, stuff for the skewers and…sausage rolls. Did you put the order in?" I then turn to look at Damien.

"Yeah, the guy I spoke to said Alberto said he'll do it as a favour," says Damien, which is really nice. "I just hope he doesn't ask for one of my daughters hands in marriage for his son," he comments, making a face which makes me and Macy laugh. "And I know the perfect place to get all the dips you need," he then adds on.

"Great, you need to pick up the cake too," I then say to him. "How about me and Macy finish this trip off whilst you go get the dips and the birthday cake. Did Rose tell you where to pick it up from?" I then ask him and he nods his head. "Perfect," I say after which he leaves. I go with Macy to the till and pay for everything. We then unload all of it into Seth's car which I am borrowing.

"At least you have the chance to earn her respect and if she still shoves it in your face then I'm sorry but you need to kick her ass like you do to others on TV," Macy continues as we both get into the car, talking about Angie. I guess I could do. But breaking bones won't help. Plus, I have a feeling Angie can hold her own.

"Why have you never kicked her ass? I'm not the only one she hates," I point out to her, ready to go home.

"Because everyone wanted to kick my ass," comments Macy which makes me feel really sorry for her. I thought I had it bad, but mostly everyone hadn't liked her before and at least I have members of the family that I know like me for sure. "But thanks to you, that's history. Well a bit of it anyway," she then says, referring to how everyone was starting to accept her. All she had to do was be herself. That would make anyone like her.

"I don't mean to pry but why did you always act so cold and superior?" I question her, feeling comfortable enough to ask it now. We'd gotten to know each other better and I feel relaxed around her.

"No, its fine. Apart from Nicky you're the only other person I actually feel ok sharing this with," says Macy with a nod of her head as I drive down the road. "Uh, before I met Nicky I was with someone else. The, uh, the relationship wasn't great," she admits as I sit there, driving and listening to her story. "It was at first but things changed after I met his family. The guy, he changed. You know I married him?" she says, tilting her head to the side and I glance at her in shock.

"You were married?" I ask her and she nods her head. "Wow…for how long?" I then question. She certainly kept that quiet. No one even mentioned it, not even Seth. I have a feeling no one apart from Nicky knows, now that I think about it.

"Nine months," answers Macy, not sounding particularly happy about it. "You know how when someone asks you to marry them, you shouldn't be able to say no because you love them. I…I couldn't say no because I was afraid of what his reaction might be if I did," she explains as fear starts to settle in with me. She isn't beginning to describe what I think she is, is she?

"Did…did he ever hit you?" I ask her uneasily, gripping onto the wheel tighter. I can't ever imagine anyone having any sort of control over Macy, it must have been horrible.

"Once," answers Macy, her head hanging low. She then looks up and down the road as do I. "We got into an argument about his family and for once I was voicing how I felt. Apparently, he didn't like that," she says.

"I'm so sorry," I tell her but she shakes her head.

"I'm not," says Macy. "It showed me just how deep I'd gotten and that's what gave me the strength to leave it all behind," she says, leaning back in her seat. I wonder what he did that had her scared of him. Especially since he only hit her the once.

"So, you said everything was good at the beginning?" I then change the subject. I can't imagine it must be easy for her to talk about getting hit by her husband.

"Yeah, it was perfect," says Macy with a small smile on her face. "We met, dated, fell in love. The whole Shebang," she says, talking as if it really was a dream. "Moved in together and everything. But then I met his family and each time we did, they'd put me down when he wasn't around. They'd say such awful things like 'You're not good enough for him' or 'a slut like you shouldn't have ever got him'," she explains and I shake my head. That's always every girls fear, being put down like that.

"That must have been awful," I sympathize with her.

"It was," says Macy, nodding her head. "What was worse was that they'd do it when he wasn't around. And I tried telling him a couple of times but he wouldn't believe me. Yet, I stayed with him. That should have been my first clue to run it out of there," she says and then takes a deep breath. "But I truly loved him and I didn't know how I could live without him," she expresses. I know exactly how she feels, I felt the same without Seth. That love makes it hard to see the difference between what's right and wrong.

"Then what happened?" I ask her.

"Then with each visit, he was changing," answers Macy. "His mother once made a comment about me not wearing a dress that was long enough. So he got me to change it. I thought that was it, but then he got angry when I'd wear other dresses that any one of them considered 'Too short'. He got mad and said that since I keep wearing them and buying them knowing they're too short then he'll punish me," she says, her voice almost a whisper now. "He got all my dresses and burned them in the back yard".

"What? That's crazy!" I give my opinion on the whole thing. What kind of a guy does that?

"That should have been clue number 2," says Macy, shaking her head once again. "After that, they pointed out my hair was a problem and I want to say brainwashed him into thinking I needed to cut it. And not wear it down. It always had to be combed back," she says and I notice her hand start to shake. I place my free hand on hers and give her a small smile, and then look back ahead on the road.

"It's ok, you don't have to go on," I tell her but she shakes her head.

"I want to," Macy tells me. "They even pointed out my heels and he made me change them all to flats. Our next visit to them, I didn't want to go. When I told him, that was the first time he threw something across the room. He accused me of hating his family. And that was the first time I was truly scared of him. I bowed down to his demands because I was fearful of the consequences," she explains. "So, I went back there. By now they were putting me down in front of him and I think he enjoyed it. He enjoyed them telling me that I wasn't good enough. It fed his ego of how great he was. And I just took it. They all told me how much better they were than me, constantly putting me down and making themselves seem like gods or something," she says and then lets out a scoff.

"And you just took it?" I ask her and as I glance sideways I see her nod her head.

"I didn't think I had a choice," says Macy. "I didn't want to tell my parents because I didn't want to see them disappointed in me. He always behaved the best around them as well so I knew no one would believe me," she says, rolling down the window and leaning her arm on the side. "He proposed and I said yes. Worst decision ever," she adds on.

"Things got worse after you got married?" I ask her and she once again nods her head. If he was controlling like that before marriage, I can only assume afterwards it got worse.

"If that was even possible," says Macy. "Whenever he'd get angry, he'd lift something. I'd be so petrified in fear that I would immediately give in to what he demanded. A lot of the time it was going to visit his family. When I'd go there, they'd demean me in every way possible. Have me clean their toilets, wash all their laundry, everything. And my husband wouldn't say a word. He just gave me a look that said I'd better do it or else," she goes on to say as my heart breaks for her.

"Then what?" I ask her.

"I got pregnant," says Macy and my eyebrows rise in surprise of their own accord. She doesn't have a kid as far as I know.

"You have a kid?" I ask her and Macy shakes her head.

"I didn't make it through the entire nine months," Macy says instead as my heart drops at the realization of what happened. She had a miscarriage. "We were visiting his family once again and…everyone was out. They went to a football game, leaving me behind to do all the work. But his brother came back, I didn't think nothing of it. Until he grabbed my ass," she says in disdain. "He kissed me but I somehow managed to push him off. He then tried to force himself on me but I slapped him and ran away. We got into a tussle and I landed on the floor, on my stomach," she says as I notice her wipe a tear at the corner of her eye.

"You miscarried," I state and she silently nods her head.

"When he asked what happened, I told him and he didn't believe me. None of them did obviously," says Macy, looking out the window. "From then on, I got blamed for losing the baby. He accused me of doing it on purpose. Can you believe that? What kind of a mother would do that?" she questions. "One day we had a great big argument. Like I said, he wanted to see his family again but I said no. I told him that I wasn't going over there to get raped by his brother," she says.

"Wow, that was…bold," I tell her, considering this guy sounds like a right control freak. The consequences of saying something like that to somebody like him would have been harsh.

"I knew it was going to happen, each time he'd look more determined," says Macy. "I refused to let that happen to me. He knocked the chair to the side and said I had to. Then I asked him why. I asked him if he was going to hit me. I then told him to do it because I would never go back to see his 'mother-fucking, screwed up family' ever again," she says and I smile at the choice of words she used. "That did it because then next thing I know was I was lying on the floor, a hand on the side of my face and bleeding from the side of my lips".

"What did you do?" I ask her, carefully turning a corner.

"I got up and ran, I ran outside and went to our neighbours' house," says Macy with a relief sounding sigh. "One look and they knew what happened. How could they not? They could always hear us fighting but I'd lie and say my husband liked having the TV on a high volume. They called the police and I gave a statement. I told them everything that was done to me and my neighbours gave statements as well. Talking about how they'd seen some arguments we'd had outside on the porch or the sounds they'd heard of furniture being thrown dead in the night. That was enough and he got charged. He only got two years in prison and I knew his family would come down soon".

"What did you do?" I then ask her.

"I moved," says Macy. "I came here. Severed all contacts with anyone. I told my parents that if anyone ever came looking then to say that I'd disappeared and never contacted them. I talk to them through letters each week, it's not the same as their voice but it's something," she explains to me.

"That's nice," I tell her, trying to take something positive. Even though there are a lot of negatives. This guy literally made her feel like crap for such a long time and now because of him, she can't even see her parents.

"Yeah," says Macy with a nod of her head. "I just miss seeing them," she then tells me.

"I can imagine," I tell her and she gives me a questioning look. "My Dad died when I was still just a baby and even though I've never met him, I miss him the most," I explain to her simply. "And you grew up with your Dad, it must feel a whole lot worse".

"It hurts, a lot," says Macy. "But I know one day everything will be fine again. I mean, I never thought I'd be in love again but then I found Nicky," she says, giving me a small smile as I give her one back. "I didn't think I'd ever find anyone that would give me so much respect and love and adoration. I just hope it lasts," she tells me. I place my hand on hers again.

"It will," I tell her with a wink. "If there's anything I know about these Rollins brother it's that they can act like idiots but they do know how to respect a woman," I say. "So, is that the reason you acted like you did around them. So they couldn't get control over you?" She acted like she was superior so they didn't get a chance to make her feel inferior. Which makes a lot of sense. But what Macy didn't take into account is that not everyone is the same. Still, one bad experience is enough to put you off for life.

"Iris, it's taken me a long time to get over everything that happened," starts Macy. "I'm still not completely over it. So when I met Nicky's family, I purposely came off in a way that told them I wouldn't take shit off of anyone and that no one can consider themselves better than me. It's just my bad luck I ended up acting like my husband's family," she explains.

"Hey, you're nothing like them," I say to her in a soft voice.

"Not as bad as them but I did what they did," says Macy. "But then before we went on a double date with you and Seth, Nicky made me see that. He told me he'd never said anything because he didn't want me to think he was attacking me or anything. We had a long hard talk and then when we saw you, you were just so wonderful. And I couldn't help but let the old me come out".

"I'm glad she did because she is a wonderful person," I say, making her chuckle.

"I didn't realize how much I missed having friends in my life," says Macy. "Nicky was the only person that just kept on trying to be a part of my life and eventually I gave in. The second people were you and Seth and since then, it's been hard to turn back into a stone cold bitch again," she says and we both laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I joke just as we make it home. We both get out of the car and start to carry stuff inside, but as soon as we go inside I see Nicky and Neil come over. "Hey, finally found the time to actually come here?" I ask Neil, having thought he'd be one of the first to show up to help.

"Very funny Iris but I was with my Mom and she wouldn't let me go," explains Neil. "Then I came here and saw Nicky was useless at putting the barbecue together so I had to use my awesome skills," he says, flexing his arms.

"Oh, whatever!" says Nicky with an exasperated sigh. I then look at Macy who's been frozen in her spot since the guys came over. "Is she alright?" he then asks, pointing to Macy as he looks at me. Before I can answer, Macy puts the bags she has onto the floor and immediately walks over to Nicky, throwing her arms around him.

"Aw, someone does love you after all!" exclaims Neil but Nicky just rolls his eyes, keeping a hold of his girlfriend and swaying them both back and forth.

"What did you do to my girlfriend Iris?" asks Nicky with a suspicious look.

"Nothing," I say, my hands up slightly but I have bags in my hand so I can't put them up all the way. "I swear," I add on when he gives me a look as if he doesn't believe me. "Come on Neil, grab those bags because I need them in the kitchen," I say and he does as I ask. I walk behind him and before I can get out of earshot I hear Macy speak.

"I love you," says Macy and I look back to see she's still holding onto Nicky but she pulled her head back so right now they're staring into each other's eyes.

"I love you too babe," says Nicky and plants a kiss on Macy's lips. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I just realized today how amazing you've been," says Macy and I turn around. I walk towards the kitchen with a smile on my face. I'm happy Macy found something incredible with Nicky after everything she went through. And they're both happy. It makes me understand exactly why Nicky continued to stand against his family and vouch for Macy. Because he knows exactly who she is. No one else did. They all made assumptions based on her act but the truth is, Macy is a great girl. She knows what she wants and deserved and it's good to see her confidence has skyrocketed compared to how she was when she was with her husband.

"Where shall I put these?" asks Neil, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Just on the counter is fine," I tell him, placing the bags I had next to them. "Can you grab the rest of the stuff from the car whilst I get started please?" I ask him and he nods his head. I give him a smile and thank him before putting on an apron and taking out everything from the bags. I have exactly, 2 and a half hours before this surprise party is supposed to happen and all this food needs to be ready. It needs to be ready in time and just perfect so Rose cannot complain about anything. She's put in a lot of time to plan this and I'm going to make sure Nick gets everything he deserves.

* * *

 **PAIGE POV**

"Hey guys, Roman not here yet?" I ask, looking around for my boyfriend. Ariana shakes her head, her and Dean both smiling. They invited me to dinner, sort of like a couple thing. I only agreed to do it if Dean behaves himself. He won't stop bloody calling me Morticia!

"He's just giving JoJo a call," answers Ariana and I nod my head. JoJo, I wonder when I'll get to see her. I like kids but I don't know if I'll get along with her. Not when there's so much pressure around how much I need to be able to get on with her.

"So, what's new with you?" asks Dean and I narrow my eyes at him. He's being friendly. Why is he being friendly? What does he want from me? I see Ariana roll her eyes and I know something must be up.

"Still going around murdering rats. You?" I ask and he smiles sheepishly, that being something he's asked me in the past. But I've started to play along with it. It doesn't bother me.

"He's doing great," Ariana speaks for Dean which is probably for the best before he says something horrendous. "How's your leg? It looked like it got caught bad the other night," she says and I try not to burst out laughing.

"I think you should be asking Summer how her head is," I comment, both of us laughing. Finally getting sick of Summer accidentally hitting us all on purpose, I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine. Especially since during our match she hit my leg harder than she should have. Unfortunately for her, I've actually been in worse real-life fights. So, I decided to kick her harder in the face. You can call it childishness or whatever, but that bitch had it coming. She was messing with the wrong woman.

"And that is why I will never get on your bad side," comments Dean. Which is true. Hmm, I wonder where Roman's got to. He's been so worried about this whole Kane situation. The only reason he told me was because I promised I wouldn't do anything. I'd just listen. Although that bastard should be buried alive. Without evidence though, we can't prove anything. And we definitely don't want that evidence. I don't think Kane is serious about doing what he said. He's just trying to rattle the guys. Get reactions. Like Roman hitting him so he seems like the bad guy. I notice Dean sending looks to Ariana. This pause is really long. I look through my menu, wondering why this whole thing feels weird. "So, has Roman said anything weird to you lately?" Dean asks all of a sudden.

"Like what?" I ask with an amused look on my face. "What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Nothing at all," says Dean, leaning back in his chair and acting as if everything's ok. It clearly isn't. "So, he's all fine and everything?" he then questions me.

"How should I know? You're the one that travels with him," I point out and Dean lets out a laugh, telling me that I'm right.

"Oh for goodness sake," says Ariana, both of us looking at her. "Roman's hiding something from us and we want to know what it is," she says, my eyebrows rising in surprise. What the…?

"And we know you know what it is," states Dean, leaning forwards and…trying to intimidate me? Roman's hiding something? I wondered how long it would take till they got suspicious and started to figure things out. I just can't believe they're asking me. I told Roman to tell them everything but that Samoan wasn't having any of it. But, what do I tell them now?

* * *

 **Thanks for reviewing guys! I love you all and keep them coming! :)**


	24. Surprise!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Would have updated this one sooner but I have just been so busy!**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks love! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet. It is all coming and I hope you enjoy the show! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 24:**

 **PAIGE POV**

"Guys, if Roman's hiding something then it means he doesn't want you to know," I say, that being the appropriate thing to say right now. I knew something felt odd. They want information out of me. I'm actually feeling very loving towards Roman because he's trusted a secret with me. Something none of his friends know about. It's kinda cool.

"But it doesn't mean he's right in doing that," comments Ariana. Damn, that girl is always on the ball. To be fair, I agree with her. Hell, I've been fighting her and Dean's corner since Roman told me everything. They just don't know I am. But I also understand Roman. He told me about it and I had to restrain myself from going after Kane. The only reason I managed to do that was because Roman looked so sad and distressed.

"If you want to know anything then you have to ask him," I state, continuing to look through my menu, hoping they'll take it as a sign to end the conversation there. But Christmas hasn't come early apparently.

"You know as his best friend, I have a right to know everything," states Dean and I send him a challenging look. "You might be his girlfriend, but it's bros before hoes," he comments, my mouth dropping in shock.

"Dean!" Ariana reprimands him and he laughs before realising what he just said. My surprised face turns of that into a murderous one and he takes a long sip of his beer, avoiding eye contact with me. "He didn't mean that Paige. The guy has no filter sometimes," she apologises.

"More like he doesn't have one at all," I comment, a frown etched on my face now. Dean Ambrose is the most annoying jerk I have ever met. I'd bury him but then Roman might get sad.

"I resent that!" exclaims Dean, a glare from Ariana making him retreat back in his chair.

"Clearly something is bothering Roman. We need to know so that we can help him," she says and I don't know whether I should feel a little offended by that.

"Because I can't?" I question her and I can tell that's not what she meant. She didn't need to say it like that though. "Don't worry, I'm handling it," I tell them both, putting my menu to one side and leaning my arms on the table.

"How? What is even going on?" questions Ariana, full of concern right now which, I have to admit, makes me feel a little guilty. Why should I have to feel like this? It should be my stupid boyfriend for hiding things in the first place. "Roman's not himself. No offence Paige, but we both have known Roman for a long time," she goes on to say.

"Me a lot longer," pitches in Dean before returning to sitting back in his chair.

"If something's bothering him then we deserve to know. He might think it's best that we don't but let me assure you that he's wrong. All of us know just how much secrets can ruin things so will you please just tell us what is going on?" she requests of me. As much as I want to tell her and have wanted to tell her though, I can't. I know there's a chance it might damage my friendship with these guys but I really like Roman. And I'm not going to do anything to betray his trust.

"Ariana, you guys have a right to know. Especially considering what it is," I tell her honestly, a small smile appearing on her face. "But I promised Roman I'd keep his secret. I can't tell you guys and if you push me anymore then I'll know you don't respect me as a friend or as Roman's girlfriend," I explain, noticing the defeated look on her and Dean's face.

"That went well (!)" I hear Dean mutter and all of a sudden, it's like the pieces fit together.

"That's why you invited me on this lame excuse of a double date?" I question, both Dean and Ariana glancing at each other. "Wow," I say, sitting back in disbelief. I cannot believe these two. I never thought they'd screw me over like this.

"We're just trying to look out for our friend," says Dean, as if I'm not trying to do that either.

"By doing this?" I ask, my hands up. "Did you even think about what would happen if Roman found out you tried to pull something like this?" I can see it in their eyes that they hoped it wouldn't come to that. So I'm supposed to take all this lying down or something? What a load of bullshit. "You know what? Roman is your friend but he's someone more for me. How could you even for a second try and jeopardise that?" I question them both. I know they care for Roman but I do too. But not once did they even think about me and the position I would be in.

"Hey guys, you're all early," comments Roman, sitting down next to me as he places a peck on my cheek. So they gave him a fake time? I see the sheepish look on Dean's face and just know it was him. For fuck sake! Why did I have to get in the middle of all this?

* * *

 **ANNA POV**

"Don't worry, he's absolutely fine," I tell Iris who'd popped her head through the door. I'm on the bed playing with Evan because I just absolutely adore the little guy. And because it's hilarious to watch Seth try to manage the girls. We haven't really had any time alone together. To talk or anything. It's kind of weird since I'm supposed to be Seth's best friend. Things have just been crazy lately.

"He likes you," comments Iris with a smile, staying stood at the door, watching Evan keep a good hold on my fingers.

"Does that mean I can get promoted to Godmother now?" I ask Iris, her face slightly falling. "Don't worry, I'm just kidding. Although, Seth did say I could be to the next one? Apparently that's what you promised Roman," I say, Iris's face going red. Seth was right, she is so easy to embarrass.

"He told you?" asks Iris. Seth tells me everything. Well, as much as a best friend should know anyway.

"Don't worry, I think more kids is a great idea," I tease her, letting out a laugh when she goes even more red. "My gosh, he was right. You go red a lot," I go on to say.

"I cannot help it, although I wish I could," she comments, running a hand through her hair. "Um, I'm going to go and start on things. Let me know if he's any trouble," she says and I nod my head.

"Will do," I say with a smile. "Oh and, I think you guys look great together. I've never seen Seth so happy so as long as he is, me and you will get along great," I let her know.

"Thanks and more than great actually," she says before leaving the room. I look down at Evan and continue playing with him. Iris is a sweet girl. I'm just waiting for the eruption that will follow if Angie says anything more. I would help her. If Angie would ever say anything when I'm there. Kudos to Iris for taking it. But I don't see it lasting much longer.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I look at all the ingredients for the food as I think about how I'm exactly going to get it all done in the amount of time that I have. It is a challenge but who doesn't like one of those?

"What are we thinking?" asks Neil, leaning on the other side of the counter and placing his chin in his hands like me, staring right into my face. Looking all serious as I hold in my laughter.

"We are thinking about how to get all of this done," I tell him, staying where I am. "Any bright ideas?" I then ask him.

"Work quickly," advises Neil and I burst out into laughter as does he.

"What's going on?" we both look to see Angie walking down, not looking happy as usual.

"Now now, I don't give away my secrets that easily," says Neil, moving to stand as do I. He throws a wink my way which makes me giggle as I put all the food that needs to be together, together.

"Oh really?" asks Angie and I look to see her narrowing her eyes at Neil with her hands on her hips.

"Really," says Neil, crossing his arms over his chest as if to challenge her.

"There you are!" says Seth, walking down with Evan in his arms. As soon as Evan catches sight of me he moves his arms about and I take him off Seth.

"Hey baby, you been good for Daddy?" I coo, bouncing him up and down gently.

"Better than my nieces," comments Seth and I give him a questioning look. "They've tried to get me to do their hair all day but they wanted me to put the ribbons into it and when I couldn't do it I got called 'useless'," he says as I hold in my laughter and by the looks of it so do Neil and Angie.

"Where are they right now?" I ask him curiously.

"On a time out because after getting called useless I got told I'm stupid," says Seth and I nod my head. He did the right thing; he needs to put firm boundaries down with the girls. "Where's their idiotic father so that I can have a word?" he then asks me.

"He's gone to get the cake," I reply, placing a kiss on Evan's cheek. "Now, go back to babysitting and if the girls give you any more trouble then tell them they won't get any cake. That should get them to behave," I advise him, handing Evan back to him.

"Great idea, thanks Cutie Pie," says Seth, placing a peck on my lips before leaving.

"Now that you've finished sucking the sucking the tongue off your boy toy, let's get back to business shall we?" says Neil, looking between me and Angie as we both wear disgusted looks on our faces. "What?" he then asks innocently as I get on with my work and Angie slaps the back of his head before leaving from there.

"Aren't you coming?!" asks Angie, turning around to look at Neil.

"Nope," says Neil and moves to stand behind me, placing both his hands on my shoulders. "I am going to stay with Iris because I'm part of Team Outsiders," he says childishly and my guess is that Nicky must have told him about it.

"You're not dating a Rollins," I point out to him.

"Not yet," says Neil in a low voice so only I can hear which makes me giggle.

"What did you say?" asks Angie but Neil shakes his head. "Fine," Angie then says, not looking too happy and stomping out of there.

"Are you really going to use me to make her jealous?" I question him, tilting my head to the side so that I can get a better look at him.

"Maybe," says Neil, looking like a child who's gotten caught red handed. The best way to get someone you like to notice you, make them jealous. And that usually works with the person they dislike.

"I'm dating her brother," I then point out to Neil.

"I know that," says Neil and grabs an apple. He hops onto the counter and takes a bite as I continue to move the food around. "But for some reason you're the only one that seems to push her buttons so I'm sticking with you," he says, throwing a wink in my direction.

"And what if her brother finds out?" I then question him, stopping what I'm doing and placing both hands on my hips.

"Then I'll run in the other direction, duh!" says Neil as if It's really obvious. I shake my head and then get Neil to call Macy and Damien in here.

"Alright guys!" I say, standing at the head of the table as they're sat on either side. "We have just over 2 hours to get all this food prepped!" I then start. "Obviously we'll start the barbecue once the party starts but we still need to get everything ready. So, what are everyone's strong points given the food we have to get made?" I then question my brigade.

"Skewers!" says Neil almost instantly. "What? I've been camping with Angie many times and definitely know how to stab anything right," he says as I try not to laugh.

"Ok, you're on skewer duty," I then tell him. "When you're done with that you can go and pick up the sausage rolls from town. Damien will give you the address," I then tell him. "Speaking of, where did you put the cake?" I then ask him.

"In Rose's room, I know no one will go in there because everyone wants her to rest," says Damien and I nod my head in approval. That was actually quite smart of him.

"Great," I then say. "Since Neil is doing that you can do the sandwiches. I'll show you we're making them and then you can do it yourself," I say, knowing no one could ever mess up sandwiches. "Spring rolls are ready and they'll just need to be fried which can be done later on. Macy," I then say and look at Macy. "Since everything is barbecued me and you are going to get a head start on the meat. We're going to make the meatballs, the burgers and then cut the potatoes along with anything else that needs chopping, especially for the skewers. We have the dips and the only other thing is the cupcakes. Anyone know how to bake?" I question, looking around the table. They all shake their heads. "Seriously?" I ask them all.

"We're guys," says Neil, patting Damien's shoulder who just laughs.

"So?" I ask, that not being a viable excuse. Some of the best chefs are guys. "Ok, Macy?" I ask and even she shakes her head.

"Cooking I can help with, baking? Never done in my life," she tells me.

"Alright, I guess I'll do that. But we're just going to have to work twice as hard," I then tell her and she nods her head. We then disband and go to on what we need to do. I cut some carrier bags and lay them on the counter. The meat doesn't get stuck to the counter that way and it's easier to slip the carrier bags off underneath the meat without messing it up. I enlist Lucy's help for what I'm doing with Macy and she gives me a sheet that I can put over the dining table. Neil and Damien sit at each end, getting on with the job they were told to do. This way I can keep an eye on them.

"Is he supposed to be cutting the peppers like that?" asks Macy and I look up to see Neil killing the hell out of a green pepper.

"Lucy, please assist Neil before he messes it up," I tell her and she goes over immediately. I continue making the meatballs with Macy. Once we've done that we start on the burgers which are harder to do because you have to get the right circular shape. I stop what I'm doing for a second and grab the bowl of potatoes as well as a peeler. I walk over to Lucy and Neil and say, "Damien, why don't you peel all these whilst Lucy gets all the chopping done?"

"Ok," says Neil and starts on that instead. Nobody can go wrong in peeling anything, at least I hope not. I wink at Lucy and she giggles before I go back and help Macy with the burgers. Once we've done quite a few I leave her to do the rest and start getting all the equipment out to bake the cupcakes. I put all the ingredients to one side and then start making them. Once I've got the batter ready I put it into individual cases. Luckily for me, Lucy got out all the cupcake trays and there are quite a lot.

"Oh no," I say as I put them into the oven, realizing there's not enough room.

"What happened?" asks Macy, turning around and looking at me.

"There's not enough room for them all and they'll take a maximum of 15 minutes to bake. Then there's the cooling time and the decoration, we only have half an hour!" I exclaim, starting to panic as I realize the time.

"Shit, what do we do? Guys?!" asks Macy, turning to look at everyone.

"This is what neighbours are for!" exclaims Neil and gets up leaving the place. Neighbours?

"What was he talking about?" I ask everyone who look just as confused as me.

"Neil, where are you taking me?" I hear Isabel's voice and then she appears with Neil at her side.

"Ta da!" exclaims Neil, gesturing to Isabel as she looks confused just like we do. "She lives right next door guys, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to accommodate!" he says with a big smile. I glance at Macy who looks at me too, both of us unsure of the idea.

"For what?" asks Isabel.

"We need an extra oven for Iris's delicious cupcakes," says Damien after which Isabel looks at me.

"Sure," says Isabel with a great big smile. "Just come over and I'll show you the kitchen," she says and I nod my head. If she's pretending to or not, she's still being nice so I have to act nice as well. Besides, today is about Nick and not her, me, or anyone else. If she decides to overstep boundaries, then…well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"Thanks," I say and pick up a tray. I then tell Macy to pick one up and Isabel offers to pick up the last one.

"Come on, follow me," says Isabel with a smile on her face. Macy keeps glancing back at me and making funny faces as we follow Isabel so I have to hold in my laughter. Isabel leads us into her house and takes us to the kitchen. Her house isn't quite so bad, well Rita's. It isn't exactly Isabel's is it? "There's the oven," she says, putting down her tray in the middle of the kitchen table.

"Great," I say and walk over to it. I set it to the right temperature and then switch it on, putting the trays inside there.

"Don't worry Iris, you're doing great. All the food looks delicious and I bet it'll taste like that too," Macy reassures me and I guess she's noticed the panic on my face.

"Macy, why don't you and I head back to the house. I have to get back to Angie and the decorations and music and I'm sure Iris would like you to go and make sure the guys don't mess anything up," suggests Isabel, being absolutely right. But, I still don't trust her.

"You go I'll follow," says Macy with the fakest smile I have ever seen in my life. Once Isabel leaves Macy turns to me and says, "Why the heck does she want you here alone?"

"I dunno, maybe because I need to be here?" I suggest at which Macy scoffs. "Macy, maybe there isn't an ulterior motive with her today," I then say. Even though I really don't believe it.

"I highly doubt that," says Macy. If she's not convinced and I'm not either then something is definitely fishy.

"Look," I start, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter what her motives are because I need you to be over there keeping an eye on things whilst I keep an eye on things here. The timer in the kitchen will go off and that's when you need to get my cupcakes out, alright?" I say and she reluctantly nods her head before leaving. After she leaves I stand around, not exactly knowing what to do with myself. I then notice my phone ringing and take it out of the pocket in the apron. "Hello?" I say, expecting to hear Seth's voice since he's the one ringing.

" _Oh, hey Iris,"_ I hear Isabel's voice instead which makes me feel unnerved. Why the hell has she answered Seth's phone?

"Um, hi?" I say back. "What are you doing with Seth's phone?" I then question her, needing to know.

" _Oh, I needed to call you,"_ says Isabel as if it's nothing. Why does she need Seth's phone to call me? Why can't she use her own? Or the house phone? _"I'm really busy here with Angie and I was just wondering if you could go up to my room and check to see if I've left my curler on. I don't remember and we can't have my bedroom going down in flames right?"_ she then says with a laugh.

"Right," I say with less enthusiasm than her. Like as if she can't walk ten feet to come up to her bedroom.

" _My bedroom's on the second door on the left,"_ Isabel instructs and the tone she's using, I don't like one bit. She's talking to me as if I'm supposed to listen to what she says. _"Thanks,"_ she then says.

" _What are you doing with my phone-"_ the call is then disconnected and I swear that last part was Seth's voice. If he's questioning her that must mean she took it without asking him. I don't know what is going on with her but she seriously needs to get a life. Reluctantly, I make my way up the stairs, not knowing what I'll find up there.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

Iris walks to the room and unbeknownst to her, Isabel was watching secretly from her phone. Ever since the last time Seth visited, Isabel got little cameras put into her room. Without sound, what happened between her and Seth last time would look like something and she didn't want to miss the opportunity of gaining something like that and ending all of this quicker.

"Come on, it's right there," says Isabel to herself as she watches Iris look around. She'd kept the picture that Seth left in her room on her dresser, right next to her curler. That way, Iris would see it and go absolutely ballistic.

"Hmm," says Iris, looking around Isabel's room. From the room she couldn't tell who the real Isabel was. It looks to her like a nice and tidy room. No problems, no nothing. She notices the curler on Isabel's dresser and looks behind the dresser to see if the switch was on. It wasn't and Iris was just about to leave.

"Damn it," says Isabel as she sees Iris about to leave. "Come on, snoop around like normal people," she says, not understanding why Iris wasn't. No matter who says what, everyone is always a little more than just curious when it comes to other people's houses. She smirks when she sees Iris turn back around and come further into the room.

"Hmm," says Iris and walks over to the window. "If she gets robbed then she'll blame me for it for sure," she says to herself as she closes the window, stopping the breeze from flowing in. Once Iris has done that she turns around and notices something on the floor, a picture. She walks over to it and picks it up, not seeing the actual picture which was on the other side.

"Yes!" says Isabel, getting excited as Iris continues to look at the picture. "Turn it around," she says and smile when she sees Iris is about to do just that.

"Looks like a picture," says Iris to herself and is about to turn it around when she glances at her watch. "Crap, the cupcakes!" she exclaims. Putting the picture on the dresser she gets out of the room and makes her way downstairs, relieved to see that everything is fine.

"Damn it!" says Isabel, wondering how to get Iris to see that picture. She can't give it to Iris or anything because Seth would come after her. But if Iris found it in Isabel's room then not even Seth could blame Isabel. She could be there for him as his relationship broke down. But she's lost that golden opportunity now.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Alright, let them cool off and I'll come over in a couple of minutes," I say to Macy on the phone. "Oh and cook the spring rolls now, they just need to be fried. Then it's just the decorating on these cupcakes and we're good to go!" I say before hanging up. Finally, everything is going to plan. I get the cupcakes out of the oven, keeping on the oven mitts. I then walk back over to the house and get inside, making my way to the kitchen. Once I'm inside, 2 little figures come running at me. "Hot tray! Hot tray!" I exclaim and then see Seth run and stop immediately in front of me.

"Hey honey!" says Seth and moves forward, kissing my lips. "Bye honey!" he says and runs after the little girls. I turn to see the baby monitor in the back pocket of his means which must mean Evan's asleep once again or playing with Anna. I laugh and get back to the kitchen. I'm actually impressed because everything's gotten done.

"Great job guys, everything is going to be great," I tell them all. Lucy and Macy then help me decorate the cupcakes once they're all cooled as well as keep an eye on the spring rolls. Just as I finish the last cupcake I see Rose come into the kitchen. "You're supposed to be resting," I say.

"I know but I wanted to see how everything was going," says Rose, stopping when she sees all the food around us. "You…you made everything?" she asks, looking at me in disbelief.

"Believe me, it wasn't easy," I tell her, shaking my head. "But Team Outsiders got the job done!" I exclaim, making all of them laugh. "Don't worry, Nick should be home any second. Guys, let's get this food to the living room. I'm sure Damien and Neil will have set the tables up by now," I then say and they all help me move the food into the living room. All except for Rose of course because I forbid her from doing so. As soon as Damien sees his wife he puts his arms around her, making sure she's ok.

"Ok guys, everything is ready and it all looks amazing!" says Rose, looking around at the decorations too. "I can't wait for Dad to see all this," she says and I smile when I see Seth come into the room with Lacey and Lily holding each of his hands, Anna holding Seth.

"Honestly Mason, I'm starting to wonder that something is up," we all get quiet as we hear Nick's voice. Everyone gets into their positions and by that I mean we all stand in a line. I smile up at Seth as he puts an arm around my waist, keeping my close to his side.

"SURPRISE!" we all shout as soon as Nick steps foot in the room. The planning all went down and now hopefully the actually party will go down well too.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


	25. Party

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. As usual, would have done it earlier but I'm a busy bee :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Yeah, Isabel and Angie need to be put in their place :)**

 **Bajor10: They're cute aren't they? :)**

 **Calwitch: I suppose they're not thinking about what Roman would want. They're noticing a problem and want to fix it, as always. But I think Paige will be good in trying to make them see the other side.  
Yeah, they're pretty scheming like that. Who knows what will happen when? Actually, I do! I'm writing it, lol. (Hugs back) Thank you and keep on sending the love! :)**

 **Daken's sister: It seems to be working too, haha! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: I know! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 25:**

 **ARIANA POV**

Paige does not look happy at all. Why would she? We really tried to do this in the best way we could. But I also see her point. I hope she doesn't hold it against us. And if she tells Roman? Roman's a nice guy most of the time but if he disapproves of something, then he'll eat you live. Shit!

"You know; this is a lot of fun. We should do this again some time," says Roman, eating his dessert. I can't believe we never thought of doing this just generally, without a motive behind it. It would have been more fun.

"I agree," says Paige but I can tell she's pissed off. Even Dean gives me a look letting me know we're toast. We were probably better off leaving well enough alone. Would I have even been happy if Paige did tell us? She's be breaking the promise she made to Roman all because of us. I should be glad she wouldn't break his trust like that. Roman needs someone like that. We're such idiots.

"How about tomorrow then? Or the day after?" suggests Dean, having already finished his dessert. I move mine towards him and he attacks that too. What can I say? I love seeing my man happy. And he loves dessert. We both do. I hold in a chuckle when he puts the spoon in front of my mouth, to feed me some. I eat it and pinch his cheek.

"Works for me," says Roman, checking something on his phone. I look at Paige and can tell she's still mad. I mouth 'we're sorry', Roman still on his phone. She nods her head in acknowledgement but I have no idea whether she's accepted our apology. "I'll be right back," he says, presumably going to the men's room.

"We're sorry," Dean gets to the apology before me, surprising the hell out of me. "We just…we're really attached to that particular Samoan's ass," he comments, eliciting a chuckle from me and Paige.

"What he means to say is we're very fond of him and we'd like to help him," I decide to translate it for her into normal people's language.

"It's good you apologised otherwise I would have had to tell Roman everything," says Paige, the one thing we're scared of. That shows us we shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. "Just leave Roman be for now, he'll tell you when he's ready," she says, something me and Dean have to come to terms with.

"Of course," I say and then talk about something else, changing the topic. I just hope whatever Roman's hiding isn't that much of a big deal that it leads to something else going wrong in the future. Dinner was actually kind of nice. I still can't believe we never thought of doing it before. We will have to do it more often.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"W-what is all this?" asks Nick, looking around the room as Anne, Mason, Annette and Marie stand behind him, looking impressed with everything they were seeing. He looks like he's stepped on a different planet.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone shouts this time and by the looks on his face a light bulb has gone off. Did he even remember it was his birthday? My guess is that he didn't. That makes this so much more better.

"Come on, pile on!" says Nick, standing there with his arms open. Everyone runs over to him and I notice I am too because Seth's pulling me there. "Thank you kids! This all looks amazing," he says and once we're finally out of the group hug Seth explains how this is the way he's greeted. Everyone attacking him at the same time which I find completely great. This is exactly how I'd always pictured a big family being.

"Time to get this party started!" exclaims Nicky and puts on some music, the one Angie picked out of Nick's collection. The party goes underway and it looks like everything will go amazingly.

"Iris, I'm so glad Seth suggested you to get this party done," says Rose as we stand outside with drinks in our hands. All the guys were around the barbecue, arguing about who should get to do it. Men and their egos though.

"No problem," I tell her. "I remember how hard it was for me to work when I was pregnant with Evan. And sometimes the stress just becomes too much, ask Seth. I had a couple of fainting episodes, ended up in hospital once," I tell her as she nods her head. "But everything came out fine, thankfully. I had all my friends around me as well as Seth. So, I'm here for you too".

"Aw, thank you," says Rose, moving forward to envelope me in a hug. I chuckle and hug her back. Any type of support during pregnancy is always more than welcome.

"Where's my hug?" questions Macy, interrupting us and we both laugh. "I see, no one around here loves me enough do they?" she asks, pretending to look angry but failing miserably. She is actually quite a funny lady.

"What are you waiting for? Jump in!" Rose encourages and Macy wastes no time and giving us both a hug at the same time. "Just don't suffocate my baby," Rose then jokes just before Macy pulls away. "I wanted to thank you too for all your help".

"Don't thank me, I just followed instructions. You should have seen Iris though," says Macy. "She was amazing. I mean, I have never seen anyone take control like she did and she didn't even have an outburst at anyone if they screwed up!" she goes on to tell Rose. That's because no one had done anything like this before and screaming in their face would not achieve anything.

"Is that a complaint?" I question her, a hand on my hip and my head tilted to the side.

"Well it would have been nice to see the eruption of a volcano," says Macy and I shake my head. Sometimes I seriously think there's something wrong with her, if she wasn't acting all stone hearted then she would have gotten on well with Dean when he visited.

"Sorry to spoil your fun but I'm not Volcano," I say, picking up a drink from the side of the table and taking a sip.

"No, you're a rainbow," says Macy, shaking her head. "A stupid, nice rainbow," she says unhappily as me and Rose laugh at her childishness.

"Oh no, the girls are near the barbecue. Excuse me," says Rose, quickly walking away from us. Mothering duty calls. Right now, Evan isn't that much trouble. I have a feeling that will change though. Especially with Dean around.

"You know what I just realized?" I ask, turning to Macy who shakes her head and gives me a questioning look.

"No, what?" she asks. I look at her and know that I'm right.

"Cinderella, you're Cinderella," I tell her with a nod of my head. I notice her start to think about it and then all of a sudden a smile erupts onto her face.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda am," says Macy, putting an arm around me and kissing the side of my head. "Thank you Iris, I never expected anyone to be so understanding about my situation," she then says.

"What do you mean?" I ask her. How can a person not be understanding?

"Well I figured most people would go with 'It's your own fault' or 'You should have gotten out sooner'," she says, mimicking others as I try not to laugh. There are those out there who do say that. But it's a lot harder when you're in that situation.

"You got out sooner than a lot of other people," I point out to her. "All it took was one hit but for others its till they get stabbed or their kids get hurt," I then explain to her. Things could have ended up a lot worse before she actually left him.

"I can't believe we're talking about this at a birthday party," states Macy, shaking her head. "And I can't believe Nicky is my so called knight in shining armour, I mean look at him!" she exclaims and we look to see him jump around because Lacey and Lily say there's a spider on his back. He looks like a frog leaping about. He must be scared of spiders.

"It's alright," I tell her, placing a hand on her back and rubbing it. "This way you get to have practice before you actually have a baby with him," I say which makes her burst out laughing.

"Yeah, good point," says Macy, still amused by what I had said. The party goes on and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, I spend most of my time with Macy though, only because she has a lot to say. And after today, I feel like I can talk to her more. We're a lot closer now.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Dude, if you keep starring at your girlfriend any longer then I swear I can call you whipped and you can't even hit me," says Nicky as the guys stand around the barbecue snickering at his comment.

"Whatever," I say, rolling my eyes and sneaking another glance at Iris laughing with Rose and Macy. She looks so beautiful when she laughs that I can't help but stare. She is holding Evan who Iris brought down after his crying could be heard through the baby monitor. And right now, I can't take my eyes off of my son and girlfriend.

"There, he did it again!" exclaims Damien, pointing at me. I knew they were going to be like this. I don't even get a second's break.

"Would you guys behave? I mean come on," says Neil, shaking his head as we all turn to look at him. "What?" he asks, knowing that he's the most childish out of all of us.

"So when are you going to marry her?" asks Damien out of the blue.

"W-what?" I ask, knowing I'd be choking on my drink if I had one right now. Everyone seems to keep on bringing that question around. Just because we've had a baby doesn't mean we're going to get married.

"Marry her, you know a wedding, ring on finger, the whole shebang?" questions Nicky as if its common knowledge.

"I know what a wedding is dumbass," I say to Nicky. "But why are you guys asking me about this?"

"Maybe because you need to be getting down on one knee?" says Neil, chipping in too.

"Did you guys plan this?" I ask them all, looking at them suspiciously. "I am not going to marry Iris," I then state and realize that sounds bad. "Not right now. We've only just gotten back together and we've decided to take things slow. Marriage? That's turbo fast," I explain to them all.

"But you guys look at each other…" trails off Neil and I wait for an explanation. "You know, you look at each other like Damien and Rose look at each other or how Anne and Nick do," he explains himself. "That one-love look thingy," he says, making us chuckle. It's good that that's the vibe he gets because that's how I feel about Iris.

"Which means I have all the time in the world," I then remind him. Neither me nor Iris are going to go off with anyone else any time soon. "I've asked her to move in with me," I then reveal to them all, disappointed that Iris still hadn't given me an answer. But she's going to take her time and I respect that. She could hurry up just a smidge though.

"Seriously? When?" asks Damien.

"When we went to the movies," I answer, shrugging my shoulders. "We left early remember? And that's when I asked her," I then tell them all. No doubts in my head about anything.

"Well what did she say?" asks Nicky, all too eagerly. I know if he could have his way he would find a way to make Iris his sister-in-law within the next hour.

"She said she'd have to think about it," I tell them, unsure of how they'll react to this.

"Ooh," they all say in unison and my mind starts to panic. Should I be worried? I thought giving her time and space to think about it was a good thing.

"What? Isn't that good?" I ask them all.

"It isn't great," says Neil, shaking his head and placing a hand on my shoulder. "If she has to think about it, it means there's something wrong," he then tells me.

"Like what?" I ask him. If anything was up, then Iris would have definitely told me. I'm sure of it.

"Like a million things," says Nicky. "It took me forever to get Macy to move in with me and it turns out she was holding back for a really stupid reason," he explains, not saying anything further. I still don't get why she isn't staying with him in this house for the period the whole family are spending together. She's the only one going work as well, Neil too. But it is a half an hour drive from their house to here. I'm still surprised that Nicky is fine with living here for two weeks without her.

"So I'm supposed to ask her why she doesn't want to move in with me?" I then question him. I somehow think she'd take it the wrong way.

"No, because then she'll blame you assuming things and changing your mind," says Damien as if speaking from past experience. They're all good in letting me know the problem, they should help find a solution to this too.

"Then what do I do?" I ask them all for advice. I can't believe I'm asking any of them for advice. But for Iris, anything.

"You can't do shit," says Neil, putting more weight on me than necessary.

"Says the guy who doesn't have a girlfriend," comments Nicky with a laugh.

"I'm working on it!" Neil defends himself after which they get into an argument. But it has made me wonder, is Iris not moving in with me because she wants to take things slow or because she has some reservations about us? Or does she not want to move in with me at all? I hate them all of filling my head with all this. They're ok to point this out and point that out and then tell me I can't do this about it.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hello beautiful," coos Rose, pinching Evan's cheeks lightly since he's just woken up not long ago. "Iris, you are doing such a wonderful job with him. He's amazing," she says and I thank her.

"She has to butter you up, you're Seth's girlfriend," states Macy, raining on my parade. "But I'm not so I get to tell you that you're doing a great job with you knowing that I actually mean it," she then says, taking Evan off of me as I laugh. She has a funny way of expressing things.

"Thank you for your honesty Macy," I tell her, trying not to laugh too much.

"I knew there was a reason I never liked her (!)" jokes Rose before leaving as Macy sticks a tongue out at her. They're being playful and are really getting along well. Rose even said to me she couldn't believe this was the same Macy Nicky introduced her to a long while back. I see couples starting to dance to the music. Anne and Nicky, Mason and Marie, even Annette and Neil! I find that so incredibly cute, she must feel like she misses out on a lot without her husband there. Rose and Damien are dancing now too.

"May I have this dance?" I hear Seth's voice and look to the side to see his arm is around my shoulders. I look at Macy and she gives me an I'll-look-after-Evan look. I look at Seth and nod my head as we head to the middle of the garden. He places both his hands on my waist and I place mine on his shoulders. "So, you thought anymore about my offer?" he asks me and I tilt my head in questioning. "Moving to Davenport?" he then says.

"Seth, it's only been like two days," I state and he gives me a look. "It means I need more time to think about this," I then explain, shaking my head. I can't make this decision in haste, after all it involves me, Evan and Seth. I have to think things through carefully.

"How long will it take?" asks Seth curiously. Did he seriously just ask me that?

"I don't know," I then tell him truthfully. I don't know how I feel yet but I definitely need more time to think about it. "How about I promise to tell you by the end of this trip at least?" I say and he nods his head, happy with that answer. I lean forward and peck his lips, to distract him from feeling sad or anything. I know he really wants this but I don't know if it's what's right for all of us just yet. There's doubt and when there's doubt there's no straightforward answer.

"May I cut in?" we hear a voice and look to see the birthday boy smiling at us.

"Of course," I say enthusiastically.

"Just as long as you don't steal her from me," comments Seth for which I give him a stern look.

"If she can't resist me it won't be my fault," says Nick, throwing a wink in my direction which makes me giggle. Seth leaves and I place a hand in Nick's hand and the other on his shoulder.

"How are you enjoying the party?" I ask Nick, this was all done for him after all.

"It is amazing," says Nick, moving slowly but smoothly. "And my daughter tells me I have you to thank for that," he says, making me blush. "So, thank you," he says.

"You're most welcome," I say to him. "Besides, you've been more than just welcoming since I arrived. So, got to repay you back somehow," I say, making us both smile.

"You could also repay me back by making another grandbaby," comments Nick and I look on at him in shock. "Don't give me that look girl, I'm getting older by the second and I want a granddaughter by you at least," he says as I shake my head. Now I know where Nicky gets his inappropriateness from.

"I think it'll be a while till that happens," I then make that clear for him. No doubt, anything involving Seth and more kids excites me. And we will have that one day in the future.

"You're going to make an old man wait?" asks Nick, looking all innocent. This is emotional blackmail.

"You can try that look but I am the master of that look, heck, I invented that look!" I exclaim, knowing exactly that he's messing about with me.

"I underestimated you," Nick then comments. "All jokes aside, you are planning on sticking with my son right?" he then asks as I wonder what he wants me to say. I wouldn't leave Seth for anything at the moment. He makes me too happy. "To be truthful, you're the best thing to happen to him in a long time and I kinda want to keep it that way," he then says. I am in agreement with him. In keeping things the way they are. The best thing to happen to him? That's a big compliment though.

"I don't know what's going to happen, all that I know is we love each other and we're seeing where things are heading," I tell him because that's the truth. I don't know for sure if me and Seth will make it, I just hope we do. And I have faith we will.

"If he ever needs a good slapping, just let me know," says Nick, making me burst out in laughter. We finish dancing and by some miracle, Macy had put Evan to sleep once again! I put him upstairs in his cot, Seth keeping the baby monitor in his back pocket again. When I get downstairs, I see everyone gifting Nick presents. I must have taken longer than necessary because everyone's in the living room and all gathered around. Plus, there's a load of wrapping paper everywhere!

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" shout Lily and Lacey as they run to Nick who's holding out his arms. He rests each one of them on his knees as they hand them his presents. It's so cute cause it's mainly just cards and a little boat they put together but it's the sweetest thing ever.

"Well, that's everything," says Nick, taking Lily and Lacy off his lap. "Thanks for all the gifts everyone," he says and a light bulb goes off in my head. I got him one too!

"Oh, wait," I say and then leave the room for a second. "I got you something," I tell him, coming back into the room. I had to hide it because I knew once it broke, it would be irreparable. It is quite old after all. I hand it to Nick who starts unwrapping it. On our little shopping trip, me and Macy hit up some stores too so I could buy Nick a gift.

"Ok…and…" Nick stops as he stares openly at his present, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"I hope you like it," I tell him, standing back, unsure of whether it'll be of any interest to him.

"Where did you get this?" asks Nick, looking at it as if he's never seen a chess set in his life.

"Well me and Macy hit up a lot of antique stores today, I know you like chess so I bought you a set," I tell him, glancing back at Seth unsure of what I did wrong. I feel a hand on my back and see Seth is standing right next to me.

"Everything ok Dad?" asks Seth cautiously, looking just as confused as me.

"Perfect," states Nick and I don't know if he's answering Seth's question or talking to himself. "This is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me," he then says, glancing up at me. I smile unsure still of why. "Hey Mason, take a look at this," he says and Mason goes over to him.

"Unbelievable!" says Mason, looking at something on the side of the board.

"Will someone tell us what is going on?" asks Anne impatiently.

"This," says Nick, standing up. "When we were small, me and Mason loved to play chess. We'd always play it with whoever had a set. Then, on one of my birthdays our Father bought me a set. It was a special set because it was the first thing he ever gifted us with his hard earned money. We didn't have enough money for birthday gifts and this was a first," he explains as I still look on confused.

"How do you know it's the same set?" asks Marie.

"Me and Nick got very possessive over it," starts Mason. "So we engraved our initials and the year on the side. Father saw us and did the same," he explains and then looks at me. "All these years, we thought we'd lost it. We thought we'd never see it again and the one thing that brought us close to our Father was lost but…y-you found it," he says, gesturing over to me as I glance up at Seth. I just went out and bought a nice antique looking chess set, who knew this would turn out to be it? Coincidence? I wonder how he lost it thought. Was it accidentally given away or something?

"Thank you," says Nick, coming over to me and enveloping me in a hug. "Thank you, this is the best gift anyone could ever get me," he says and then pulls away. "Everyone, if Seth doesn't marry this one then I swear I'll force him," he says, making us all laugh. "Seriously, she is a keeper. She got this whole party sorted and now this amazing gift, you've done everything I would expect a daughter of mine to do," he says, a hand on the side of my cheek as I feel my eyes water. "Thank you ever so much Iris," he says and moves forward, placing a kiss on my forehead. I look at him and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I have a Father figure in my life.

"Oh you are kidding me!" says Angie, interrupting the moment and we all turn to look at her. "She didn't buy you that gift on purpose Dad, she stumbled across it. There's a difference yet now she's a daughter to you?" she questions.

"Angelina Marie Rollins!" reprimands Anne but Angie's glaring at me right now and I don't think she will listen to anyone, let alone her own mother.

"What? Ever since she's came everyone's been singing her praises, how good she is," says Angie, walking forward to the middle where I'm stood with Seth and Nick. "I've been looking for that for years, ever since you told me the story. Yet you're showering more love on her than me? She didn't go out of her way to try and get it to you!" she shouts angrily. Is she jealous?

"Angelina, that's quite enough," says Nick but Angie shakes her head. I can't believe she's acting like this on his birthday too. Today is about Nick, not her.

"I think not!" says Angie, raising her voice as I see Nick look on in shock. My guess is she's never done that before. "You know what?" she says, moving to stand right in front of me. "I get that you want to get along with everyone in this family but you don't need to go the extra mile for the golden star. Today was supposed to be about my Father but instead you've made it about you!" she says, pointing at me.

"Angie," warns Seth but that doesn't seem to have an effect on her. I haven't done what she's accusing me of. Angie is just acting like a little baby and quite frankly I have had enough. If she doesn't stop this, then I'll gladly do it for her.

"No Seth, I want to know what it is that she thinks she'll achieve by doing all of this!" says Angie and I look to the floor. I thought if I was nice enough, everything would be ok. But it won't be, it's just seemed to make her angrier. "You think you can worm your way into our lives by being oh so nice? Taking over my Father's birthday party and then gifting him that? Just so he'll call you a daughter? You make me sick," she goes on as I look at her in disbelief. "I have had it up to here with you. I don't care if you're my brother's girlfriend or my nephews Mom but let me tell you something. Instead of coming here and taking over, go find your own Dad and stop trying to steal mine!" she shouts in my face and that's all it takes for tears to flow down my eyes.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	26. Repercussions

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I'm back with the next one! I have a feeling a lot of you will like this one because it's full of Karma :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I know. This will set it off for sure :)**

 **Amnbama: Haha! Don't worry, it is coming! Thanks! :)**

 **Daken's sister: Yes, it has and chaos always ensues! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you :)**

 **Calwitch: Yeah it is! Haha! No she doesn't deserve to be treated like that. And it's the time where Angie is told that too. We shall see if she does or not. Thank you! Well, in the first story he saw Iris as the reason Seth has gone back to his old friends. Leaving him. It's still not sitting well with him. Especially since he got suspended over everything he did. The bitterness follows :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 26:**

"E-excuse me," I say before I start sobbing and take off from there. I get out of the living room and grab Seth's keys from the bowl in the hallway, getting out the front door. I get into the car and drive down the road as I think about the words Angie just said to me. Before I know it I'm sobbing as I think about the Father that I had but never knew.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Iris!" I call but I don't think she hears me because she sped off so quick. I go back inside in anger at what Angie had just done. How could she say all those things to Iris?

"What is the matter with you Angelina? That is no way to treat Iris!" I hear Ma tell her off. This should have happened a long time ago. Iris always said she could handle it, that I didn't need to do anything. But today, things have gotten too far.

"Oh, she deserved it!" says Angie just as I come back into the living room. How the fuck dare she?

"No, she didn't," I say, getting that misunderstanding cleared up first. "Iris has done nothing but be nice to everyone and this is what you say to her? How could you be so stupid Angie?" I shout in anger, standing in front of her as my Mother keep a hand on my arm. I don't care if she is older than me, she's acting like a little kid. I probably look really mad right now and I am. Who does she think she is to say all that to Iris?

"Me? Stupid? She's stupid if she thinks she can take my Dad away from me," says Angie. That is probably one of the most stupidest things I have ever heard in my life.

"She isn't doing anything like that!" I snap at her and register the shock in her eyes because I have never spoken to her like that. "Ever since she's came, all you've done is make snide remarks. Any chance you get you put her down but she never said one thing to you. Hell, she never let me say anything and it's my fault. I shouldn't have listened to her and I should have just told you to can it!" I shout at her. Iris means everything to me and she's off crying somewhere because of my sister. I see that as my fault.

"Seth is right," says Mason, this being a serious matter that everyone is now involved in. "The poor girl didn't do anything Angie, all she was doing was being kind and helpful," he explains. I appreciate him saying that.

"Something you don't know how to do," I then comment, through clenched teeth. I know she was hurt in the past but that doesn't give her the right to treat other people like this.

"Calm down son," says Mom but I continue to stand in front of Angie threateningly. Iris was so nervous about coming here and I assured her everything would be fine, but it isn't. It's my fault. I made her think everything was going to be ok.

"How can I Ma?" I ask her. "My so called sister just said the worst thing possible to my girlfriend who's taken off in a car and gone god knows where!" I say, no one understanding how serious that is. The only thing that scares me is losing Iris. It's happened before and I don't want it happening again.

"Good, maybe she won't come back," comments Angie and that does it because I move away from her. I move away and kick the wall, making a loud noise which makes everyone jump.

"Seth Rollins!" gasps Aunt Annette. "You will calm down this instant!" she orders me as I keep my hands on the wall, trying to count to ten but it's not working. The only person that can calm me down right now is Iris but she's not here.

"I am very disappointed in you Angelina," says Dad, never using her full name which means he must be mad.

"Well I'm disappointed in you too so we're even," says Angie and I turn my head to look at her. She seriously needs to just grow up.

"You, young lady, need to grow up!" Dad then shouts, the whole room silenced by it. "This is not kindergarten where you get jealous of another kid and decide to get them back. You are a grown woman and it's about time you started to act like one!" he tells her off, pointing a finger at her. "Iris has never done anything to you yet you continue to demean her and I have had enough of it quite frankly!" he adds on.

"You need to get your act together Angelina, because of you that poor girl is crying her eyes out," says Mom but I don't see any of it fazing Angie. Nothing about Iris ever does. She doesn't care and she never will. It's my fault to think otherwise. I know what Angie's like but I never said anything and now this has happened.

"Ma, leave her," I say, standing up properly and walking back over to them. "You might as well be talking to a brick wall," I comment with a sigh. "You know what? I've had it," I then say as everyone stares at me. "I thought by bringing her here, you'd get to see what I see. You'd all get to meet _**my**_ family and it's my fault to think you'd be happy for me Angie. The truth is you can't stand it if everyone around here is happy!" I then accuse.

"That is not true," says Angie, her arms at her side.

"Yes it is, because if you ever gave a damn about me then you wouldn't have attacked Iris like that!" I retort. "You would have welcomed her, properly," I say and then walk over to Rose. "The first day Iris came; Rose was a gem. She made Iris feel like a part of the family. Ma and Dad, they did the same. Damien, Nicky, everyone except for you," I say and go back over to her. "Just because you're a bitter harpy doesn't meant the rest of us have to live like that too!"

"Seth," says Angie in a voice low enough that I barely hear her say it.

"What? You can't believe I said that?" I ask her, feeling the exact same way with Iris. "Don't give me any of that shit because you're been the same with Macy," I say, pointing over at her who's standing with Nicky and watching the whole thing unfold.

"You're taking this the wrong way," says Angie and I sigh. How can anyone take what she's done in the wrong way?

"You know what? You're never going to get it are you?" I say, looking at the floor feeling defeated. "Iris has been so determined to win you over, to get you to like her. And she didn't try any tricks, all she did was be herself but apparently that's the problem. So, as soon as she comes back, I'm out of here. I'm taking _**my**_ family and we're leaving," I say in finality as she looks on at me in disbelief. I refuse to let Iris be more of a victim to everything Angie says or does. No more.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

After driving around for a while I realize that I'm lost. I don't know Buffalo properly. On top of that, I've left my phone back at Seth's parents' house. So I can't even call anybody. But maybe that's not a bad thing, I'm not ready to talk to anyone yet. I keep the car on the side of the road and just stay sitting in it. I knew Angie disliked me, but I underestimated just how much.

I wipe my tears but they don't seem to stop flowing. I keep a hold of the necklace around my neck. It's a locket and it has a picture of my Dad in it. The only picture my Mother ever gave me which I decided to keep safe. I keep it with me always because then it feels like he is with me. It sounds stupid, I know.

"What did I do wrong Dad?" I question aloud, clutching onto the necklace tighter. I have never wished anything bad upon anyone. I've never been mean to others. I always try and see the good in them. Heck, I even went back to a shop and gave them 5 bucks when I was 8 years old because I felt guilty for taking candy! Then why is it fair that I don't get my Dad in my life but others do? I was barely a few months old and Dad was taken away from me! What could I have done in those few months? Puked on Mum too much? Bitten off Dad's nose? What did I do that he deserved to be taken away from me?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"You can't be serious," says Aunt Annette but no one can think like that by looking at my face. This is the most serious I have been since I got here.

"I am," I say, my arms crossed over my chest as I stand to one side. Iris is my girlfriend. I'm putting her first because that's what she needs right now.

"Seth, this is crazy," says Rose, coming over to me. I know it's a difficult decision made for the rest of them. Why should they suffer just because Angie is being…vile.

"Crazy? It's worse than that! My so called sister has made my girlfriend cry all for nothing!" I exclaim. I can't bare seeing Iris cry. I've promised to ensure she doesn't.

"If she can't take it then it's not my fault!" Angie says and I give Rose a look. How can I even make a compromise when Angie is being like this? I knew it'd take a while for her to warm up to Iris but I did not expect this. Not from her.

"You see that? She doesn't even get that what she's just done is wrong," I tell Rose. "How can I keep putting Iris through this knowing that in the end I'll be the one that'll have to wipe her tears. I have been the reason Iris has cried a lot in the past and ever since then I've made sure that that doesn't happen again. And I'm not going to let others do that to her," I explain to her. After everything, all Iris deserves is to be happy and have a constant smile on her face.

"I…I understand," says Rose, placing a hand on my shoulder and I nod my head in her direction. At least I can trust one of my sisters to understand and respect my decisions.

"Thanks," I tell her, feeling calmer as the plan to leave from here starts to become more real. That is what's best. That's how I can protect my family.

"You are not going anywhere!" says Dad and I look up at him confused. "When Iris comes back, Angelina is going to apologize. Then we're going to forget about this whole thing," he then says. He says that like as if it's easy. I know Iris won't forget. And neither will I.

"I won't," I speak out. "I won't forget today because what she said to Iris is going to stick with her". There are a lot of things said to Iris but if any one of them ever make her cry then it sticks. It sticks till it's resolved and I know Angie won't do that.

"Seth, you have my word that Angelina won't be saying anything further to Iris," says Dad but I scoff. She's been told off before but that's never stopped her in the past.

"Like hell I won't," comments Angie, well that was predictable. "And I will not apologize," she says through clenched teeth. I give my Dad a look because it doesn't seem like Angie's going to change her behaviour any time soon.

"No?" asks Dad. "Fine, don't," he says and I knew it was too good to be true. Angie has always been Dad's favourite and he's always sided with her, this time is no different. "But I'm not having Seth leave because of something you did. So, if you don't want to apologize then you can pack your bags and leave. Right now," he says with finality in his tone as both me and Rose look at each other in shock. Dad would never say anything like that to Angie, but he just did.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I look out the window and see a family walking down the street. There's a Mom and Dad and two kids. A boy and girl. They're all holding hands and walking with smiles, their chatting heard by me. The little girl is complaining about her shoes. That's how it should have been. That's how I should have grown up, but I didn't. I should have two parents and at least another sibling. But someone out there must have really hated me because reality has been quite different. Reality, has been awful.

If I could have one thing right now, anything, it would be to see my Dad. To have him in front of me and to be able to spill my guts to him. To tell him about my life, to ask about his, to share our stories. To just know the kind of person he is. Mom wouldn't talk much about him, except for saying he was a 'Gentleman'. That's all I know. Sometimes, I wonder how much of him is actually in me. How much of his personality shines through me? I have no idea but I'd like to know. And I'd like him here. I could talk to him about what to do next. How to stop these tears from flowing down my face?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"You can't be serious?" asks Angie, looking at Dad in disbelief. I might be her brother but I'm enjoying seeing the look on her face right now.

"I very well am," says Dad, glancing at Mom who stands behind him, taking his hand in hers. "Either you apologize to Iris or you can pack your things and leave. I don't need a daughter whose sole purpose is to demean a nice girl like Iris. I will not stand for it," he tells her. I'm glad he's sticking up for her. He should know I appreciate it.

"So you're going to kick your daughter out of this house for some random girl?" asks Angie. Iris is not some random girl. She's my family and if Angie doesn't understand that right now then she doesn't deserve to have the title of being my sister.

"She's not some random girl," says Dad, using a tone which suggests he dislikes Angie's use of 'random girl'. "She is the mother of my grandson and the girlfriend of my son". No one in this family considers Iris as someone random, just Angie.

"You've gone mad," says Angie, looking like she's just come out of a daze. More like she's gone mad herself.

"He hasn't, your father is absolutely right," says Mom, backing him up. "Either you apologize, or leave. I have loved having Iris and Evan over, if you jeopardize that then that means you can't stay here". It means a lot that they're doing this. Angie should know just how important Iris is to me and everyone here.

"Aunt Annette, talk some sense into them!" says Angie, turning to our Aunt who's always seen eye to eye with Angie. But by the look on her face I can tell even she's disgusted by Angie's behaviour.

"Tell them what? How you innocently attacked Iris (?) says Aunt Annette, shaking her head. "I'm with your parents. This house has been one of laughter ever since Iris and Evan have come. The only person that seems to be causing any problems is you," she tells her truthfully. And I'm glad. I'm glad Angie's looking at us as if we're all a bunch of strangers because that's how she's tried to make Iris feel. She should get a taste of her own medicine.

"I don't believe this, you're all taking her side over mine?" questions Angie. "Rose, even you?" she asks, looking in our direction. Rose glances at me before looking at Angie once again.

"Look at him Angie," says Rose, gesturing to me. "Just look at our little brother. Look how worried he is for Iris, look how scared he feels at the thought of losing her right now. I have never seen Seth so happy with anyone. I've never seen him so smitten and Iris does that to him," she starts, speaking in a soft tone. "Iris is a lovely person. Someone that makes our brother so happy, deserved a shot at winning you over. Right now, I don't know who you are. The Angie I know would never have been so cruel to someone so wonderful," she finishes. If anyone can get through to Angie, it has to be Rose.

"You wanna know why I'm so mad and hell bent on leaving?" I say to Angie, standing up properly and looking at her. "Iris doesn't have a father," I reveal to everyone and they look at me in disbelief. "Iris was a mere baby when her Dad died in a car accident. She never got to know him and her Mother never got remarried or anything. She's never had a father figure in her life and the one time someone touches her heart by calling her his daughter, you ruin it. You ruin it completely. You're fine here, you have both of our parents. She only had the one and there's a part of her that she probably feels she is missing. Coming here has made her feel like she belongs somewhere," I continue on. "Iris has always wanted a big family so I thought bringing her here would be perfect. She could have a father in her life, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. But you've ruined it for her and for me. And now she's out there in the dark somewhere and I have no idea where. I promise you one thing Angie, if something ever happens to her then I swear to god I will never, ever forgive you," I tell her. I don't care if Angie is my sister. Any sister who behaves the way she has doesn't deserve to have family.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I get out of the car, needing some fresh air. I see a diner across the road and go to it. The bell rings as I open the door and I keep my head down, slipping into a booth at the back. I don't know what to do. I can't go back there; I can't see Angie again. It's not my fault I don't have a Dad. But then it's not like I know how to get back anyway. As my thoughts turn to my father a fresh stream of tears come running down my face. I don't even know why I'm crying. I mean, it's not like I ever knew the guy. How can I miss someone I never even knew?

"Here honey, on the house," says a man, setting a cup down and pouring in some coffee for me. I look up at him and he gives me a sympathetic smile. I see his nametag reads 'David'. I don't say anything because I know I can't. My throat is feeling all choked up. Instead, I just offer him a small smile before taking the cup in my hands and drinking from it. He must have noticed me crying. I have no idea what is going on right now, with Seth and everyone else but I'm glad I'm not there.

I should not have been treated like that. I can't believe I even let myself get treated like that. That was never me. Well, not the old me. The old me would have yelled something back at least. I ran out crying from there like a big baby. When I thought I was going to die, my whole attitude to life changed. Arguments and stuff, that always seemed petty so I decided to just keep moving on. But now, that seems pointless. Even if I wanted to leave the world on a good note, it doesn't mean I let people insult me like that. Especially now when I'm healthy. I need parts of the old me. The part that would stand up for herself. Well, even back then I wouldn't say much back to anyone. Unless it was something that really upset me. Like when that girl was hitting on Seth and I punched her. God, anyone hearing that nowadays would think it's a total lie.

* * *

 **DAVID POV**

I walk back to the counter, knowing I've seen that girl somewhere before. I can't put my finger on it but I've definitely seen her. She didn't recognize me though so maybe my imagination is playing up again. I continue to keep an eye on her though, she is looking quite upset. As I look at her it comes back to me! She's the girl Nick pointed out in his party for the arrival of his grandson, Seth's son. She's the Mother! But, what is she doing here? And in the night too? Oh, things don't look so good. I better give Nick a call. I dial Nick's number and after a fairly few rings he picks up.

" _Hey David, right now isn't a good time to call,"_ says Nick on the other end. I wonder why that could be.

"Would a certain young lady have anything to do with it?" I ask him. "I have a young lady sitting here and I'm sure she is the same young lady you pointed out to me a few days ago at Evan's party," I inform him. There's a chance the family could be looking for her.

" _Iris?"_ asks Nick and I nod my head. So that's her name. Over the years my memory keeps on going. I can't even keep track of names anymore.

"Bingo!" I say. "Is everything alright there Nick? She seems awfully upset," I say in concern. Me and Nick have been friends for years. I'd want to help him in any way that I can.

" _Not particularly,"_ answers Nick and that can only mean trouble is brewing. _"Listen, can you please do me a favour? Can you keep her there as long as you can and make sure she doesn't leave?"_ he asks. That's a small favour.

"Sure I can," I tell him. "Besides, it doesn't, uh, look like she's going anywhere anytime soon," I say and then hang up. I wonder what is going on at Nick's house. But then again, I know better than to pry in other people's lives. Let's just hope everything sorts itself out.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"So where are you guys going to have your wedding?" asks Paige, more talkative after we'd apologised. We invited her back up to our room for a drink and she was more than happy to come. I think she'd do anything to see a smile on Roman's face though. Whenever he laughs she just stares at him. I don't think she realises that she does.

"Uh…you know?" asks Dean in a loud whisper. I use my hands to move his face away from my ear, rolling my eyes at his behaviour. We've not really thought much about the wedding yet. Too busy with everything else. The only thing we've decided on is the cake. And then of course I gave Iris free reign over everything.

"We're not really bothered," I say, telling the truth. Me and Dean aren't the fussy type. Give us a place and time and we'll turn up. "But, since we have been delaying it because of everything, December good for you?" I ask my fiancé, turning my head to the side.

"I think I might be free," answers Dean, making us all chuckle. "Won't it be too cold? And won't it be snowing?" he then asks me. Dean has a phobia of the cold. He absolutely hates it.

"Not if we have the wedding in Vegas," I let him know and he nods his head in approval.

"Don't you want the wedding in Chicago? That's where you live?" asks Dean, thinking he knows it all. I shake my head and he says, "Cool. We just set a location".

"And this is how they make all their important life decisions," says Roman to Paige. I guess for me and Dean, the most important thing is each other. Oh, and the cake.

"You haven't exactly chosen a location, I mean, you need to decide a venue for that to be set right?" asks Paige but that's just a technicality. Nothing more. I'm sure Iris can find something beautiful for us to hold the ceremony in. She has a knack for these sorts of things.

"Chapel down the street?" asks Dean and I nod my head, Paige looking like we've lost our minds. That is until we both burst out laughing. "Relax. We're leaving everything to the Maid of Honour. She'll get everything sorted. I don't have anything in mind, do you?" he asks and I shake my head.

"This wedding will definitely be interesting," comments Paige and I couldn't agree more. I suppose I'll start fretting like an actual bride when we actually get closer to the wedding date. Hmm, we've not set a wedding date. We've only decided the month.

"December 7th for our Wedding?" I ask Dean and he looks to be in deep thought of some sort.

"I'll free my schedule," answers Dean with a small smile. I lean forward and press my lips to his. We have a wedding date! And a place! No venue but at least we've managed to make some important decisions today. I'll have to tell Iris when she comes back though, so she can get started on helping me do this thing.

* * *

 **I appreciate everyone who reviews so keep them coming! :)**


	27. Memories

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone, I hope you're all ok :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you as always my love! :)**

 **Calwitch: Well of course, it'd be weird staying there after this and the tension will probably be constant. I'm still unsure of where to take them as a couple but right now this direction seemed right to me.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 27:**

 **SETH POV**

"This makes it all so much worse, she doesn't have a father?" asks Rose and I nod my head, clarifying it for her. She puts her hand up to her mouth. Now Angie she seems heartless. But I doubt knowing this new piece of information wouldn't have made her act any differently.

"Why did she never say anything?" asks Macy, speaking up now after having stayed quiet this whole time. Iris has gone through a lot, as a kid and even as an adult. But she doesn't showcase it to people. It's not who she is.

"Because she doesn't like talking about it, she doesn't like telling people about her tragic life," I answer in a monotone voice. Thoughts of Iris are just running through my mind. She doesn't even know this place properly, what if she gets lost? Or worse, what if something bad happens to her? I should have run after her instead of letting her go like that. Or at least quickly gotten another car as fast as I could and followed her. Everyone stays quiet and I think for a single second I see remorse on Angie's face. But I must be mistaken, she only ever cares about herself.

"I cannot believe this," says Mom, shaking her head. "I've taught all my kids to respect others and I never thought any one of you would fail me, till today," she says, shaking her head. I never thought anyone in my family would disappoint me like this but it's happened.

"Seth, come on. We have to go find her," says Dad and I agree with him but how do we do that?

"She could be anywhere Dad. She doesn't know this place properly," I say and then realize that I can ask Iris where she is, if she'll talk to me. I don't blame her if she wants nothing to do with me after this, it was my sister that said all those things to her after all. I ring Iris but as soon as I do I hear a faint buzzing sound. Macy moves and picks up something next to the TV. She holds it up and its Iris's phone. "Just what I need," I say to myself. How am I supposed to find her if no one, not even Iris herself, can tell me where she is?

"Don't worry, you'll find her. Everyone will help, alright?" says Rose and I nod my head. I just hope she hasn't gone too far.

"I just want her back Rose," I tell her and she nods her head. Dad's phone goes off and he leaves the room for a few seconds. We'll leave to look for her. She can't have gone that far. I mean, she knows most local places by now.

"I know where she is," says Dad, coming back into the room.

"You do? How? And where is she?" I question him one after the other.

"She's at David's diner," answers Dad. "He recognized her and rang me straightaway. Now come on, let's go bring her back," he says and I don't have to be told twice because I am out of there. I grab Nicky's car keys and get in the driver's seat, hitting the gas as quickly as I can. Once we get there, I quickly get out of the car. "Son," says Dad stopping me from taking a step further.

"What?" I ask, not understanding why he has a problem with me going in. I have to make sure Iris is alright. What if she's not?

"Maybe I should go," suggests Dad but I give him an unsure look. "We need to do what's best for Iris and right now, I think I need to talk to her. I think I can give her what she needs," he explains.

"But-" I start; however, Dad cuts me off.

"No buts son," says Dad and then walks over and places a hand on my shoulder. "Sometimes, a girl needs more than just her boyfriend there for her in times of need," he says. "Don't worry, she's in safe hands," he reassures me before leaving to go inside. I lean against the front of the car, waiting for him to be done so I can take Iris in my arms again. She doesn't deserve what was done to her. But maybe Dad is right, maybe she needs him right now. She needs a Dad.

* * *

 **PAIGE POV**

"Sometimes, I think he actually has been dropped on this earth by other beings," comments Roman, making me laugh. But Dean does give you that impression. After they told us their minimal plans for their wedding, Roman offered to walk me to my room. I think that's what I like most about him. He's a gentleman. The complete opposite of what I've dated in the past. But I'm liking it.

"You should query that about Ariana because she's the one that's marrying him," I comment, making him laugh. We get to my door and stand there chatting for a few minutes. "I know things are going fine right now, but just tell Ariana and Dean about Kane. I know you don't see the point but it could be something serious," I explain to him. After tonight, I don't know what else they could try. They need to hear what happened from Roman.

"Why? You're the one that said he's just doing it to mess with my head and not to take it seriously," says Roman, sending me a confused look. "Has something happened that I don't know?" he asks me.

"No," I say quickly and then curse myself for making it seem so obvious. "I mean, if course not. If you don't want to then fine but I can see it blowing up in your face," I let him know. I guess I shouldn't pressure him so much if he really doesn't want to.

"What are you hiding from me?" asks Roman and I give him a confused look. I act all the time. That's all I have to do.

"I'm not hiding anything Roman," I say, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. "What I just said was for your betterment, not because I'm harbouring secrets of some sort," I explain to him. Did I just lie to my boyfriend? Hang on a second, why the fuck did I just lie to my boyfriend? For his friends? Wow, this is so messed up.

"I can see it written all over your face that something's happened," states Roman, crossing his arms over his chest and looking right into my eyes. I gulp and try not seem fazed. Whoa, he can be really intimidating. Keep your ground, that's all I have to do.

"Roman, stop looking at me like that. I'm not an opponent you're facing in the ring," I say, turning my body and using my card to unlock my door. I turn back to him and nope, he hasn't moved an inch.

"Are you going to tell me?" asks Roman but I don't reply. What the fuck do I do now? Ariana and Dean apologised, I'm not going to feed them to this bear for one lousy mistake they made. But I don't want to fight with said bear either. Fuck! "Fine, don't tell me," he says and walks off before I can say explain anything or try and make him understand.

"Thanks a million guys," I say to myself but it being aimed at Dean and Ariana. Now Roman thinks I'm keeping secrets and that something has happened. What happened wasn't even a big deal anyway. They asked me some stuff, I declined to answer and glared and they apologised. Damn it. I head inside to my room and think about what to do to stop that Samoan from being so angry.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I continue to stare at my cup like I have done for the last ten minutes. I drank it ages ago. I sniffle and use some tissue paper to wipe my nose. David was kind enough to put a box in front of me. He didn't pry or ask me any questions. He just gave me what I needed which I'm thankful for. I hear the bell on the door go off again and It's probably another customer who doesn't feel as crappy as I do right now.

"Now, it upsets me to see a frown on that beautiful face," I hear and look up to see Nick sitting right in front of me. No, he can't be here. How would he know if I was here? I must be hallucinating, but then why would I hallucinate Nick of all people? "I'm actually here beautiful, that old man lurking around happens to be a good friend," he says and my eyes immediately go to David. He throws a casual wave in our direction and I look back to Nick.

"I'm sorry I ruined your birthday," I tell Nick who just chuckles and shakes his head. I can't believe all that went down on his birthday of all days. Some party (!)

"I think I'm the one who should be apologizing," says Nick but I don't know what he'd do that for. He's done nothing wrong. Everything that happened was because of Angie. I kept taking it so she kept dishing. But that's not going to happen anymore. "What Angelina said to you was…out of order. Completely. And I'm sorry that you had to stand there and listen to that," he says but I shake my head.

"If she feels I was stealing her Father then I'm sorry because that wasn't my intention," I state. Yes, it would be nice to have a father figure in my life but I don't think I'm destined for that. From a very young age I got used to living without a father. So I shouldn't be upset about it.

"Now, I don't mind getting stolen sweetheart, if a lady like you decides she wants me," says Nick and he's successful in making me smile which I think was his plan all along. He then places his hand on top of mine which is resting on the table.

"Is um…is Seth alright?" I ask him hesitantly. I just took off. I mean, if Seth did that then I would have like ten heart attacks. I know how much he loves and cares for me. But I just didn't think. I just wanted to get away from everything.

"You'll find out," says Nick and I give him a questioning look. "He's outside," he says and I immediately look at the door. "Don't worry, he's not coming in. I promised him I'd get you out there safely. But boy was he mad," he says as I start to worry.

"I didn't mean to make him worry, I didn't even have my phone on me," I start to explain quickly. My phone is probably the one thing I never forget but this time I did. If I had it on me Seth wouldn't be worrying so much as he is now.

"Not about that," says Nick, waving a hand in the air. "He's angry with his sister. Worried for you. And upset at himself," he tells me everything Seth is feeling which I dread to actually see. "As soon as you left he told off Angelina, I told her off, and Anne told her off". He doesn't say anything for a moment and then speaks up again. "We were all really worried about you," he tells me. Again, I wasn't thinking when I took off. Angie's just one person who dislikes me. I have so many more who really do care for me.

"Really? I didn't mean to make everyone feel worried I just…" I trail off, not knowing how to explain it all.

"Needed to get away?" Nick finishes off and I nod my head, looking down at the table. "From what Seth has told me, you've never been in a big family, correct?" he says and I nod my head, looking up at him once more. "Well, now you are part of one and let me tell you that if David hadn't called me then each and every one of us would have come out looking for you," he says.

"Really?" I ask him, tilting my head to the side. I guess I should count myself lucky.

"Oh yeah, we were all ready to as well," says Nick. "Sweetheart, you can't ever go off like that again. Especially now that you're a part of our family," he says, squeezing my hand. "We'll tear up the town just looking for you".

"I just…" I pause for a second, wiping the tear at the corner of my eye. "I just wanted to help. I didn't mean to hurt anyone or do anything," I say, my pitch going higher as I speak.

"I know sweetheart, I know," says Nick. "It's not your fault," he then tells me.

"Isn't it?" I say and then shake my head. "I don't even know what I've done to deserve this. All my life, I believed if you did good then good things will happen to you but nothing in my life has gone right. Only bad things like happening to me. And every time something bad happens, the rest comes rushing back," I explain as he nods his head, trying to understand. "I was barely even born when my Dad was taken away from me. What exactly did I do to deserve that? Then my Mum decides to dress me up like a model and ship me off to pageants. When I finally decide to do something for myself, I get disowned. I meet Seth and I fall in love but he doesn't love me back. I get pregnant and I thought I was going to die but instead get put in a coma. Then I come here and this happens. Am I…am I even meant to be happy? Am I allowed to just be happy for five seconds?" Something always seems to go wrong.

"You're looking at all this negatively," starts Nick as I wipe my tears for what feels like the hundredth time. "Yes you lost Seth, but you found him again. I know for sure you'd rather have gone into a coma than die. And now you have our whole family, around you. Minus one person of course but we're all still here for you. And I also happen to know for a fact that you have three great friends who are not here right now but support you nonetheless," he says, referring to Ariana, Dean and Roman. I nod my head, looking at the table again. "You've grown up without a father?" he then asks.

"Yeah, I was just a few months old and he got into a car accident," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders.

"I'm sorry," says Nick but I shake my head. It's a weird thing to say when something bad happens to other people. But it's like a norm that everyone follows.

"For what? I barely knew him so I shouldn't feel upset right?" I say. Why am I sad about losing a Father? I never had one to begin with. I don't remember him.

"That's not what those tears are telling me sweetheart," says Nick and I look at him.

"I just…it's not fair, alright?" I tell him. "It's not fair that I barely knew him. And yeah, I do see a father figure in you but if that's going to cause problems then…" I trail off. Being with Seth's family, it's always how I've wanted a family. Except for Angie of course.

"Do you know what he was like?" asks Nick as I look into his eyes.

"All my Mom has ever told me is that he was a gentleman," I say, thinking back to when she did. "She'd never talk about him because it hurt too much and I've never been so selfish to disregard that. Maybe I should have been then I'd know more about him," I say, playing with the locket around my neck. I take my hands out from underneath Nick's and open the locket. "This is him," I state, showing him the picture.

"You have his eyes," comments Nick which makes me smile.

"Really? I thought so too," I share my thoughts with him. It's nice to know I'm not just making things up in my mind. "I wish I knew what he was like, then I'd know what part of me shines through him," I say, sniffling and using some tissue to wipe my nose. I close the locket and leave it alone. I've never let it part with me. It's always been around my neck.

"Well a gentleman is someone who is polite, thoughtful and cultured. I see all those qualities in you," says Nick with a small smile.

"Are you calling me a gentleman?" I ask him with a dry laugh.

"I'm saying there's more of him in you than you think, whether you know it or not".

"I will never know that for sure," I say with a disappointed look. "All my life, I've seen other people with their dads. From when I was growing up. I'd go over to Ariana's house and her Dad would treat me like a daughter but it's not the same. He's not a part of me. And I've always told everyone that I'm ok with not having a Dad in my life because that was fate but it…".

"It's not true?" he finishes off for me and I nod my head.

"I thought if I pretended everything was ok then it would be, you know?" I tell him, the stupid tears just come out more instead of less.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" he asks me and I nod my head, biting down on my lip. It hurts more than anyone could ever understand. "You know sweetheart, life throws us all sorts of challenges," Nick starts as I look up at him. "And we have to take it. We have to go through those challenges and come out as winners. Yes, some of us put on a brave face but it only means we won't let anything bring us down and that's the kind of spirit one should have in life," he finishes.

"What's the point Nick?" I ask him. "I've been smiling and getting through everything for such a long time and I'm tired. I'm tired of constantly having to fight these battles. I'm tired of smiling and pretending that everything's ok when it's not. That's all I've ever done. Growing up, I put on a smile and pretended that I was happy with being shown off like a prized possession. When I was pregnant with Evan I pretended that everything was going to be fine when it wasn't and when I came to your house I pretended Angie saying all those things didn't matter when the truth is they all do". I sigh and take a deep breath.

"Don't pay much attention to what Angelina says to you," says Nick which is easy for him to say. She's not constantly degrading him every chance she gets. "I'm sure Seth must have told you what happened to her, right?" he asks and I nod my head. Her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend. Talk about betrayal. "Her best friend took something that meant quite a lot to her. Now, I'm not trying to make excuses for her, what she did was inexcusable. But she didn't mean it, not the Angie I know. She's just paranoid that someone will come along and take another person from her life. And for some reason, she saw you doing that," he explains which makes sense I guess but it doesn't make anything hurt less. And it certainly doesn't give her the right to so what she did. I try not to dwell on the past but when I do get reminded of it, boy is it hard to let go.

"She's not the only one who's been betrayed by the people she loves," I tell him, thinking back to my Mother and my past with Seth. I never let my past distort my view of others.

"Yes but everyone takes things differently," says Nick, shrugging his shoulders. "You have the 'Move on' approach and she holds grudges. When you get back, I assure you that she will apologize to you". I doubt she'd mean it from her heart.

"I don't mean to be horrible Nick but it won't stop her from thinking those things, I can see it in her eyes and I was wrong to think that I could change that," I tell him. "I thought I could win her over, that she'd eventually see the good in me but she can't. And I was fine with her saying whatever but when it comes to my Father…that's something I will not tolerate," I tell him and I can tell he looks taken aback by the way I just said that. I can take anyone saying anything about me but when they say things about my Father, then its personal.

"Iris, from what I've gathered you're a very bright young lady," starts Nick. "You're thoughtful, caring and always putting others before yourself. If Angelina can't see that then my daughter has missed out on something extraordinary". He doesn't say anything for a few seconds but I can tell he's thinking very hard about something. "I am personally very sorry your Father was brought up. All I can do is help you to move on from it and ask you what you want. So, what is it that you want Iris?" I didn't expect that. I could say anything right now but there's only one thing I've ever wanted.

"I want…" I pause for a second knowing there is only but one wish my heart desires at this very moment. I shake my head as tears begin to fall again.

"What is it? I'll try to give whatever it is that you need right now," says Nick desperately. I know he wants to make amends but this isn't something he can do.

"You can't give me this," I say, shaking my head as I let out a sob. "I want…my Father," I tell him and see the sadness on his face due to the fact that he can't give what I want most. "It means a lot that you want to give me whatever it is that I want but you can't," I state.

"Who says I can't?" asks Nick. He then gets up and moves to sit down right next to me. "Iris," he starts, placing a hand on the side of my face. "I called you my daughter today and that's something not many people get the privilege of," he says which makes me smile in amusement. "I know I will never be your real Father but if there is anything, ever at all, that you need where you think of your Father then just…come to me. I can't promise I can smooth things out every time but I can give you the support," he says, looking into my eyes.

"No, I can't…it…it's not fair on you," I tell him, shaking my head. Plus, I don't think I want another yelling from Angie about taking her Father away.

"Why not? If you considered me family you would," says Nick with a slight pout which makes me chuckle. "Besides, I've always wanted a third daughter. Not to mention someday you will be my daughter-in-law and that has the word daughter in it, you can't escape thar. And between you and me, Macy seems like a girl who'd just pick fights with me every two seconds," he says, making me laugh. "See? I made you laugh, that's definitely the job description of a father," he says.

"I just…I feel selfish if I accept this".

"Now Iris, we're all allowed to be a little selfish once in a while," Nick tells me. "And ever since I've met you I haven't seen you do one little thing for yourself. Besides, it would give me great honour to call a wonderful girl like you my daughter," he says, tapping my nose.

"I'm sorry I'm the reason for all these problems," I apologize to him. If I hadn't have come here, then there wouldn't be any problems.

"No you're not and if you keep apologizing then I'll have to stick my fingers in my ears and start singing," says Nick and I know he's not serious. But then I start doubting my conclusion once I see the look on his face.

"Alright," I tell him, agreeing to that. "Um…" I look up at him, shy to ask him for something else now.

"What is it?" asks Nick with a smile.

"Well, I don't have any money on me," I start and he nods his head.

"You want to empty my bank account?" jokes Nick and I shake my head at him. "What is it darling?"

"Well, you see ever since I've been sat here my eyes can't help but wonder to that vanilla cake over there," I tell him, gesturing to where it's sitting on the counter. "And since I have no money I was wondering if I could…borrow some," I finally finish.

"Nonsense!" says Nick, putting an arm around me. "No daughter of mine will 'borrow' money off of me. Hey David, one slice of cake for my lovely future daughter-in-law over here!" he calls to his friend which makes me laugh. I get the cake and share it with Nick, laughing as he starts fighting with me over the last bite. I don't know if this is what constitutes as a father-daughter relationship but I like it. After I finish the cake we both get up to leave, I feel nervous as I take each step towards the exit of the diner. I know Seth's out there and he's probably really mad at me for running off like that.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Are you nervous, at all, about getting married?" I ask Dean, from beside him on the couch. Roman went to drop off Paige and since me and Dean are alone, I thought why not. Sometimes he can be difficult to read because half the time he's joking around. But I just want to make sure he's not nervous in any way.

"Why would I be?" asks Dean, switching between channels. "I'm marrying a sexy piece of ass who I'll get to call mine for the rest of my life. Why would someone get nervous about that?" he asks, answering my question without even giving me a direct answer.

"I am a sexy piece of ass," I comment with a laugh. I can't wait to marry this fool.

"Now that you acknowledge that," starts Dean, putting down the remote and sitting back on the couch. "Why don't your park it right on over here?" he suggests, pointing to his lap. I waste no time in obliging and making out with him. Damn, I can never get enough of this guy.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I wait for what feels like ages. The whole time I've just spent leaning against the front of the car with my arms crossed over my chest. I don't even know what's going on there. Is she refusing to come back? She can't do that right? I mean, Evan's back home. Or is she more upset than I thought? Is she crying? She probably is. Iris is very easily hurt. My breath gets caught up when I see the diner door open and I see Dad walk out with Iris. As soon as my eyes meet hers I stand up properly.

"Iris," I say her name and she glances at Dad. He gives her a smile before she walks up to me, putting her arms around me. I waste no time in putting my arms around her, enveloping her in a hug so tight that she can't ever run away again. "Oh, thank god you're ok," I tell her. I keep my eyes closed and keep my arms around her, I never want to feel like that again. I never want to feel like I've lost her, whether that be for a second or a minute. I don't know what I'd do if I'd have lost her.

* * *

 **Reviews are welcomed! :)**


	28. We're Staying?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter :)**

 **Daken's sister: Thanks! I loaded it with sweetness! Haha! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: It is! :)**

 **Calwitch: I was going for that so thanks I guess. They do need some loving. Now, do I want to give it to them? Lol.**

 **Pinayprincesa: I know. That's what she's always wanted as well.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 28:**

 **IRIS POV**

The car ride home is quiet. Seth is driving us home in his car and Nick offered to drive Nicky's home. I think he also knows that me and Seth need some time alone together. I lean back in my seat and stare out the window, staring at the skies. The stars especially. I notice Seth keeps throwing worrying glances my way so I turn my body and lean my head on his shoulder, hoping I can ease his worries without having to say a word. I know that does the trick because after a while I feel his tense posture relax a little.

"Are you mad?" I ask him, unsure of whether right now he's just happy that I'm ok and waiting to unleash a whole lecture on how stupid I was when we get back to the house.

"At you? No," says Seth and I'm relieved he's not. All I want right now is to be in Seth's arms. Neither of us say anything further and once we get to the house, we both go inside. Before I know it I'm enveloped in a hug by none other than Macy.

"Do that again and I swear I'll…chop off the rest of your hair," threatens Macy, making me smile. She wouldn't be her if she didn't say something like that.

"Thank god, we were so worried," says Rose, giving me a side hug because she has Evan in her arms. I take my son off of her and bounce him up and down, smiling at the smile on his face.

"Yes dear, promise you won't do that again," says Anne and I nod my head, touched by how everyone cares for me in the short amount of time I have spent with them. "Now, I believe someone has something to say to you," she says, giving Angie a pointed look who could seem to care less. By this point I don't think I care anymore.

"I'm sorry," says Angie, staring at the floor. When she finally does look up at me she says, "I didn't realize that you didn't…have a father," she finally says and this time I avoid her gaze. I just nod my head and don't say anything. But why shouldn't I?

"Do you think it's acceptable to talk to someone like that even if they did?" I question. I don't want to pick a fight but when someone attacks you like that, you can't stay quiet. No matter what. "You know, I know you've not liked me and I think the funniest thing about this whole thing is the fact that I genuinely thought I could change your mind. I don't know why because as I stand here I don't see your thoughts about me having changed. But you know what? Fine! Don't like me but don't you dare disrespect me. I haven't done anything to intentionally hurt you or anyone else here so the next time you decide to yell at me for doing nothing whatsoever, take a step back and think about it.

I may have run off upset but I am not going to do that every single time. Maybe I am too 'nice' for your liking. Or maybe I'm not good enough for Seth but quite frankly neither of us care what you think. We love each other and we're going to be together, no matter what. I am your nephew's mother and if you can't treat me with respect then what kind of a person does that make you? You can think whatever you want of me but the next time you decide to degrade me in any way, take a good hard look at yourself and wonder what kind of a person you are for treating another human being the way you do," I finish, no one having said a word after that. I think they're all surprised at what I did. To be fair, I'm not the best at doing this sort of thing with people I don't know. It's why I can with Dean but not others. Because I know him. But Angie was just acting vile and she needed to be told before she can do anything more.

"Iris," Seth says my name in a low voice and I know it's only because he doesn't want another confrontation. Or he's afraid of what Angie could now say to hurt me back.

"So no, I don't accept your apology because it's not real. You don't have any remorse for what you did and although when I found out I was pregnant I decided to start living my life differently, it doesn't mean I'll forgive people just by them apologising. You have been completely vile to me and I will not forgive you till you actually feel genuinely bad for what you did," I say the last thing I need to. "Seth, I, uh, I'll be in our room," I state, getting out of there quickly and going upstairs. I can't pretend everything's alright again when It's not. Angie may have apologised but an apology isn't going to hack it. It isn't going to make up for what she said. I place Evan down in is cot and sit on the end of my bed, my head in my hands. Why can't I seem to stop crying? I feel hands on my arms that move my hands out of my face only to see Seth through my blurry vision.

"Don't cry Cutie Pie, you know I can't see you like this," says Seth and I nod my head, moving forward to put my arms around his neck. "Ssh, it's going to be ok," he says softly.

"I…I really miss him Seth," I tell him through each sob as he strokes the back of my head, comforting me. He keeps his arms around me and then moves to lift me up. He takes me around to the front of the bed and lies me down, lying down next to me. He once again puts his arms around me, holding me as I let out my feelings of how much I miss the Father that I never had.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Me and Dean both jump when we hear the door close with a bang. We turn our heads and see Roman standing next to the front door, not looking happy. I force Dean's hands away from underneath my shirt and give him a look telling him playtime is over.

"Guys, please," says Roman, sort of changing his attitude as takes a few more steps forward.

"It's not my fault I'm irresistible dude," says Dean, shrugging his shoulders. Irresistible my ass.

"Oh please, I think Roman has more girls screaming over his long locks than you do over your curls," I comment, moving off of my fiancé and taking a seat beside him.

"That's not very nice," is all Dean can come back with. "And neither was slamming that door and scaring the shit out of us," he then says, pointing his finger at Roman who frowns as soon as Dean makes that comment.

"Whatever," says Roman, moving to go off to his room. He's annoyed. About what? I have no idea. I mean, he just went off to drop Paige to her room, I thought things like that excite a couple. Not make them mad.

"Ok, what the fuck is going on? Did you try it on with Paige and she used pepper spray?" asks Dean, never taking anything remotely serious.

"She's my girlfriend, if I try it on with her she won't say not. Believe me," says Roman and I finally understand what Roman's been putting up with because I swear I just felt some bile rising up my throat.

"Then what did happen? Because you're obviously in a bad mood," I comment, crossing my arms over my chest. He left from here looking so happy and now he looks mad. Hang on a second, she didn't tell him what we tried doing did she? No, she can't have. Otherwise he wouldn't even be looking at us.

"Have you guys always told each other everything?" asks Roman and Dean nods his head whilst I shake mine. I give him a sheepish smile when he looks at me in shock.

"You're not a man are you?" asks Dean and I slap his arm, letting out a laugh.

"You can vouch for me can't you cowboy?" I question, sending him a wink. "We tell each other important things. Like say, if Iris told me Seth's yelled at her for no reason. I wouldn't tell Dean; I'd keep it to myself. But it doesn't mean I'm hiding secrets. It's just something he doesn't need to know because it has nothing whatsoever to do with our relationship," I explain to him.

"What the fuck has he been saying to her?" asks Dean and I roll my eyes.

"It was an example Dean, don't worry, they're right as rain," I comment, patting his thigh with my hand. "Or when Dean lied about going for runs when he was setting up our anniversary surprise. That's acceptable to lie about. It changes depending on the situation," I further explain to him and Dean nods his head as if mentally taking notes for the future.

"Something happened with you and, uh, Paige?" asks Dean curiously and I shoot him a glare. He has not care for anyone's privacy whatsoever.

"No, well, kind of. I know she's hiding something from me but she refuses to tell me what it is so I walked off," answers Roman and I give Dean a we're-in-trouble-look. "We were discussing...something...and she kept pushing me without a reason," he says and I think that something is Kane. Fuck!

"To be honest Roman, she's a woman. They nag you for anything and everything," comments Dean, waving a hand in the air. I turn my head and look at him but he avoids my gaze and starts whistling to himself.

"Roman, if she's telling you something and won't shut up about it, it means you need to shut up and listen to her," I say, not moving my eyes off of my fiancé. So he thinks I nag him? I wonder how he'll like it when I beat him to a pulp?

"But she should have known when to let it go. If I don't want to do something then I don't have to," says Roman, truly believing he's right. Well he is where he stands. I can't believe he and Paige are fighting because of us. If we never did anything, then this probably wouldn't be happening right now. "But whatever, I'm going to go to bed and just forget about it. Hopefully she tells me what she's hiding otherwise we're going to have a problem," he says, walking off to his room.

"What the fuck do we do?" asks Dean, all of a sudden, his lips at my ear which makes me jump.

"I don't know about you but I am going to jump off the balcony," I say, getting up and heading towards our room.

"That was totally uncalled for," says Dean and by the sounds of it he's following me. It's too late in the night to think about all of this now. We'll sort it out in the morning. One thing is for sure though, we're going to have to come clean.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I quickly get up from the bed and grab Evan, calming him down before Iris wakes up. I sigh in relief as I see Iris stir a little but still asleep. I grab Evan's bottle and go downstairs. I get some milk ready for him and feed him. I then burp him before going back upstairs quietly. I look at Iris and my heart breaks, I can still see the tears on her cheeks. She didn't even calm down before going to sleep. She was crying and somehow managed to fall asleep.

This isn't right. What did my Iris ever do to anyone to deserve this? She's a wonderful Mother, girlfriend, friend and even daughter. She deserves more than to be reduced to tears over something that never was her fault. Especially by my own sister. I know they all wanted Angie to apologize and she did but that isn't enough this time. She's hurt Iris too much which is why first thing tomorrow morning I'm taking my family and getting the hell out of here.

I have to say, what Iris did today makes me proud of her. She stuck up for herself and let everyone know not to mess with her. The pregnancy changed Iris but that doesn't mean she lets others walk all over her. She let everyone know that today. It lets me know I won't have to worry about things in the future. If they get too much, then my woman can handle herself.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I move my arm and feel the space besides me empty. I open my eyes and see Seth's not there. Just as I begin to wonder what's going on I hear laughing and the splashing of water. I move the comforter off of me and get up to see what was going on. Just as I reach the door to the bathroom I place a hand on my mouth, trying not to laugh at the sight before me. There is Seth, holding Evan in the bathtub as he tries to give him a bath but Evan's just flapping his arms and legs about and for some reason, there's a load of soap piled on top of Seth's hair. How did that even happen?

"What is going on?" I ask, removing my hand from my mouth as I walk in to bathroom. I stay away from the bathtub in which they both are, which is filled to the top with water.

"I told you to be quiet," says Seth, talking to Evan. He turns Evan around who sees me and starts flapping about even more. "You're not meant to have a favourite parent!" he then complains. In my haste last night, I didn't even get time to change so I'm still in a dress. Nevertheless, I roll up the sleeves to my dress and walk over, kneeling down just outside the bathtub.

"Hello my special little guy," I say, taking a hold of Evan's hands and leaning forward to kiss him. "Are we having a bath?" I say, moving his arms about. "You thought you could give him a bath all by himself?" I then question. Babies may be tiny but they are difficult to bathe. I'm just glad Evan doesn't cry his eyes out when he has to have them.

"Yeah, I should have thought all that through," says Seth. "I used to have Ariana helping me before and it was fine cause the little guy would listen to her. Apparently he doesn't like listening to me," he says which makes me chuckle.

"That's because Daddy's are meant to be fun and break all the rules," I tell him.

"Wanna join us?" asks Seth with a smirk on his face. I think I know what's going through his mind. Me dressed up in next to nothing.

"Nah, I think you've got it covered," I say, disappointing him. I then get up and use my hands to take off all the soap on top of his head. "There, now you look like my guy again," I tell him. I don't get in with them but as Seth keeps a hold of Evan I make sure to get him washed properly.

"What about me? I need a good clean," says Seth, looking at me innocently. He certainly knows how to cheer a girl up. It's one of the reasons why I love him so much.

"Oh please, you just want my hands all over your body," I say, shaking my head.

"Like that's a bad thing (!)" comments Seth. He keeps on giving me looks but I continue to shake my head.

"Seth, grow up! Your son is right here!" I say and then giggle as he tries to get me wet by flicking his fingers in the direction of my face. Since Evan's bath is done, I grab a towel and wrap it around Evan, taking him off of Seth.

"What about me?" asks Seth, standing up and I'm glad he at least has his boxers on.

"You can…grab yourself," I say, laughing as I leave the bathroom. I put Evan down on the bed and bend over him, using the towel to dry him off. I then grab some lotion and gently rub it all over his body, chuckling when he'd make funny faces. I hear the shower and I'm surprised Seth didn't come out here to proposition me to go in with him. I put Evan's nappy on him and then get him dressed in a shirt and pants. I then gently pick him up and place him in the cot so I could get this room tidied a bit. I go around throwing the dirty clothes in the hamper and making the bed. I then go to the wardrobe and get out a dress to wear for the day. As I try and decide though I feel arms around me. "Need help getting dressed too?" I ask him, amused.

"Maybe," says Seth, keeping his chin in the crook of my neck. "Or I could help you get undressed," he says as I try not to laugh. I turn around in his arms and put my arms around his neck, placing a kiss on his lips. "What was that for?" he asks me as I try not to let my eyes wander. My boyfriend is standing in just a towel after all. My imagination runs wild in times like these.

"For being absolutely amazing," I tell him. The time I've spent with him and Evan in the morning, almost made me forget about everything that happened last night. My boyfriend does a good job of distracting people.

"Well in that case I should give you a kiss too," says Seth, leaning down and planting one on my lips. "What's wrong?" he asks, sensing something is up.

"I'm really sorry for worrying you last night," I tell him and in that instant his face falls slightly. I know we talked about this last night but I just feel like I need to say it again.

"Cutie Pie, you have to stop apologizing," says Seth, keeping his arms tightly secured around my waist. "Yes I was worried but I didn't expect you to stay there after everything that happened. And I'm glad that you got a chance to have a bit of space and that my Dad sorted things out with you," he says and I nod my head. Nick really did help last night; I would have been in a worse state if it wasn't for him.

"Yeah, I should really thank him," I then say aloud.

"No you won't, he'll just berate you for not considering him family," Seth tells me which is probably true. "Hey," he says, moving his nose against mine to get me to look at him. "Obviously, we need to talk about everything. But all I want you to know right now is that I love you and I'm here for you," he says as my eyes water at his words. I nod my head and move to hug him, thankful that I have him in my life.

After staying in that position Seth finally lets me go. I go into the bathroom and take a shower and get changed. I have no idea what I'll be doing today but I doubt I'll be much fun to be around. Once I get out of the bathroom I'm taken aback by the people in my room. There stands Rose, Damien, Nicky and Macy. They all go quiet as soon as they seem me.

"Morning guys," I say with a small smile. I don't even have the energy to put on an over-the-top fake smile today. I get the same greeting back from all of them as I notice they're all on the opposite side of Seth. "What's going on?" I then ask, knowing something is up. I look at each and every one of them but no one tells me a thing. Once I look at Seth he tells me.

"We're leaving," says Seth as I give him a confused look. "We're going back to Chicago," he tells me as I stand there speechless. I knew things were bad last night but I didn't think Seth would want this.

"Seth, Angie apologized like she was supposed to now please…just stay," pleads Rose as I try to come to terms with it. Seth is willing to leave spending time with his family….for me? As sweet as that is, it isn't right.

"Yeah big brother, we'd only just all gotten back together," says Nicky as Macy rubs a hand up and down his back. Obviously this was upsetting him quite a bit.

"And the girls love having you around again, they're even become very fond of Iris," Damien adds. Seth barely gets to spend time with his family because of his hectic schedule. Everyone being all together for once is actually quite lucky.

"Sorry guys but my mind is made up," says Seth, his arms crossed over his chest. "We're leaving in a few hours and no one can do anything about it," he says, obviously having made this decision without thinking it's important to talk to me.

"No we're not," I say, shaking my head and Seth closes his eyes for a second. He's got to have expected this. He looks at me and I say, "We're not leaving". We can't just leave things like this, it's not right.

"Really?" asks Rose with hope in her eyes. I know much this time together as a family means to all of them.

"Iris, I love you but there is no way we are sticking around after last night," says Seth, determined. It's sweet he cares about me so much but I care about him too. It's not what he needs right now, not what either of us need.

"I realize that you're mad about everything but we can't just get up and go," I tell him. I then realize we need to have a proper talk and look to the others. "Will you guys please take care of Evan for a sec? We'll be right back," I say, walking over to Seth and grabbing his hand. I lead us out the door and onto the balcony down the hallway.

"Iris, nothing you say can change my mind," Seth tells me as soon as I stand opposite him.

"But why leave?" I question him with my hands on my hips. "Angelina's done stuff before and none of that made you want to get up and go," I point out to him.

"That's because none of that stuff made you cry last night," says Seth as I stand there quietly. "Iris, none of the stuff she's said before made you cry. I didn't enjoy watching you take off in that car, I didn't enjoy waiting for you to come back and I certainly didn't enjoy watching you cry yourself to sleep last night," he says as I keep my gaze on the floor. "I love you too much to put you through that again," he says and I can't help but smile at that.

"Seth, she's apologized," I state. Which is true she did. Me accepting or rejecting it is another matter. And now, I can't stop thinking about what she'll do or say next that'll result in things blowing up once more.

"Yeah but It's not enough is it?" Seth asks me and I look back up at him. "I can see it in your eyes Iris, you're still upset about it and you can try and pretend to move on from it but I know it still bugs you. And just because she's apologized doesn't mean she won't do it again. Plus, it's not like you've accepted her apology. Why would you want to stick around then?" he questions me.

"Seth," I say and take his hand in mine. "I talked to Nick, alright? He gave me his word that Angelina won't do anything like that again. I believe him Seth, ok? And believe it or not I happen to like spending time with your family," I say, standing close to him. He places his other hand on top of mine and stares at me.

"Do you have an idea how much it hurts me to see you like I did last night?" he questions. I don't doubt his feelings for a second.

"Just as much as it would hurt me to see you like that," I reply, making him smile. "I know you're mad at Angelina and I know last night couldn't have been easy for you. But you were there for me Seth, you supported me the whole night. And this morning. You've been great and as long as I have you picking me right back up I have no problem with anything that's said to me". Plus, after what I said last night I doubt Angie will want to mess with me again. I could see the shock written all over her face because I bet she never thought I would say anything like that.

"It just…it sucks about your Dad," says Seth, using a hand to put some hair behind my ear.

"Yeah but you've given me a new one," I say in a soft voice, referring to Nick. "And it's not fair on him or the rest of your family because they have been great. They haven't done anything wrong Seth and we can't punish them for something they didn't do," I explain to him. I think leaving would be the easy way out. But why should either of us leave when neither of us has done anything wrong? We came here for two weeks and we're going to stick it out no matter what.

"I hate it when you get all wise," says Seth as I give him a smile. "Fine, we'll stay but…" he pauses for a second, placing both his hands on the side of my face now. "If anything, and I mean anything, makes you cry and anyone here is the reason for it. We're on the first plane back," he tells me.

"Deal," I say, nodding my head and moving forward to hug him. "Now, let's go tell those worrywarts before they continue to kick up a fuss," I say, pulling back and taking his hand in mine. I don't know what I would do without this wonderful guy in my life. I am beyond lucky.

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON POV**

"What is taking them so long?" asks Macy impatiently. She didn't want Iris to leave. Iris had fast become a woman in Macy's life who she could open up to and she didn't want to lose that anytime soon. Sure she knows Iris will only be here for another week but that was better than her leaving now.

"I don't know," says Nicky, sitting on the edge of the bed. He rarely got to see his brother and this was a golden opportunity for all the family to spend time together. He didn't want to lose that.

"Do you think he needs a lot of convincing?" asks Damien with Evan in his arms. They all know what Seth can be like when he truly cares for someone.

"Not when its Iris that's doing it," comments Rose, worried about what was going on. Seth obviously had not told Iris about leaving and she didn't want that to become a reason for them to fight or anything. "Seth never said that he'd still leave if Angie would apologize," she then says.

"Why would he say that when this way Angie would apologize as well as him being able to leave?" Macy points out which Rose nods her head to. "Besides, everyone would just kick up a fuss and that's probably the last thing he wanted," she adds on, sitting down with a sigh next to Nicky.

"Has Angie talked to you since last night?" Nicky asks his sister, looking up at her.

"No, not a word," says Rose which she found very peculiar of her sister. Truth be told, Rose could sense the enormous amount of guilt coming off of Angie as soon as Seth told them all that Iris lost her Father when she was just a little baby. None of them can imagine what Iris is going through, all their parents are alive and well. Plus, all their parents have been with them since they were born. But she'd noticed that guilty look worsened when Iris told Angie how she really felt.

"I doubt she could say anything without someone punching her," comments Macy as Nicky gives her a look. "I'm sorry but do you think anything she has ever said to Iris was even remotely nice?" Macy has a hard time trusting people, kind of like Angie, but she never was unfair to Iris. She gave her a chance and in doing so got a second chance for herself.

"Macy, Angie can be a cow at times but she's good at heart," Nicky defends his sister, despite everything that happened last night. He wasn't going to sit and listen to this. He knows his sister more than she does.

"So tell me where in the goodness of her heart she accused Iris of something so disgusting?" questions Macy, wondering if Nicky was going to start an argument with her by defending Angie.

"Guys, stop it. This isn't helping," says Damien, noticing Rose was looking like she was getting worked up just by listening to the two of them. Nicky and Macy looked at each other and intertwined their hands. They'd had fight before and even they knew this was going to turn into one. But they also promised each other that despite the fights, they were going to make it. Nicky knows Macy dislikes his sister but he wasn't going to force Macy to like her. Similarly, Macy knew Nicky wouldn't like what she had to say about Angie but she would tone it down for him.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Why so glum guys?" I ask them all as I see their fallen faces after me and Seth come back in. They need to have more faith in me.

"Are you leaving?" asks Macy shamelessly which makes me chuckle. Only her. But I like it, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah," I answer casually, shrugging my shoulders and looking at Seth.

"But you can't!" says Rose, coming up to us. "Iris, you were supposed to convince him not turn on us!" she says as I keep a smile on my face. And they all think I can't play a joke.

"Well It's not like I could do anything about," I tell her innocently. "We decided we were going to come here for 2 weeks and we can't go back on that. Now what are we doing today?" I ask them all, my hands on my hips.

"Wait, so you're staying?" asks Nicky for clarification as he gets up from the bed.

"Yeah," I say and immediately I'm bombarded with hugs. A lot of 'Thank god's and **'** Thank you's **'** are heard and it makes me happy that I made them all happy. I can tell this decision meant a lot to them. I just hope I can get through the rest of this trip without crying too. But I don't think that will be a problem. I've found a new outlook on this whole thing.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	29. Baseball

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! I was supposed to post this yesterday but things are just so busy nowadays. Anyway, I hope you like the update :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Talking would do a world of good won't it? :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 29:**

 **DEAN POV**

I look beside me and see Ariana sleeping soundly. Well at least she can sleep, I was awake a lot of the night thinking about what we're going to do. Roman might be my best friend and I might be the lunatic, but he scares the pants off of me. You don't want to be messing with him. Guilt is also another reason I was awake. All I wanted to do was make sure everything is fine with my brother but instead of doing that, me and my fiancée have somehow managed to fuck up things between him and his girlfriend.

"Stop thinking so hard, you're giving me a migraine," comments Ariana and I turn my head to look at her, a small smile on my face. "Now I know you got a bigger one than that," she says, making me chuckle. She can be cute when she wants to.

"What the fuck are we going to do?" I ask her, going back to staring at the ceiling. I hear her sigh and she shuffles so she's half on top of me, her head lying on my naked chest.

"Tell the truth and back each other up, story of our life," answers Ariana, always having the answer to everything. One of the many reasons I love her. She just has this incredible presence around me, changing the way I feel about almost everything.

"He's going to be really mad," I state, using my hand to make circles on her back.

"At first, but we'll just apologise and hopefully he can set things right with Paige," explains Ariana. With his tail tucked between his legs. "Once that's done, I'm sure he'll look past everything. I mean, if the situation was reversed he'd be just as worried either one of us," she goes on to say. The difference being, Roman would leave well enough alone whereas me and Ariana can't.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Breakfast isn't so easy. No one says a word, there's so much tension in the room. Evan starts crying and I realize he's probably hungry. I go into the kitchen to get his milk ready, hoping that by the time I come back someone says something. Everyone's acting as if someone's died.

"How are you this morning?" whispers Lucy as we both glance over at the table where everyone is sat. I suppose it would feel weird if she said anything in a loud voice.

"Alright," I whisper with a nod of my head. I give her a smile and she gives me one back. After getting Evan's milk ready I hand it to Seth who's got Evan and he starts feeding him. I continue on with breakfast and give Seth an amused smile when I hear his stomach rumble. "Here," I say, picking up some of my eggs with my fork and feeding Seth.

"Mmm, nice eggs Lucy," Seth compliments her and I'm glad he's finally said something.

"Thanks, Iris gave me some pointers," says Lucy at which I give her a pointed look. You can't take a compliment and give someone else the credit for it. "Don't give me that look Iris," she then says and I shake my head.

"I know that look very well," comments Seth with a chuckle. Before he can say anything else though I pop some toast in his mouth, making Lucy laugh. Once Evan's finished drinking his milk I take him off Seth and rest him against my shoulder. I gently rock back and forth, patting his back so he lets out a burp.

"What are the girls up to today?" I ask Rose, trying to make this breakfast go by quicker. If no one else is going to talk then I might as well. Maybe they think it's disrespectful to me to pretend everything is fine when it isn't.

"They want to go play baseball in the back garden," says Rose which I remember is one of the things we were supposed to be doing.

"Sounds great, we'll start teaching Evan early on," I then say with a smile, still patting his back. A day out in the garden, playing baseball. That should relieve some tension.

"No way, my son is going to take after me and become a professional wrestler," states Seth, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"This is exactly what I've always lived with Iris, since he was seven. Wrestling this and wrestling that, I'm not even surprised his girlfriend is one," says Anne which makes me grin. I never thought I'd actually ever be wrestling considering how my Mom was but here I am.

"He always did say he wanted a girl that could take care of herself," Nicky comment, chuckling.

"Yeah but now he has to protect himself against her," comments Damien making everyone laugh.

"Are you going to go back to wrestling Iris?" asks Rose, rolling her eyes at Damien and Nicky.

"Haven't really thought about it," I tell her honestly. "It would be ideal wouldn't it so Evan isn't away from Seth for such a long time," I say, that being my main concern. I grew up without a Dad and I don't ever want Evan to feel that way about his own. Evan lets out a burp and I move him to face me, bouncing him up and down on my lap. He turns his head and looks at Seth, reaching his arms over to him.

"Yes! Daddy's boy now," says Seth and I shake my head at his childishness. Finally, breakfast is over and done with and everyone starts to get ready to go sit outside and have a nice day. I start putting some of Evan's things in the bag as I smile at my son who's propped up against pillows at the head of the bed.

"Was it me or was that the weirdest thing you've ever been part of?" asks Macy, barging into my room. That's how it is now, she doesn't even need to knock. Haha!

"It was alright," I say, glancing at her but she gives me a look after which I say, "Ok it was beyond weird". Especially considering what breakfast has been like every single day since we've come here.

"Thank you," says Macy and then goes over, lying down next to Evan who's still propped up, smiling. "This kid is always smiling like you, what's his problem?" she then asks which makes me chuckle. I wonder what her problem is with us smiling so much.

"Just because you smile all the time doesn't mean there's a problem," I then tell her. "He's just happy, like me," I say, zipping up the small bag and sitting down on the end of the bed.

"No one's said a word to Angie today," says Macy which makes me feel guilty. Everyone's upset at her because of me but the more I think about it the less guilty I feel. She shouldn't have made those comments about me. There's a fine line between being honest and downright rude. She should have thought about what she was saying, where she was saying it and to whom.

"I don't want to talk about her," I tell Macy, just wanting to forget everything that took place last night. Angie said some stuff, I said some stuff, I just want it to be over now.

"Ok," says Macy, giving in and I think she caught the upset look on my face. "So Evan," she starts, leaning against the headboard. "Where's your Daddy today?" she asks him, making me chuckle.

"He's gone to buy some new baseball bats, hasn't he?" I say at which Evan claps his hands together. I think he's just doing it to cheer us all up. But that's a good thing, we all need that.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I walk around the mall and finally get to the shop I needed to be at. When we took out our old baseball bats, let's just say they were wrecked. There was no way I was going to let the girls or anyone else use them. Although Nicky didn't find anything wrong with them so he can keep them. When he ends up with splinters then he'll realize. I get the feeling that someone is watching me but shake it off. I buy the bats and go back to my car, my heart dropping when I see a box sat on top, waiting for me just like last time.

"What now?" I say to myself and walk over. I put the bags in the car and slide the box towards myself. I've kept my distance from Isabel so what incriminating pictures can be shown to me now? I lift the lid and see more pictures of me and Isabel, but this time they're of us in her house. In her bedroom. Where she's in her towel and standing dangerously close to me. What the fuck? How did this happen? How would the person who's doing this know I'd be with Isabel? Isabel said she swears it wasn't her but I'm starting to doubt that now. I ring the number I rang last time. When I hear the voice on the other end I say, "It's happened again". I hear a sigh on the other end and grab the pictures, throwing them into the compartment of my car and leaning against the car, sighing myself. If this is kept up, Iris will never forgive me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey Anna," I say, greeting her as I open the door. She gives me a smile and walks in.

"Hi," Anna greets back and I start to lead her in the direction of the garden where we're getting all set up for the game. "Wait," she says and puts a hand on my arm. I look at her with a confused expression on my face. What could she possibly have to say to me? Alone?

"Is everything ok?" I ask Anna and she lets out a dry chuckle.

"I should be asking you that, Angie crossed all limits yesterday," says Anna and I nod my head in agreement. That she did but I don't want to think about it. "Look Iris, I know you're very polite and you have this crazy notion about wanting people to like you," she starts, something I'm about to argue when she says, "You don't realise it but you do".

"Ok," I say, deciding to hear her out. I guess that's come about after everything blew up with Seth. I figured if he liked me one, tiny bit then he wouldn't have hurt me at all.

"But it's ok if some people don't like you. You're not going to sit well with everyone," says Anna and I nod my head. I know that's true. No one can be expected to be liked by everybody. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, good for you for letting your true self out and sticking it to Angie," she then says and I swear my eyes widen a bit in surprise.

"Wait what?" I ask, I thought she was going to say something like I shouldn't have an effort with Angie considering how she was acting.

"I don't know if anyone's told you, but you were pretty kick ass last night. I'm sure like fifty flies went into Angie's mouth," she says, making both of us laugh. I have to say, it has made me feel refreshed. "Kudos for taking all her shit, I know you did it for Seth and Evan but you don't need to. I have known Seth since we were in diapers and believe me when I say, he'd rather you argue with Angie and not take her shit than just sit there and take it all in. He's proud of you and you should be too," she says, patting my arm.

"Thanks, I guess," I say and we both head over to the garden. It was inevitable that I'd end up blowing up like that. Even I have my limits. I suppose in everything that happened in the past and now, I need to find an in between version of myself that I'm happy with. I mean, if I don't take any of Dean or Seth or Roman's shit then I shouldn't anyone else's.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"How are you doing?" I ask Angie, going into her room and standing at the door. I came in this morning and the atmosphere here is just, strained.

"Not great, nobody is talking to me," says Angie and I give her a sympathetic smile before taking a seat on the end of her bed. "They're all obviously angry about last night," she then says, shaking her head. "You know, maybe I did go too far," she says which alarms me because I need her to be against Iris. How can I get them to break up if Angie of all people decides she wants them together?

"All you did was tell everyone how you felt, since when was that a wrong thing?" I question, using my hand to rub the top of her foot. "Besides, I was going to mention that I thought the same to you but then you had that outburst. I know the mistake you made," I then tell her. I need to make her think none of this is her fault and that she was right.

"Mistake?" questions Angie. There we go, that'll do it.

"Yeah, you did it in front of everybody," I point out to her. "That's your mistake, you should have had it out with her when you were alone with Iris. If you shout at her in front of everyone, nobody's going to see your side. All they'll see is you shouting at her and her crying her eyes out," I explain to Angie.

"Yeah I guess you're right, she's only been nice to everyone since she got here," says Angie. I need to steer her away from feeling guilty about anything to feeling angry about everything.

"Obviously it's an act, no one's that nice in real life," I try convincing her. "I mean, after everything you said to her no one would stay. But she has so either she's planning something or she wants to see you isolated from your family and right now she's got Seth completely on her side. We have to stop her before she does the same with the others," I say, knowing I can't get Seth without Angie. She's the only person in this house that can help me achieve what I need to.

"Hmm, you're right," says Angie and I smile, thank god I kept her on my side. For now, anyways. "You need to go to Seth and talk about those pictures. Use them to get close to him," she instructs and I nod my head before leaving from there. I go downstairs to look for Seth and end up outside just as his car pulls in.

"Seth," I say, walking over to him just as he gets out of the car. "Are you alright? I was going to talk about the pictures but it seems you look even more stressed," I then say, noticing him look edgier. Like as if something has gone terribly wrong.

"I got sent some more pictures," states Seth as I start to feel excited on the inside. "They're of us in your room when I was talking to you about those other pictures," he says, shaking his head and biting down on his bottom lip, which I find incredibly sexy.

"What are we going to do?" I ask him, looking worried but of course I'm not. The sooner Iris sees those pictures, the better it is for me.

"I don't know about _**you**_ but _**I'm**_ going to keep my distance from you," says Seth as I raise my eyebrows in surprise. That cannot happen. "Iris and Evan are my life and I don't want to lose them. If this person is hell-bent on taking our pictures, then I'm going to make sure we're not alone together. Ever," he says and walks past quickly as I watch him leave with my hands on my hips. That's ruined things for sure. Now what the hell am I going to do?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I walk back inside and head to the garden to get everything set up. When I get there though, Damien and Nicky have got everything ready. They've got the bases and they even have a place to the side that those who aren't playing can stay sitting on. Along with a small refreshments table. Soon, everyone makes their way outside and I smile when I see Iris come out with Evan. I can't deny I'm not freaking out at all. If that person decides to send those pictures to Iris directly, then I'm screwed till the rest of my days. Maybe I should just tell her. _**He**_ told me not to, that she doesn't need the headache and to let him sort it out. But I don't want her to think she can't trust me.

"Hey," says Iris, walking up to me and placing a kiss on my cheek. "Are you ok? You seem…distracted," she points out, giving me a suspicious look but I shake my head.

"I'm alright, really," I reassure her and she nods her head. I tell her to go take a seat on the big picnic blanket the guys put out and she does so. Dad immediately taking Evan out of her hands which makes her laugh. God, I like seeing her laugh. One of the best things in the world.

"That's right baby, I'm back!" Neil shouts his arrival to us all just as we're about to play. At least he's good at baseball so if he does brag, it's not exaggerated for once.

"Crap," says Nicky as Neil goes to them. "Now I have to stick with your ugly face all day," he comments, making some of the others laugh.

"It's a whole lot better than yours, I feel sorry for Macy," says Neil, a hand on his heart, completely ignoring Angie I notice. Normally she's the first person he talks to or at least the second. He's not even looking in her direction. I would feel sorry for her but I don't, she brought this upon herself. I knew I shouldn't have listened to Iris and told off Angie the moment she made that first remark at Iris.

"Really? I feel sorry for you since you don't have a girlfriend," comments Macy, backing up Nicky who laughs in Neil's face who doesn't look amused one bit. This is going to be a long day.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I laugh along with Anne as we watch Lacey chase Nicky around the garden with a bat in her hand, yelling that she isn't out even if he did catch the ball. He should know by now that you pretend to let the kids win so they have something to be happy about.

"Stop chasing your Uncle Nicky, it's not cute!" shouts Nicky as he runs from one side to the other and everyone else just laughs uncontrollably. "Macy, do something!" he says as he runs past her but I doubt she can because she's too busy laughing like the rest of us.

"What…I…you…ha ha," Macy gets out as she holds her stomach, bent over in laughter. After a good while I decide someone should stop her, just in case one of them falls over and gets hurt. Or she actually managed to hit him with the bat.

"Alright, Lacey stop chasing Uncle Nicky. I think he gets the message!" I shout over to her. She stops and looks at me, nodding her head and leaves the bat on the floor coming over, sitting herself right in my lap.

"What…how did you…oh never mind," says Nicky as he keeps his hands on his knees, bent over trying to catch his breath back. I think at this point he's just happy she's stopped chasing him.

"Are you having fun?" I ask Lacey and she nods her head enthusiastically.

"I scared Uncle Nicky," says Lacey, a hand on her mouth as she laughs, and I nod my head with a chuckle.

"You sure did bud," I tell her. They start a completely new game and start to change teams over. I get up wanting to be involved as well. "I want to play as well," I tell them. I might as well join them since they're all having so much fun.

"Really? You want to play?" asks Seth, looking at me quizzically as I nod my head enthusiastically. "You know you suck at sports right? Except for wrestling," he then very kindly points out. That may be kind of true. But it won't stop me from playing them and having a good time. But thanks a lot boyfriend, for pointing out my flaws (!) I don't actually say it because I know he'll get serious and start apologising.

"Oh, that's not nice dude," says Macy, hitting Seth's head as she walks around and ends up on my side. At least I have someone to back me up.

"You sucked at cooking but I never said that to you, I sneakily made you do the little things for me and now you can cook," I comment at which Macy chuckles and gives me a high five.

"Point taken," says Seth with a smirk as Macy goes back over to her boyfriend. "Looks like you have a new best friend," he then points out to me.

"Another," I correct him. No one can replace Ariana but I can also have more than one best friend. "And just for that last comment I think I'll show you what I'm quite capable of," I then say, leaving him standing there as I walk over to Macy. I drag her away from Nicky and then get Damien over as well. Knowing I need one more person I call over Neil. "Ok guys, we're going to beat those Rollins if it's the last thing we do," I then state.

"Hang on a sec, did you just pick a team?" questions Neil and I nod my head. It's better than standing there and everyone calling out who they want. I'm sure Neil or Nicky would end up complaining about not getting chosen or boast about it.

"Team Outsiders right?" I question and smile when the others nod their heads. "Ok, what are everyone's strengths?" I question them all. By making sure everyone's doing what they're the best at, we can make sure we win.

"Batting," says Macy straight away. Why am I not surprised?

"Ball," says Neil with a nod of his head.

"Anything really," answers Damien as I nod my head and take everything into account. "Alright, if Neil bowls and the rest of us stand at bases. Damien, you stand further out because I know how great Seth is when it comes to the bat," I say, rolling my eyes. The first time we ever played baseball, Seth was, in Ariana's words, 'a little shit'. Which is true. He would not stop gloating and he didn't even have mercy on me despite the fact that I was his girlfriend.

"We need someone else if we want to completely annihilate them," states Macy as I look over at Seth who's stood with Nicky, Rose and Mason. Nick stands up and joins their team and Seth sends a smirk in my direction.

"I have an idea," I state with a nod of my head. "Marie! We need you!" I call her over, she's the only other person who's not a Rollins. Technically she is but only by marriage.

"What's up guys?" asks Marie with a smile as she gets to us.

"How would you like to be on Team Outsiders?" I ask her and she gives me a smile. We get everything decided and go to our spots. Seth's team stand in a line, ready to bat. This is going to be fun. Its starts off with Seth batting first and obviously he makes it all the way around before we can even get him. It looks like their team have the upper hand because damn those Rollins for being so good at batting. However, Nick hit's the ball and it doesn't go too far. The ball comes at my feet and I quickly throw it over to Macy who gets him out just in time.

"That's right, Team Outsiders!" shouts Macy, boasting in front of Nick's face who looks mortified but I just burst out laughing. Macy always chooses a great time to start antics like this (!) Once it's our turn to bat Macy goes up first, easily making it to fourth base as Nicky runs after the ball she hit really hard. Next it's my turn to bat.

"Go easy on her Seth," jokes Nicky and I narrow my eyes at him. Seth must have been telling him the stories when I'm not there. I hate boys.

"Don't worry, I plan to," says Seth, throwing the ball up and down in his hand as he smirks at me. I may not be the best hitter but I can definitely use the running to my advantage. "Brace yourself honey!" he shouts and I shake my head. He cannot shake me.

"Wait a sec," says Macy and runs over to me. She whispers some pointers in my ear which I take note of. She winks at me and jogs off to the side. Seth throws the ball at first and I miss it completely but he doesn't say anything. The smile on his face says it all though. Stupid gloating Rollins. I glance at Macy who gives me an encouraging look. I take a deep breath and get into position. As soon as Seth hits it I keep my eye on the ball. I hit it and it goes flying in the air and my mouth open in an 'o' shape. "Well don't just stand there, run!" shouts Macy, snapping me out of my daze. I quickly run to the first base as Seth shouts for Nicky to catch the ball who doesn't catch it and ends up chasing after it instead.

"Come on!" shouts Seth as I giggle and make faces at him as I run. He runs over to fourth base and stands there, ready to catch the ball. I look behind me and see Nicky has the ball in his hands.

"Oh no you don't," I say and just as Nicky throws the ball I decide to do the one thing I always said I never would. I use my feet and slide my body to the last base. In doing so I end up kicking Seth's legs and he falls down. Right on top of me. "Oof!" I let out as he falls on top of me but makes sure not to hurt me. "Did I make it?" I ask, opening my eyes and looking up at him.

"Yes! Go on Iris!" I hear Macy shout and smile when I realize I made it. Haha! Yes!

"Yep, you showed me," says Seth, smiling down at me and I start to go red realizing everyone's probably looking at us, wondering why Seth won't move. "If proving me wrong means you'll be underneath me every time then I'll gladly say something else," he says as I giggle. I use my hands and shove his chest as he helps me to get up and I dust off my dress. "Nice hit by the way," he says, his hand on my back. I nod my head with a smile and go to my team who hug me in amazement. I can't believe I managed to hit a throw like that and make it to fourth base! Unbelievable!

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I think the whole situation is getting to Dean in a real way. He looks to seriously worried about what will happen when we tell Roman. When Roman's upset about something, he goes to the gym earlier. Coming back at a time when we leave so right now we're ready for the gym and waiting around for him.

"Should we really tell him and then just...leave?" asks Dean, sitting on the arm of the couch. I chose standing instead.

"He's gonna need time all alone, if we stick around then he'll just get madder," I explain to my fiancé who nods his head and goes back to staring at the floor. I walk over to him and put my arms around him from behind. "What's wrong? This isn't the first time you thought Roman would be mad at something you did?" I question him. There's got to be something more.

"That was all jokes Ari, this is serious because it involves Paige," says Dean, still thinking about it. Once he gets obsessed with something, he never lets it go. Quite annoying really. "Roman only gets seriously mad when it has something to do with the people he cares about. He was mad at Seth because of what he did to Iris, mad at Randy when he wouldn't leave you alone and kept playing mind games, mad at Kane when he was targeting Iris, mad at Kane again for whatever the fuck he said recently. Holy shit he's going to be pissed," he goes on as if talking to himself.

"Quit worrying Dean, he might be mad at the beginning but he'll be fine afterwards. Trust me," I say and then place a kiss on his cheek which puts a small smile on his face. It's barely noticeable but it is there.

"What's up guys?" asks Roman, walking in with a towel in his hand. He's worked out a lot, it's like as if he's melting. I'm about to speak up when Dean does it instead.

"We have something to tell you," says Dean and I guess he feels it's his responsibility to tell Roman everything. I stand to the side as Dean admits everything to Roman, who looks less and less happy. When Dean finally finishes telling Roman everything, he waits for a response. I can see him getting antsy so I step forward and take his hand in mine. We both made a mistake so we'll face the consequences together.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved!**


	30. Switching Sides

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Here's the next chapter everyone! I hope you all like it :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: You're so cute! :)**

 **Calwitch: I guess the complicated thing about this whole thing with Iris and Seth is how much she trusts him. She's moved on from the past but the future will show whether she really has or not.  
Yes he will be angry, how could he not? Let's just hope he listens to them both! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 30:**

 **IRIS POV**

The day goes by fine and everyone's acting all normal, but the truth is It's not. They're all ignoring Angie and she isn't even taking part in playing baseball. No one's even encouraging her to take part in it either. Don't get me wrong, I am still upset at what she said to me. But no one deserves being treated like that. If anyone should be treating her like that then it should be me, not everyone else. Realizing its quite hot today I go inside to the kitchen and put a jug of juice and some glasses on a tray. In a way her situation at the moment is kind of similar to Seth's after everything he did. I couldn't take it back then, Roman and Dean acting like he doesn't exist. I just hate people being left to the side, is that so bad?

"Oh, hi," I say with a small smile, looking up and seeing Angie walk in. I know I said I don't forgive her but at one point I didn't forgive Seth either. Somehow I managed to get past everything and got along with him. Despite everything I said last night, I'm going to try and move on. I hope she can too. Angie just sighs and goes about to do whatever she needs to. You'd think she'd be a bit nice considering I should be giving her the cold shoulder. Maybe Ariana is right, maybe I need to stop being so nice. I'm trying to put everything that happened yesterday behind me and it wouldn't hurt everyone else to do the same. I pick up the tray to leave.

"I'm sorry," I hear and turn back around to see Angie standing next to a cupboard, opening a packet of bread. She turns and looks up at me. "I…I didn't know about your Dad so…sorry I said that. I know you said you don't forgive me but I genuinely am really sorry. Everything I said, it's how I felt," she says and she wouldn't be Angie if she didn't tell me everything honestly. I can sort of tell she's sorry about things so that's a start.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," I tell her with a nod of my head. If there's any chance we're going to be on the same terms, then I should take it right?

"That's it? You're not mad?" says Angie as I think about it. That's a misconception. I was mad at Seth the whole time he was around whilst I was pregnant. Till we became friends that is and he showed me he's the good guy I always thought he was.

"You can't help how you feel right?" I say to her with a small smile. "Truth be told I am mad. Furious actually and I let you and everyone else know that last night. But right now, that's not going to get me anywhere. I can stay angry and scream and shout saying you're heartless and god knows what else but you just love your Dad. And I love mine so I understand I guess. It doesn't mean I agree with it but I sort of get it," I explain to her, feeling judged by her eyes staying settled on mine. "I honestly just found that chess set randomly. I didn't mean to overstep any boundaries," I then tell her.

"You didn't," says Angie with a frown on her face. I wish I could tell what she was thinking, then I'd know whether I should be worried right now or not. "It's just…I don't like people making their way into our family and then…" she trails off looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Leaving?" I finish off for her and she nods her head. "Yeah, I understand. It's horrible when people make their way into your life and then you find out what they're really like," I say, thinking about my own family. "Is…is that what happened with your ex?" I then ask quickly, unsure of how she'd take this.

"Yeah," says Angie, nodding her head and looking away, getting back to opening her packet of bread. "I just don't understand, I was a bitch to you last night and yet you're still being nice," she says, confused as I try not to laugh. Everyone gets confused when I do stuff like that. "You're the only one that's talked to me all day. No one's that nice," she then states, looking at me suspiciously.

"You know Angelina, when a lot of bad things continue to happen in life you can either let them affect you or you can just keep on going," I tell her, thinking about all the crap I've had to deal with. "If I keep a smile on my face and move forward, forgiving and forgetting then I've won. Those bad things or the people that did those bad things, they lost because in the end I'm still happy," I say with a small smile on my face. "Plus it helps that I have Seth. He's…really good to me. He's there for me as much as possible and…why cry over family that I don't have when I can laugh with the one I do have, right?" I then say, tilting my head as I look at her.

"Right," says Angie and I swear I see a smile tugging at the side of her lips.

"Iris, where are you? Your lover's getting impatient!" shouts Neil, coming into the kitchen. I notice Angie just get back to making a sandwich and not even looking at Neil. The reason it hurts her that he's ignoring her as well is because she considers him more than a friend. But she's never even realised it.

"Neil, I can hear you perfectly fine if you said it in a lower tone," I let him know.

"I know, I just wanted to announce it," says Neil, going over to a cupboard and rummaging through it.

"What are you looking for?" I ask him but he doesn't answer me.

"Ah ha!" exclaims Neil and then brings out a packet of crisps. "Got them!" he says all chirpy. "Oh, we're playing hide and seek, wanna join?" he asks me and I nod my head. I love playing hide and seek.

"My favourite, I still play it with Ariana from time to time," I let him know as he walks over to me. It has been a while since we played it but it got difficult to since I was pregnant and now that I have Evan, we haven't had much time to just be silly and goof off.

"I bet you play it with Seth too you naughty girl," he comments, making me red in the face as I walk by his side. I glance back and look at Angie, feeling even sorrier for her. At least she apologized to me. And I could tell it was heartfelt, it wasn't like last night where I didn't feel it to be genuine. And when someone is sincerely sorry, forgiving them and moving on is so much easier.

"I'm it, you go hide!" I hear Lily's voice as I walk out with Neil who was making silly comments as usual. I bet he's kind of torn up inside. He probably never thought Angie, the girl he likes so much, would come out with something like that.

"No, I'm it and you have to hide!" says Lacey as they both bicker. Kids will be kids.

"Are you all just going to keep ignoring her?" I ask Neil, stopping abruptly at the sliding doors. This can't be easy for him. It wasn't for me when I tried to keep Seth out of sight and mind.

"Yes," says Neil, the smile on his face faltering a little. He does want to talk to her, I can tell.

"Why?" I ask him.

"Last night, what she did and said was unforgivable," Neil answers me. That's what I thought last night too, till I woke up this morning and realised I don't need shit like that in my life. "Angie's been my friend since we were kids and yes she's had it bad since Jason but that doesn't mean she takes it out on other people," he explains at which I sigh.

"But you love her," I point out to him. You can't stay mad at the one you love right? Everyone knows that's been the case with me and Seth.

"Not the girl you saw last night," says Neil, shaking his head. "The Angie I know would never have ever been so vindictive," he then states before walking off to sort out the little fight Lacey and Lily are having. I frown wondering what I can do to change things. Before I have a chance though Angie walks past me and from the thud in her steps I can tell she heard. Wait a sec, did she hear me tell Neil he loves her? Crap, if she has then...I have no idea what to do. I try and act normal and go over to the blanket some everyone's sat on and kneel down.

"Thank god, I was dying in the heat!" says Damien, his head in Rose's lap. I chuckle and pour some juice in for everyone, handing it to them all one by one.

"Thanks Cutie Pie," says Seth, placing a kiss on my cheek as I hand him a glass. I see Evan looking up at the sky in wonder from his seat in Nick's lap. It would have been wonderful to have a family like this when I was growing up and I'm glad that my son gets it. I pour in a glass for Angie and walk over to where the sliding doors are, she's leaning against the wall there.

"Here," I say in a friendly voice and I can tell she's thinking about it. But then she takes it from me.

"Thanks I guess," says Angie. I smile at her but before I can go she asks me, "Is that what everyone thinks? That I'm vindictive?" I bite down on my tongue wondering what else she heard.

"No," I tell her, sugar coating it for her. I suppose I don't want to kick her while she's down. I'm not that kind of a person.

"Truth please," says Angie. "I mean, everyone's ignoring me and I get why. But the next thing I know is I'm walking and hear Neil call me vindictive," she says as I sigh internally in relief, glad she didn't hear anything. He needs to tell her himself and when the time is right.

"Well," I start, trying to word this in a way that will make this a little easier for her to hear. "Not vindictive exactly but…difficult," I say, being careful with my choice of words. "Just, everything you say and do it's in a really bitter way," I be honest with her.

"Bitter?" she asks me and I nod my head. There's no other way to describe it.

"You act like there's nothing to be happy about in life and your attitude, it's really quite negative," I continue to go on as she just listens to me. Well her attitude is negative compared to me. "I mean, compared to me you're quite the opposite. You dwell on everything and you always try to find a fault in things. I sometimes wonder why you can't just enjoy life. You have family and friends and a good job. It seems like it's never enough and if someone on the outside, like me, does anything then it really annoys you which I don't get by the way," I then say and decide to zip it there because there's a glare on her face. But it's the truth and that's what she asked for.

"You know," starts Angie as I feel like I'm going to get the telling off of a lifetime. "No one's ever been so honest with me," she says instead as I look at her in surprise. "Everyone in this family tiptoes around me. If I'm being a bitch then they let it slide but they never say a word," she explains as I listen to her now. "Maybe they should have because then things wouldn't have gotten this far".

"It's never too late to change things," I tell her, shrugging my shoulders. "I mean, at one point things were really bad with me and Seth. He did some things that I considered unforgivable. But with time, I got past them. Everyone here will too," I explain. "Everyone loves you Angelina but I think they miss the old you, the real you. I don't know what she was like but I would have liked to have met her," I say after which I decide to leave and let her think about things.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"I don't understand why she's talking to Angie as if they're best friends," Macy says as we all try not to stare at Iris and Angie who are talking next to the sliding doors. We all have the same mind-set right now, waiting for things to blow up. We're all standing and waiting to start playing hide and seek. Well, once Neil's helped the girls decide who's going to be 'it'.

"She feels bad for her," I say, knowing my girlfriend completely. "No one's talking to her and Iris can't stand seeing anyone upset. Ergo, there she is," I explain to them all. Reminds me of how she was when she first came back after we broke up. She disliked me and couldn't forgive me but she couldn't stand others ignoring me either and tried to get me involved in everything. One of the reasons I ended up falling for her.

"I would never be able to do what she's doing Seth, you really picked a great one," says Rose, patting my back as I smile at her. I am quite proud of Iris. I always think she can't surprise me and then she does this. It makes me fall more and more in love with her.

"I just hope Angie doesn't tear her a new one," says Nicky at which Macy slaps his arm. I look over at my girlfriend and hope Angie isn't saying anything else that will upset her.

"Somehow, after last night, I don't think that's a problem," I comment. Last night was a scene I would have expected from Iris before I'd broken her heart. That's how she deals with someone who annoys her and doesn't care for others. She needs to be more like that sometimes. I mean I love defending her, but I think at times she needs to do it herself. I guess that'll take time though,

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Have we decided who's it?" I ask, looking down at Lacey and Lily and at Neil who's knelt down next to them trying to sort it out. Like some sort of a referee.

"Nope," answers Neil unhappily, looking like he's about to get a headache. I can imagine the kinds of things they're coming out with. It's like watching Dean and Seth argue over something stupid.

"How about you both be it? You can tag team everyone," I suggest and smiles cover their faces.

"We'll be Aunt Iris and Ariana," says Lacey and grabs Lily's hand as they run off towards Rose. Their goal is to be like me and Ariana? Sweet. We are pretty awesome.

"Should have come earlier," says Neil. It would have saved him the headache. "What were you talking about with Angie?" he then asks curiously.

"If you want to find out then talk to her yourself," I tell him, walking off to go to the group.

"Right, you girls count and we'll run off," I hear Damien say. The girls cover their eyes and everyone starts to run off, to find places to hide. I do too but feel Seth grab my hand and pull me with him to go hide behind a statue further down in the garden. "And what do you think you are doing?" I ask Seth in a whisper as he keeps his arms around his waist and I put mine around his neck.

"I am going to kiss my beautiful girlfriend," replies Seth and then leans down to kiss my lips. "Please tell me Angie didn't say anything awful to you," he then says and I shake my head. Gosh, why do they all want to know so badly what we talked about? I know they don't think I can handle myself but I proved last night that I definitely can.

"It was fine, I actually think she's coming around now," I tell him with a smile. I want Angie to get along with me on her own terms.

"Don't hold your breath," comments Seth which makes me frown. "I just don't want to see you hurt baby, I don't want you to get your hopes up and then realize she's still the same old Angie who couldn't give a crap what happens to you," he explains and I nod my head. I peck his lips with a smile. I love seeing his protective and caring side.

"Everything will be fine," I tell him. I have faith that everything will turn out alright and even if it doesn't it'll be fine because I have Seth by my side.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"How dare you?" questions Roman in a low, but kind of scary, voice. He's not happy but we'd be stupid if we thought he'd be overjoyed.

"We're sorry," I speak up for us both. It's only fair since Dean explained the whole situation to him. "We've apologised to Paige and now we're saying sorry to you too. We realise what we did was wrong," I further explain to him, glancing at Dean.

"That was none of your business," snaps Roman, surprising the hell out of me. He's never spoken like that to either of us. "You think I'm hiding something so you decide to ambush my girlfriend? Using the excuse of a dinner? Do you have any idea how she might feel after what you guys pulled?" he goes on to ask question after question. It certainly wasn't one of our best ideas.

"That's bullshit!" exclaims Dean, looking pissed off now. He lets go of my hand and takes a few steps forward. "Anything concerning Kane is everyone's business because Iris is involved," he nearly yells. This is why you can't discuss things with Dean. He ends up getting pissed off himself even though he's made the person standing opposite mad. But Roman doesn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

"If I choose to tell you something, that's my decision. I chose to tell Paige because I trust her and needed her support. I don't have to tell you anything," says Roman, a comment which hurts me and I can tell it does Dean too.

"Just because you got a girlfriend doesn't mean you tell her everything and tell us to fuck off!" yells Dean, getting the wrong end of the stick. Then again, Roman should have worded that better. "So we can't be trusted now? That's fucking great Rome!" he says and then begins to clap his hands. "After everything we've gone through you want to stand there and say you trust your girlfriend more than me?" he asks in disbelief. I really want to say something but I feel like I'd be intruding. This just got personal.

"You trust Ariana more than me," comments Roman and I swear it's like I'm hearing two kids arguing over who they've shared sweets with or something.

"You know what Roman, if you don't want to tell us then fine but just don't even think about springing up a bullshit excuse like that," I say, having had enough of it. "When Dean found out about Seth, he questioned me so much I never felt like he trusted me. Because his best friend meant a lot to him. I know he won't admit it because he probably won't want to hurt my feelings but he trusts you more than he ever will me so don't even think about bringing me into this," I say in a calm voice. It's not an issue, it's the truth. Dean's known Roman a lot longer so of course that's how he feels. It doesn't mean he trusts me any less.

"I can't believe you two are telling me off when you're the ones that fucked up," says Roman, letting out a scoff. He knows what he said was stupid.

"At least we fucking admitted it! What else do you want me to do?" questions Dean, his arms out. "I'm not going to go fucking kiss her feet now am I?" he says, cocky, assey Dean coming out.

"You always have to make it about you, don't you?" says Roman and I'm back to hitting my head against a brick wall. "Paige is important to me but you're never going to understand because you're only thinking about yourself," he then accuses and at this point, Dean looks even more mad.

"Well of course she's fucking important, you've chosen to trust her over your best friend!" shouts Dean and I think this whole situation has just gotten out of control. They're misunderstanding each other. "Fine, you know what? Tell her! Tell her everything. Next time you need help, go to her! Don't come near me!" he says and stomps off, slamming the door shut. Well, it could have gone worse.

"Roman," I say his name and he looks at me. "We don't know what you're hiding or why. But you know how protective we are of Iris, that's why we did what we did. Our love for her is what drove us but our love for you, made us stop. We sorted things out with Paige and she isn't holding anything against any of us. I understand that you're mad but if there's one thing I've known about you and Dean, it's that you've always put your friendship before anything else," I say to him. I don't expect him to tell us everything though but what he's hiding is probably important. "My lunatic just cares too much I guess. He wants everyone to be safe and happy. I know he gets a bit, over the top like just now but he just cares too much," I say before heading out of there too. Dean's probably headed down to punch the hell out of a punching bag. I better go improve his mood, although it will prove to be difficult.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

I walk back inside as everyone plays hide and seek. I hate that they're all ignoring me but I guess I deserve it. I never got why Iris was always so happy and cheery despite the things I would say to her but now I do. _**If I keep a smile on my face and move forward, forgiving and forgetting then I've won**_. I like that idea. No one's that nice but that explains it all.

"There you are!" exclaims Isabel, walking over to me immediately. "I had to go home because Mom needed something but I'm back. What's everyone doing?" she asks me.

"Erm, playing hide and seek," I tell her as she nods her head. I can't believe I was so stupid to go along with Isabel. I should never have tried to get her to come in between Seth and Iris. Not when Seth cares about her so much. I am the worst sister ever.

"Great, I'll see if I can find Seth," says Isabel with a wink and moves to leave but I grab her arm and turn her back around. "What's wrong?" she asks me, looking confused. I should have done this a long time ago.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," I tell her truthfully. Seth is my little brother and I want to see him happy. Despite everything that's happened in the past, he does deserve someone like Iris. He's made himself a better person and it's about time I followed in his footsteps and did the same.

"What? Why?" questions Isabel as I try to think of an answer. "If I don't stick like glue to Seth then how can I get rid of Iris and plant myself into her place?" she asks with her hands on her hips. Ok, I know exactly what to say now.

"You're not," I tell her, looking her dead in the eyes. "I don't know what had gotten into me but this is wrong. I can't break up Seth and Iris," I then say to her. It's wrong. I think I probably knew it too but was just being ignorant. Iris is totally right for my brother and I can't believe I didn't see that before.

"What?" asks Isabel, not looking happy. If I hadn't encouraged her at the start, one of this would be happening. "This…this was your idea and now all of a sudden you want to forget about it?" she questions. The worst part of this whole thing is that it was my idea.

"Yeah," I answer her with my arms crossed over my chest.

"But you hate her!" reasons Isabel, her hands all flapping about.

"I did," I admit with a nod of my head. "But I've come to realize that she isn't that bad". Nope, Iris isn't bad. That's the description of me right now.

"Please don't tell me you're just feeling guilty about yesterday," says Isabel. I think if anything, yesterday showed me just how low I've stooped. It's like I've been hit in the face with ice cold water.

"Maybe but I've talked to Iris today," I tell her. "Out of everyone in my family she's the only person that's talked to me and given me the time of day. I can't do something bad to her when all she's done is be nothing but nice to me. I was wrong to even think about breaking them up in the first place," I be honest. This whole mess is my fault so I'm going to sort it out.

"So that's it? We leave them be?" asks Isabel and I nod my head. That was the idea. "What about me? You said you'd love to have me with Seth instead! What about my love for Seth? Don't you care about me anymore?" she goes on and I shake my head. As soon as Isabel agreed to the plan I knew she would never end up with my brother.

"A girl who's willing to break up the man she claims to love from the girl he loves shows that she doesn't know what love actually is," I state, having forgotten myself what it was for a while. But I've realized just how wrong I was. "If you really loved Seth, you would have been content in seeing him happy. We were wrong to even plan this, the more I think about it the more I feel sick!" I let her know.

"You can't do this," says Isabel with a glare in her eye, her behaviour shocking me right now.

"I can and I am," I state. "If you even think about going through with this then I won't hesitate in stopping you. This ends now," I make it clear, glancing around to make sure no one's about.

"No, it doesn't," says Isabel, standing right in front of me. She looks at me with a smirk on her face and then grabs my hand and drags me from the hallway into a store room. I would have argued with her but we need to do this privately. "If you try to stop me from getting Seth then I'll tell everyone how you are involved in this," she says as my eyebrows rise in surprise. "I'll tell everyone how you hated Iris and how you manipulated and threatened me into doing what you wanted," she says.

"That's a lie!" I state through clenched teeth. I can't have anyone finding out the truth or believing Isabel's lie. If anyone hears about any of this, I'll be gone so fast from this family.

"But they don't know that," Isabel points out. "And considering last night I don't think your family will believe you over me," she says, her hands crossed over her chest. I keep my hands in my pockets as I try to control my anger. She's right, no one's going to believe me. They've all known I've had it out for Iris ever since she came here. "Now, if you don't want to be a part of it then fine but I'm going to get Seth and if you even think about telling anyone the truth then I'll make sure to bring you down with me," she threatens as I see something in her eyes which I haven't seen before.

"What happened to you?" I ask, it being unbelievable how she changed in such a small amount of time. The girl I knew growing up couldn't even think of threatening someone, let alone do it.

"I realized that if I wanted something then I'd have to play dirty," says Isabel. "Don't forget what I said," she says and gets out of there as I stand there and then shake my head. I brought this all upon myself. I started this and now Iris and Seth are going to suffer for my mistake. What have I done?

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

" _What do you mean she's out?"_ asks the voice on the other end. I knew I'd get **an** unhappy tone on the other side. But I had to make this phone call because I have no idea what to do next.

"She said she won't do it, says Iris is too nice," I tell the other person. "I think she feels bad about what happened last night. I've tried getting her back on point but it's not working!" I explain. It's always so hard to change Angie's view on anything. She's always so set in her ways which is why it was perfect that she wanted to break up Seth and Iris. But now she's switched sides and I don't see her coming back to mine anytime soon.

" _Well then, work harder,"_ says the voice, angry at my failed attempt of course. _"I will not have all my hard work go to waste because that bitch has suddenly got a conscience!"_ I never saw it coming.

"Well what do you want me to do?" I ask the voice. "You know as well as I do that once Angie makes up her mind she doesn't change it," I remind the voice. Obviously the voice has forgotten about it. I don't even get why I say the voice in my head. Well, I have been forbidden to say the actual name. I guess that's played into my head as well.

" _Well Iris somehow managed to change it so you change it back!"_ I get ordered but roll my eyes. Changing Angie's mind is like pulling the sword out of the fricking stone.

"It isn't that easy," I tell the voice. "But I have threatened her that if she tells anyone then I'll blame the whole thing on her and no one will believe her," I then let the voice know. That should work but it's very realistic that Angie could get to a point where she doesn't care about that anymore.

" _Ah, good girl,"_ says the voice. _"Now all we need to do is make sure that bitch keeps her mouth shut,"_ says the voice and I listen to what's being said on the other end. Hopefully I can just end this all fast and quickly.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	31. Old Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Back with the next one guys! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks my love! :)**

 **lourdes1694: I know. I bet you never thought you'd be saying 'poor Angie' though, huh? :)**

 **calwitch: Yay! I surprised you. I knew no one would expect that. And since it's hard to surprise you because you're so very good at guessing what is going to happen next, I shall award myself a medal. And you don't know who it could be. Double bonus!  
They wouldn't think Roman might be protecting them and that's exactly why they don't get it.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 31:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"He didn't mean it like that Dean," I try telling him as I watch him continually punch the shit out of the punching bag. These boys complain we girls take things too far but look at what they did.

"I don't fucking care, he said he trusted her and told her which means he doesn't trust me at all," says Dean and then rapidly punches the bag. I let out a sigh and sit down, waiting for him to finish so we can talk. It's not that Roman doesn't trust Dean, it's that he needed Paige at the time. When he finally stops I get up and hug him from behind.

"I know you're angry Dean but try and be a little understanding?" I request of him. He's a hothead and nothing will ever change that. "Roman needed Paige at that time, not because he doesn't trust you. There was no reason to blow up on him like you did," I try and make him understand with my head leant against his back.

"Then why didn't you say something?" asks Dean, referring to me staying quiet the whole time.

"I honestly thought you guys might talk it out, till you barged out of there," I say, standing up properly when I feel him begin to turn around. "Listen," I start, taking one of his hands in mine. "You get angry when you're upset, it's practically guaranteed all the time. But now that you've beat the shit out of that punching bag, are you seeing things more clearly?"

"Yes," answers Dean, begrudgingly, his gaze averting mine.

"So, are we going to apologise?" I ask him, keeping calm. I know the boys will work it out, they always do. Just like us girls do. Well, me and Iris don't really fight as much as these fuckers but you know what I mean.

"How many times are we going to apologise?" questions Dean with a loud sigh.

"Then stop acting like a whiny little kid who screams whenever something goes wrong," I state bluntly, on the receiving end of his glare. "Dean, remember we decided Roman can keep whatever it is to himself?" I ask him and he nods his head. "Then stop getting mad that he's keeping it from us," I advise him, easier said than done though.

"I can...try," Dean finally says, putting a smile on my face. I move forward and place a kiss on his lips.

"Now, Roman needs time too so I suggest we continue working out and then grab some lunch, ok?" I say and he nods his head. Boy am I glad when he decides to use something else other than that punching bag. Then again, at least it's a punching bag and not a person. I just hope that when he does apologise to Roman, Roman is understanding and can get past it.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Who have you been talking to for such a long time?" I ask Macy as she comes back over to me. We were having a nice conversation and then poof, she was off. She actually looked quite mad on the phone. I know she can have a short temper but how can someone make her look so mad?

"Some idiot at work set fire to some very important papers," says Macy. How the hell did they manage that? I would pry but Macy looks like she's had enough. Like as if she's at the end of it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say with my hand over my heart. "I know how important your work is to you," I then say but she shakes her head. The only reason she's been staying here is because Nicky convinced her and she managed to take a few days off, making sure other people were handling any work that needed to be done ASAP.

"It's alright, she'll get what's coming to her," says Macy with a determined look on her face. I would not want to be on the receiving end of her anger. I have a feeling she destroys in that office. "Let's forget about her though and have some fun. I won't let any bitch ruin my time with you," she says and links my arm with hers as we head off inside to have some lunch. I honestly don't know what I would do without Macy here sometimes.

"How you doing?" asks Mason as I stand in the kitchen preparing some milk for Evan. I send him a smile and start to wonder what he could be after.

"Fine," I answer, nodding my head. I can't not feel fine when everyone's being so comforting and supportive. "Are you after more food?" I ask cheekily, making him laugh.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you on your own," says Mason and I look at him once more. I pour Evan's milk into his bottle and keep it to the side, it needs to cool down since I warmed it up in the pan. "After everything that happened, I never got a chance to thank you properly," he then says and I look at him in questioning. "The chess set," he adds on.

"Oh, no problem. I'm glad I gave you guys something that meant so much to you, even if it was by accident," I say and gesture for him to sit down with me at the breakfast table. I have a feeling he has a lot more to say but is finding it difficult to say it. "How did you guys lose it if you don't mind me asking," I then say.

"You're going to think this is really stupid," comments Mason and I give him a look. I doubt after everything he's said to me overtime I'll find it really stupid. I'm sure he's said worse things on different occasions. "We moved houses when we were young, I can't remember what age. But with that came a lot of junk that wasn't needed. So our parents decided to put up a yard sale," he starts to explain to me.

"Where were you living before?" I then ask him.

"Still in Iowa, I think maybe Davenport or somewhere close to that area," answers Mason and I nod my head. "So we had the yard sale and the chess set somehow got left with all the things for sale. Our Mother sold it thinking we might have put it there, obviously we didn't. We tried finding the person who bought it but couldn't. Mom bought us a new one but it..." he trails off.

"Never felt like yours?" I finish off for him and he nods his head. I think this is probably the most serious conversation we've had. Actually, it's the only serious one we've had. "That makes sense. The old one was special to you boys and your Father," I comment.

"And boy are we glad you got it back for us," comments Mason, making me smile. "I know Angie was very rude about the whole thing and she just got beyond jealous," he says at which my smile falters. I don't like thinking about it, even if I've started to build bridges with Angie. "But, for future reference I don't have any daughters who'd get jealous of such a gesture," he goes on to say, putting the smile right back up and placing his hand on my hand. "Just saying," he says, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll keep that in mind," I say and then remember Evan's milk. I get up and grab it, heading back outside with Mason who puts an arm around my shoulder. I am beyond thankful for Seth being in my life. Because of him, I'm gaining a lot more than I bargained for when we first set out on this trip.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Hey, don't be so angry," says Paige as I sit with her during lunch. I didn't know who else to talk to. Considering it's her they verbally attacked with all those questions, I wanted to apologise. I explained what happened with Dean and Ariana, feeling angrier as I reiterated everything to her.

"How can I not? They cornered you without even thinking about talking to me and then get angry that I tell you things but not them," I state, picking at my food. I haven't eaten since dinner last night and I feel anything but hungry right now.

"Yes but they apologised," Paige defends them, I don't even know why. "Look, I'm the first person to go on a rant when people pull dick moves but I can honestly say no one's ever apologised that fast before," she says, looking kind of surprised still. "Plus, they could have easily not said anything and allowed me to be on the receiving end of your...I want to say upset fit?" she says, looking unsure which makes me chuckle.

"Your point?" I ask, trying to bring the conversation back to where it was.

"Yeah, so basically they didn't need to fess up to what they did. I was fine keeping it between us yet they came out with everything. They didn't take the easy way out and believe me it would have saved all this drama," she says, putting a forkful of food into her mouth.

"I guess," I say and let out a sigh. They came clean, I have to give them credit for that. It doesn't mean I have to forget everything though.

"Now would be a good time to tell them about what Kane said," adds on Paige and I send her a small glare. "Alright, fine don't. It's not like you've listened to me the past fifty times I've told you to come clean," she goes on with herself, looking down at her food and I just stare at her. "Don't come crying to me when it does backfire," she adds on, chugging down some water as well. None of us need the extra headache. Maybe when Iris comes back then I will, as a safety precaution. But there's no need to get any of them riled up just this minute.

"I guess I'll be talking to Dean then," I say, deciding it's about time we just talked. That is if I can have a sane conversation with my best friend without him blowing up like a volcano.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

A couple of days later, things look like they're getting better. Everyone slowly starts to talk to Angie, it's just minimal things but it just shows that everything will be fine. And she is acting different. I'm guessing she's being the person she is and who everyone else kept saying they missed.

"Don't start without me!" I call from the bathroom to Seth. It's been days since we talked to the gang and let's just say Seth was receiving texts from Dean to see his Godson or he would come down there and take him. His actual words believe it or not. The fact that he thinks he can do that is quite funny.

"We won't!" Seth calls back. I quickly put a pin in my hair to hold my fringes back and then go to the bed, sitting down next to Seth who has Evan in his arms. "Ok, and here we go!" he says, calling the guys. It's answered almost immediately and I laugh as the first face I see is Dean's. I wouldn't be surprised if he told me he was sitting at the laptop for hours waiting for our call.

" _Tidbit!"_ exclaims Dean like as if he hasn't seen him in years. _"There you are!"_ he says with a big smile as Evan tries to touch the laptop screen but Seth keeps him back.

" _Dean, get out of his face. He'll think you're the boogeyman or something,"_ I hear Ariana's voice and smile widely when I see my best friend on screen too. Dean moves back and Roman's now visible as well. They all look the same, well mostly anyway.

"Ari!" I exclaim, waving my hand at her as she chuckles and waves back. "I miss you," I tell her. No matter who I get along with anywhere, Ariana's always been family and the one person that I miss the most.

" _I miss you too!"_ says Ariana. _"And I missed you little guy, he's looking great guys,"_ she says. I look at Evan and smile. Of course he would. Everyone's been taking such good care of him. Wherever he goes he gets showered with love, my son is really very lucky.

"How are you doing Roman? You look like you've not had much sleep," Seth points out. Yep, he has some bags underneath his eyes.

" _Blame. Him,"_ says Roman, pointing to Dean who tries to look indifferent. _"All I hear is-"_ I cut him off knowing exactly what this is concerning.

"Oh my gosh, Dean, yes! That's the spot! Oh, don't stop, harder!" I mimic Ariana as Seth and Roman laugh but Ariana doesn't look amused one bit. What can I say? It's not the first time I've mimicked her. Then again, she was drunk last time. But this time, she on a computer screen. Huh, I am very lucky too.

" _Yes, that exactly,"_ says Roman, pointing at me. _"I should just get a separate room when you guys aren't around,"_ he then comments which makes me chuckle. _"How are things on your end?"_ he asks. I think out of everyone, I've talked to Roman the least on the phone.

"They are great!" I let him know. "Seth's family is absolutely wonderful and me and Evan are having a great time getting to know them," I explain to him. I never thought we'd get here when we were on our way here but I have loved it. I am not going to be telling them everything that happened with Angie because it's been sorted. Although, I know my best friend and Seth's best friends will be furious over everything.

" _That's good,"_ says Ariana. _"I can't wait to see you guys again, it's not the same,"_ she tells me. I feel the exact same way about them. It's felt weird not having Dean constantly taking Evan away from me or Seth.

"We can't wait to see you guys either but It's only a few more days and then we'll all be back together again," I say, remaining positive. I look forward to seeing them all again. I might be looking at them through a laptop right now but it's so not the same.

" _Can't you just ship tidbit over here?"_ requests Dean and I shake my head at his request with a laugh. _"I mean, look at him. He's missed me so much that he thinks he can get me by going through the screen!"_ he says. I think he misses everyone, not just Dean.

"Sorry Dean but our son is going to stay with us," Seth lays down the law as he keeps Evan from mauling the laptop screen. "If you're that bothered why don't you make your own kid with Ari?" he then suggests. That being one thing that keeps coming up again and again. He's so attached to Evan it's unreal.

" _Because I would like to get married first,"_ says Dean as if it's obvious which it's not because this is Dean we're talking about. _"I don't know about the way you guys do things but for normal people it goes 'first comes love, then comes marriage and eventually I'll come with the baby carriage'!"_ he says and we all start to laugh. He's kidding of course but boy do I miss him.

"Which reminds me, have you guys set a date?" I then question Ariana. If it was left to these two they would have eloped already but no one is going to take away my day to shine as the Maid of Honour. I'm joking of course but I refuse to let them have a half assed wedding because neither of them can be bothered planning the entire thing.

" _Yes, actually,"_ says Ariana with a smile. _"We've been talking and we just want to get it done as fast as possible but within a decent time frame so December 7_ _th_ _,"_ she then says, my smile falling at the sound of that.

" _Yeah, this one's too impatient to call me her husband,"_ says Dean at which Ariana scoffs. They're serious about this are they?

" _Says the guy who suggested we sneak into a chapel when in Vegas just last week,"_ says Ariana, looking at Dean who just shrugs his shoulders. I can't believe I'm having to deal with this.

" _I thought it would save a lot of money,"_ justifies Dean and I laugh because of which my stomach starts hurting. I really missed these guys.

" _And that's quality right there,"_ comments Roman.

"A winter wedding?" I ask, getting back to the problem at hand. These guys always distract easily with their petty little arguments. "Ari, we're all going to freeze our asses off!" I exclaim. This is why I am planning the wedding and not them two.

" _Relax would ya?"_ says Ariana, waving a hand in the air. _"We're doing it in Vegas and it barely snows over there,"_ she then goes on to say. That's a fair point I guess. I really think they should bring the date forward, we're at the end of August right now. They've waited long enough. But I can work on that when I get back.

" _So all the guys will be fine in suits and all the girls smoking in dresses,"_ comments Dean, earning a hit off of Ariana.

" _Are you going to be staring at all the girls on our wedding day or focusing your attention on me?"_ questions Ariana and I can tell by Dean's face he's winding her up, again.

" _I told you she's obsessed with me,"_ comments Dean and Ariana rolls her eyes. And these kids want to enter in a marriage?

" _Which reminds me, who's going to be your best man?" s_ he then asks as I glance at Seth and then continue to look at Roman. This should be...interesting.

" _Uh,"_ says Dean with a dumb look on his face. He hasn't thought about this has he? It should have been something he's constantly thinking about. He has either Roman or Seth to choose from.

" _See, this is why I'm glad I only have one best friend. I don't have to choose now,"_ says Ariana, bragging right in front of Dean's face who's still thinking.

" _Well, I could say Roman but he's decided to make fun out of me and keeps on giving me grief for being Tidbit's Godfather,"_ starts Dean, tapping his chin. _"Or I could go with Seth but he decided to take Tidbit away from me_ ," he then continues to go on as the suspense is killing me. _"So, yep I've decided,"_ he then says with finality.

"And?" I say, trying to push him further to tell us what is going through his mind right now.

" _You,"_ says Dean, pointing at us. _"Are going to be my best man,"_ he then says as I look at Seth. He's picking Seth? Despite everything? Don't get me wrong, that's very flattering for Seth but seriously?

"Me?" asks Seth in disbelief, probably because of everything that's happened in the past, the obvious choice would be Roman.

" _You wish!"_ says Dean and we all look on confused. What the heck is going on? _"I'm talking to Tidbit,"_ he then says and me and Seth look down at Evan. He wants Evan to be his best man?

" _Him?"_ asks Roman with disbelief written all over his face but Dean nods his head.

"You're serious?" asks Seth. I think he's literally lost his mind. How can Evan be his best man? He can't even walk down the aisle.

" _Of course, he's my main man now since you two act like scumbags,"_ comments Dean. For once in his life, can he not make a serious decision?

"Haha, nice one," I say, pointing to Dean. I suppose Dean wouldn't be Dean without doing something like this.

" _That's it, I've had it,"_ says Roman, getting up and leaving. _"After all the things I've done for you…"_ he trails off and we can't hear him anymore. I'm sure there was some cussing involved. It's a good thing I can't hear because then that means Evan can't hear it either.

"He's not really upset, is he?" I ask Dean with concern. I know Dean was making a big joke out of it but Roman's walked off.

" _Nah, he's just being overdramatic as usual,"_ states Dean, sitting back in a relaxed position.

" _Dean, for once will you stop joking around and make a serious decision?"_ says Ariana. If anyone can get him in gear, it's my best friend. _"Pick one of them and Evan is not an option,"_ she says pointing her finger at Dean.

" _Well then you choose between two best friends and see how hard it is,"_ says Dean, sitting back with a sigh. It would be tough now that I think about it.

"Just put Roman as your best man," Seth then tells him. "It'll make him happy," he says. I look at Seth with a smile on my face. I think I just fell for him a little bit more.

" _And you?"_ asks Dean. _"I am not choosing between you guys,"_ he then says, crossing his arms over his chest like a stubborn child. I think it's enough for Seth that he's back at this point with Dean even after everything that happened. I don't any of us thought we'd get to the point where Dean wouldn't be able to choose between Seth and Roman like the old times.

"It doesn't matter man," Seth tells him as I look at him. "You got the Godfather role so just make him best man. Besides, I know you've always been closer to Roman," he then says but we all know that means Roman's been there for Dean more than Seth. Especially when all that crap went down with Ariana.

" _Fine,"_ says Dean and I put a hand on Seth's thigh, giving him the biggest smile I can muster and letting him know that I'm proud of him. _"But then at his wedding you can be best man and at yours I'll be best man. Just so this doesn't happen again,"_ he plans it all, referring to Roman being upset.

"Deal," says Seth and if Dean was here then they'd definitely shake on it.

" _Hey Roman, you wanna be best man then?"_ Dean shouts and Ariana hits him for being so insensitive. _"What?"_ he asks and then gets up and goes. A few minutes later he comes back with Roman who seems to have a small smile on his face. _"But Tidbit is still going to be part of my wedding. He can be the ring bearer,"_ he suggests. Hmm, not a bad idea from Dean Ambrose.

"What do you say buddy? Want to be Uncle Dean's ring bearer?" Seth asks Evan, looking down at him. Evan just claps eagerly and we all take that as a yes.

"How are all the girls?" I ask Ariana, switching topics before something else comes up that gets us all into trouble.

" _They're alright, they're still gushing over how cute Evan is though,"_ says Ariana and I can tell that probably annoys her. _"Dolph was asking about you the other day you know,"_ she then says as I glance at Seth to make sure he's alright with Dolph being brought up.

"How is he?" I ask her. "And how's it going with AJ?" I question eagerly.

" _They are joined at the hip!"_ Ariana lets me know. _"And so much in love. All she talks about in the locker room is Dolph and it's sickening me, literally,"_ she says which makes me chuckle. _"I can't wait for you to come back so I can talk to someone who's sane_ ," she then says. We talk some more and eventually they all have to go. We end the call and I smile contently. That's exactly what I needed.

* * *

"Here comes the wicked witch," mutters Macy in my ear as I shake my head at her behaviour towards Angie. I really hope they eventually do get along. It would be a shame if they didn't since things seem to be going well at the moment.

"Morning!" I say to Angie who actually gives me a small smile.

"Morning Iris," says Angie, less chirpy than me but at least it's something. Better than what I was being subjected to before. "You guys making breakfast?" she asks us and I nod my head as Macy just gets on with making the food. "Need any help?" she then asks us.

"Uh, sure," I tell her. "Do you know how to scramble some eggs?" I ask her at which she chuckles. It is probably the easiest thing to do. Well, for anybody who isn't Dean. He burns them. He burns toast too.

"I think I can handle it," says Angie and goes on to start making some. Macy gives me a look but I shoot her one that says leave-it so she gets on with doing the toast. "Listen, guys," Angie then says, getting both our attention. I look at her from the counter where I am facing the dining table and Macy looks at her from the counter near the kitchen window where she's making the toast. I'm just cutting up some fruit for everyone and making sure to put aside some strawberries for Seth, he absolutely loves them.

"What's wrong?" I ask Angie, noticing her look hesitant which is a first for her.

"I want to apologize to you guys," says Angie and I register the shock on Macy's face. She never saw this coming, did she? "I mean, you're my brother's girlfriends and despite the fact that they're both so obviously in love with you I shot you both down without even giving you a chance. And I've realized that its wrong," she then says to us both. I knew she'd come around properly.

"It's alright," I tell her. I'm glad she's finally decided to put everything behind her.

"Uh, not its not," says Macy and I give her a look. "What? Don't give me that look Iris this girl has been a Class A bitch to us both since we arrived," she then points out. Which is true but there's no need to not move on from things.

"Macy, will you give it a rest?" I reprimand her. If we move past everything it'll let Angie know that she's making the right decision.

"No, she's right," says Angie, shaking her head and acting out of character. I wonder if everything's alright. "I have been a big bitch to you both and I'm sorry, really I am. All I wanted was for my brother's to be happy, you know?" she then says.

"What made you think they weren't?" I then question her with my head slightly tilted. I'm sure me and Seth have been happy since we've arrived. We had that one argument but things have settled since then.

"I don't know," says Angie, looking down at the floor. At least she's being honest. "But everything I said and did was wrong. And I'd like the opportunity to make amends, can you guys forgive me? And can we move on? Get to know each other from the start?" she goes on to ask.

"Sure," I tell her and then we both look at Macy who's giving Angie suspicious looks. I don't blame her but after the conversations I have had with Angie, I feel like she really wants to turn over a new leaf.

"Fine, as long as you don't act like a bitch again," says Macy and then smiles which makes me and Angie smile.

"Like as if you weren't one when we first met you," Angie then points out, getting right into the teasing.

"Touché," says Macy with a nod of her head. "Looks like Iris's magic is spreading like wildfire because we've both changed since she's come," she then says, making us all laugh. "Shit, the toast!" she then says and turns around to see that she's burnt some. She holds up a black piece of toast and looks on at us both sadly.

"Uh, I think the raccoon in the garage will love that (!)" comments Angie making me laugh but Macy sticks her tongue out before throwing the toast into the bin and getting started on more. I don't know if what I'm spreading is magic but I have a knack for bringing out the best in people.

* * *

 **ANNE POV**

I hear laughing and stand behind the staircase, rubbing my eyes continuously as I watch the girls in the kitchen. I think I've stumbled upon a parallel universe because this can't be right. Iris, Macy and Angie all getting along in the kitchen. Laughing and chatting.

"What's up Mum?" asks Rose and then follows my gaze. I notice from the corner of my eye that her mouth drops open as she watches on at what I'm looking at too. "What the…" she trails off. One by one everyone ends up standing where we are, all of us confused.

"Did someone mix something in their drinks last night?" questions Nicky and despite the fact that my son comes out with the silliest things most of the times, for the first time I'm actually considering his theory as plausible.

"Possibly," says Damien, looking dazed at what he sees.

"I'm hungry so I'm going to get some food," says Mason, walking off as we all sigh because now we have to go and make it look like we're not at all fazed by the scene. I smile because I'm glad that the girls are getting along. I never thought Macy or Angie would get along with Iris because of who they were. But Iris is like a lucky charm, she's come and we've gotten to know the real Macy. Not only that but I'm getting my Angie back. She's brought the family together.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Everyone comes for breakfast and we all greet each other. Seth must still be taking a shower. I tell Macy and Angie that I'll be right back. I go up the stairs with the baby monitor in my hand and see Evan in his cot. I cannot wait for him to start crawling; it's going to be awesome.

"Seth?" I call his name and then walk over to pick Evan up from the cot. "Hey baby," I then say smiling as I see him smile. "Seth?" I call again and then walk over to the bathroom door. Just as I'm about to open it I see Seth's face pop out from behind the door.

"Hey Cutie Pie," says Seth with a smile on his face.

"Hey, you nearly done?" I then ask him.

"Almost," replies Seth.

"Ok, well breakfast is ready," I then tell him. "I was thinking I could go out with the girls for some lunch in town. Angie, I think she's definitely come around. Me, her and Macy have been cooking breakfast together," I tell him with an excited smile on my face.

"Really?" asks Seth, looking surprised himself. "That's great babe," he says and I nod my head. "You need me to take care of Evan whilst you girls go out?" he then asks me.

"Nope, Evan wants to stay with the ladies today," I say as Seth nods his head but something seems off to me. "Is everything alright?" I then ask him. He's standing there kind of naked and he's not even suggested for me to join him. Maybe because he knows I can't so isn't even bothering. But that's never been an issue before.

"Yeah, of course it is. Why would you ask me that?" he questions a bit too defensively.

"Oh, sorry," I say my smile dropping.

"Iris," says Seth and places a hand on the side of my face. "Everything's alright. I hate it when you worry that something is going to go wrong because it isn't," he tells me.

"Something usually does," I respond.

"Not this time," says Seth and I nod my head. "Love you," he says, moving forward and placing a kiss on my forehead, making my smile come back instantly.

"Love you too, see you downstairs," I say and then walk off, Seth disappearing back into the bathroom. It's weird how he came to the door and stood there talking to me. Most of the time I just go in and talk to him as I tidy up some of his stuff. I think it's just me though, I'm reading way too much into things. Something that I think I need to stop.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	32. Annoying Antics

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you're all ok and you like this chapter :)**

 **Calwitch: Well you're just going to have to wait and see what happens ;)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks love! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I love hearing your theory. You'll see what happens in the coming chapters :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 32:**

 **SETH POV**

I turn on the shower and start to wash myself. Talking to the guys last night felt good. I know most people would think that I'd be upset because Dean's got Roman to be his best man but to be truthful, I was just happy in knowing I was being considered. After everything I did, Dean still was having trouble deciding between me and Roman and that was enough for me. I hear the door and smile.

"Finally couldn't resist me?" I question with a smirk. When I don't get a response I turn around and open the shower door, shocked when I see Isabel sitting on the counter where the sink is in only a red, silky robe. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I ask her, grabbing a towel from the side and wrapping it around me when I notice her eyes wondering.

"I wanted to take a shower and thought, hey, maybe Seth wanted to take one too," says Isabel with a smirk on her face.

"Isabel, this has got to stop," I tell her in a calm voice. "I've told you before that I love Iris and I don't want you in any way, shape or form," I make it clear to her once more. Maybe I should have just told Iris the truth, at least then I wouldn't need to feel panicky and keep looking at the bathroom door.

"Oh Seth," says Isabel and hops off the counter. She walks right up to me and places her arms around my neck, "All I want is you. One night would do; you know?"

"And I don't want you," I say, untangling her arms from my neck and backing away as much as possible. "This is your final warning, stay away from me or else," I say.

"Or else what?" asks Isabel. "You're going to spank me?" she asks with a chuckle. "How about we stop running around in circles," she suggests but before I can ask her what she means she takes off her robe and lets it fall down onto the floor. My eyes widen as I stare at her naked body. "How do I look? As good as you imagined or even better?" she asks but I put a hand up and close my eyes.

"Isabel, just go away! I don't want you and I never will," I say and peek out from my eyes to see her still standing there.

"Seth?" I hear Iris's voice and freeze in place. Shit, what do I do now? If Iris comes in here, then I am so incredibly screwed that I won't ever even get a chance to explain. She'll leave me so quick that I'll be stranded within a blink of an eye. "Seth?" I hear her voice again as I start to feel guilty for everything that happened. I should never have let it get this far. I hear her footsteps get closer and quickly go over to the door, opening it and popping my head out. I can't let her come inside.

"Hey Cutie Pie," I say with a smile on my face. I notice Isabel walk to the other side of the door and thank god she decided to put her robe back on again at least.

"Hey, you nearly done?" Iris asks me, standing there with Evan in her arms. I can't lose her or Evan. They mean too much to me. I do want to tell her everything but I'm afraid of losing her. Plus, _**he**_ told me not to.

"Almost," I reply, trying not to look like as if I'm hiding something but then what should I look like?

"Ok, well breakfast is ready," Iris tells me. "I was thinking I could go out with the girls for some lunch in town. Angie, I think she's definitely come around. Me, her and Macy have been cooking breakfast together," she says with an excited smile on her face.

"Really?" I ask her, looking more than just surprised. Angie was all for biting her head off two days ago and now they're cooking breakfast together? At least it's made Iris happy. "That's great babe," I say and she nods her head. "You need me to take care of Evan whilst you girls go out?" I then ask, ignoring what are supposed to be seductive looks from Isabel. I start to feel bile rise in my throat once she sticks one of her fingers in her mouth, licking it.

"Nope, Evan wants to stay with the ladies today," Iris tells me and I nod my head, trying to stay calm. "Is everything alright?" she then asks me.

"Yeah, of course it is. Why would you ask me that?" I question quickly with a frown. Does she know something? Is it obvious something is suspicious to her?

"Oh, sorry," says Iris and I feel like such an ass because her smile drops by ten floors at least.

"Iris," I say and place a hand on the side of her cheek. "Everything's alright. I hate it when you worry that something is going to go wrong because it isn't," I tell her although she has every reason to believe something is. Given everything that I'm hiding from her.

"Something usually does," responds Iris with a worried look and it's in that moment that I know I can't let her know anything, at all. For once everything is going right on her end and I don't want to be the person to take that away from her.

"Not this time," I say and she nods her head. "Love you," I say, moving forward and placing a kiss on her forehead. I promise Iris, nothing is going to go wrong this time.

"Love you too, see you downstairs," she says and then walks off as I quickly shut the door. I let out a sigh that she didn't see Isabel in here.

"That was close, now where were we?" I hear Isabel say and then wrap her arms around my waist.

"Nowhere," I say, getting her hands off of me. "What are you too stupid to realize that I don't want you?" I question, turning to look at her. I then grab her arm and drag her out of the bathroom and out of my bedroom. "Stay away from me because I only love Iris. If you decide to make one more move. then I'll tell Iris the truth and I don't care what happens after!" I say, shutting the door in her face and then locking it just in case she decides to come back in. I've had it. No more Mister Nice Guy. I was trying to spare her feelings, something I never got from her. I get out my clothes and get dressed before heading downstairs.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I'd scream right now but then everyone would hear me and know that I'm here. I managed to sneak into the house so I'll have to sneak back out. What will it take to get Seth to break? This is getting irritating now! I take out my phone from the pocket it's in in the robe.

" _Tell me you have some good news,"_ says the voice on the other end. Well, this will be disappointing.

"I wish," I say with a sigh. "He's not taking the bait alright? I even got naked in front of him and he shut his eyes. He didn't even get turned on so what the hell am I meant to do?" I ask. I have to say I am a little bit offended. I remember when me wearing a low cut top would make Seth stare at me for ages.

" _I give you one job and you screw it up!"_ I hear from the voice and then a loud bang. Like as if it's my fault. _"I need you to get Seth to cheat on Iris for this all to work,"_ I then get told. I know that already. _"I thought you two had a special connection"_.

"We did, I mean at least I thought we did," I say, walking in through the back door of my house and making a cup of coffee.

" _You need to try harder,"_ says the voice at which I sigh. How much harder can I try? When a guy knocks you back and you're completely naked, that's literally the last point. What more can I do?

"I am, but he doesn't want to know. He's so in love with Iris that he won't even look at me in the wrong way," I justify, unsure of what I should do next.

" _Ok, we need to go about this in another way,"_ says the voice at which I sigh in relief. _"We need to break them up differently. Put some distances in between them, do anything that will make one upset with the other. When he starts getting distanced from her, is when you make your advance and then this little fishy will definitely bite,"_ the voice says, chuckling on the other end.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"What are you girls going to shop for?" asks Annette and I start talking about our trip. Yes, we're going shopping too. I smile at Seth who sits down next to me. I think something is bothering him but he won't tell me about it. But I'm not going to push, he'll tell me when he's ready.

"Baby stuff for sure," says Rose with a giggle. She is so excited about this baby.

"Do you still have some of Lacey and Lily's old stuff?" asks Angie and Rose nods her head. Apart from the fact that the new baby can use it, you just can't seem to throw things away. I still some of Evan's clothes from when he was first born, I couldn't get myself to throw them away.

"Yeah but Damien seems to think we're going to have a boy so I need to look at other options," says Rose.

"You already think you're going to have a boy?" asks Macy.

"Honey, I know I am," says Damien which makes us all laugh. We all finish breakfast and then us girls get ready to go out. I get Evan ready and since Macy's driving I get him all set up in the seat.

"Isn't that Seth's hat?" questions Angie, getting in next to Evan on the other side. Anne gave us absolutely everything of Seth's, he's still amazed at the amount of things she'd gathered.

"Yep," I say, loving dressing Evan up in Seth's old baby clothes. "Where's Rose?" I then ask.

"Chatting away with Damien," answers Macy, getting into the driver's seat and closing the door as I close the door on my side as well. "She needs to put her foot down and tell him to shut his gob". Macy can be so rude sometimes.

"Macy!" I reprimand her.

"What?" asks Macy, acting all innocent as always.

"She's right you know," says Angie, giving me a look.

"Not you too!" I say but she just shrugs her shoulders and laughs along with Macy.

"And now I like her," says Macy, putting her feet up on the dashboard. "Why is it rainy today? I hate the rain," she comments randomly. I actually like the rain.

"Because the rain gods decided it so," I tell her. Once Rose finally comes we all notice Isabel with her which I can tell from the mirror Macy doesn't look too pleased about. Actually, I don't look too pleased about it either.

"Hey guys!" says Isabel, standing at Macy's window, waving at us all. Please tell me she's just come here to greet us all and is leaving any second now.

"Isabel heard we're going shopping and decided to come with us," explains Rose. And just like that our whole day is ruined. Macy hasn't tried anything recently but I still don't trust her.

"That's great, where are you going to put her? On the roof?" questions Angie as I look at her surprised. She was Isabel's best friend not too long ago. And now this? I'm confused. Did something happen between them that I missed? What could possibly make them fall out? I'm sure Angie likes her a hell of a lot more than me.

"Nice one Angie!" says Isabel with a laugh. But it doesn't look genuine.

"Oh, I didn't think about that," says Rose with a small frown. "We'll need to take a second car then".

"Or she can just miss out on everything just this once and we can see her later," suggests Macy with a fake smile on her face and I notice Angie trying not to laugh.

"I like that idea," Angie then backs Macy up which by the looks of it surprises Macy too. "Don't worry Isabel, I know Rita needed some help with the garden anyway. I know for a fact she'd want you to help her, since you're her daughter and all," she says and I see Isabel's face drop which I'm revelling in right now. I may have to be nice to her on the surface but I can hate her as much as I want to on the inside.

"Oh, yeah that's fine then," says Isabel, playing it off cool. Hmm, she really wanted to go.

"No Isabel, it's ok," says Rose, glaring at her sister who doesn't seem to really care. Why would she though? It's Angie after all.

"No," says Isabel. "If I knew Mom was doing the garden then I would have stopped her," she says but I find that hard to believe. She's currently living with her Mother so I'm pretty sure her Mom would have mentioned it to her last night during dinner perhaps? Something is not right. "I'll see you guys later," she says with a smile and leaves from there and I feel glad that she has.

"Shall we get going or do you want to bring the whole zoo in here?" asks Angie. Rose rolls her eyes and gets into the passenger seat at the front. We go to the mall and follow Rose around at first as all the things being sold for babies catch her eyes.

"I won't be surprised if she buys the whole shop," comments Macy and the three of us snicker.

"I heard that," says Rose in a loud voice as she continues to walk in front of us.

"Our bad Mother," says Angie as she and Macy laugh. They could be twins right now, I'm telling you. It's so weird to go from them hating each other to getting on so well. Macy won't have to worry when I leave from here, she's getting along with everyone. Even Angie now.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean, have you seen my hairbrush?!" I shout as I look through all my stuff at the hotel and don't seem to find it. Why is it that the one thing I can't find is the one thing I desperately need? My hair looks awful! Not even funny awful, but just awful.

"I don't know babe; I don't use it!" Dean shouts back from the bathroom. That is such a guy answer. Like as if I swear his shoes and all his clothes, yet he always seems to ask me where all his stuff is. It makes me wonder, how did he live without me around before? Maybe Roman or Seth used to keep his things in check.

"But it was here just last night!" I exclaim, feeling frustrated. We have to leave for an interview in the next fifteen minutes and I need to sort out my hair pronto!

"All I know is I don't use it," states Dean, coming out of the bathroom and then leaving the bedroom. Why I keep him around I have no idea. A few minutes later he walks in with a hairbrush and holds it out for me.

"And where did that come from?" I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest. That is not my hairbrush so it'd be nice to know how it appeared.

"I quickly went down to the gift shop and bought one," answers Dean, shrugging his shoulders.

"You went all the way down there and bought me a hairbrush?" I ask him and he nods his head. I would say that's so sweet. But I just narrow my eyes at him for even thinking he can bullshit me.

"It's Roman's," Dean lets out begrudgingly. He thought he could get himself on my good side by doing something nice. Well, pretending to at least. "How the fuck do you know when I'm lying?" he then asks, having given me the hairbrush and lying himself down on our bed.

"Because I have a radar," I joke and stand in front of the mirror, sorting the nest on my head out. Roman can bitch and whine but I literally have no other option. I'll buy him a new one if he's too bothered.

"Liar, you could never tell when we first started dating," comments Dean, narrowing his eyes at me which makes me chuckle inwardly. He's right though, I couldn't before. But that's what happens when you date someone and then end up in a relationship. You get to know them better than themselves.

"I don't know really, I just can," I comment, shrugging my shoulders. Plus, he scratches the back of his ear which I won't disclose to him because then he'll try to stop doing it. Most of the time I can just tell when he's lying but that gesture just helps cement my belief.

"That is cool," comments Dean, staring up at the ceiling. "If you were a superhero, instead of giving bad guys drugs to get them to confess to their wrongdoings, you could just narrow your eyes at them and they'd spill everything," he goes on to say, successful in making me smile.

"You've been watching late night movies again, haven't you?" I ask him, being able to read him like the back of my hand.

"Maybe," he says. Once I finally manage to sort my hair out, I put it into a pony to keep it out of my face for the day. I do not need a bad hair day and with the winds outside, that looks like where it would be headed.

"Shall we go for our interview?" I ask my fiancé, grabbing my handbag from the floor.

"If we must," says Dean, getting off the bed with a sigh. "Just so you know, I am all for the pants you're wearing right now because your ass looks smoking!" he compliments and I hit a couple of times before finally allowing him to put his arm around my shoulder as we walk out of the hotel room.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

" _It doesn't matter if they didn't let you come along,"_ says the voice as I sit in my bedroom and flip through a magazine. I realized that Angie tricked me because I came back inside and found out Mom had gone next door to chat with Anne. _"We still know everything they're talking about"._

"How am I supposed to split up Iris and Seth if I can't create barriers between them like you said?" I question the voice. I need answers and directions to get all this done otherwise it'll take that much more longer.

" _Don't worry, something's going to pop up sooner or later,"_ says the voice on the other end. _"I'll make sure to get something from them today that'll give you ammunition. Till then, you work on getting everybody out of that house,"_ I get told.

"Why?" I ask the voice.

" _Because if everyone goes out, then you can be left alone with Seth,"_ says the voice. _"It's only a matter of time before he finally gives in, I mean he can only say 'no' to you so many times as you stand in front of him in next to nothing, right?"_ The lines goes dead and I put my phone down. It would have been helpful if I had gotten an idea on how to get rid of everyone in that house.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"No, it's true," says Angie, nodding her head as we laugh, all sitting at a table in a coffee shop. "Nicky's face blew up like a balloon!" she tells us, laughing along with us. I can honestly say that I never thought I'd see this day where us four are sitting and chatting like we're best friends or something.

"Since then, the poor guy inspects all his food when he goes out," says Rose. "He's so convinced that somebody might just slip and end up putting a nut in his food," she tells us all. Nicky is allergic to nuts. Even a tiny little crumb and he's done for.

"So that's why he's all weird when food comes around," says Macy as if she's had an epiphany. "He's always giving our food a weird, odd look," she comments. That's peculiar. You'd think Macy would know about Nicky's allergy considering they're together and live together too. Or maybe it never came up so she doesn't know. That's very likely.

"How's everything going with you guys? Don't think no one's noticed you're staying over almost every night now," says Rose, nudging Macy with her elbow with me and Angie sat across from them. It's true. Macy's staying with us in the house, she can't even deny it. Which is different from before.

"That's only because I'm great friends with Iris now," comments Macy, gesturing to me. "Oh, excuse me guys," she says and leaves the shop for a few seconds, talking on the phone with a frown on her face. It must be work again; she's been having trouble with them for the past few days.

"If she wasn't with Nicky I would think she's a lesbian," comments Angie with a snicker. That would be very flattering to me. Of course, Angie's not being mean but only cracking jokes.

"Angie!" says Rose, leaning over and slapping her arm as I laugh. Once Macy comes back I burst out laughing and so does Angie. Rose then tells her what Angie said.

"You had to go back to being a bitch didn't you?" asks Macy but we know she's joking too because she's got a smile on her face. At least we can all take jokes.

"So how are things with you and Nicky? Are you at the marrying stage yet?" asks Rose. We all look at Macy who then starts to look uncomfortable. Of course she would though. Her last marriage ended in a disaster. Not just ended, it was a disaster from the moment it began.

"I have…no clue," says Macy, unsure about it. "I don't want to rush into another marriage though," she comments as I give her a look and can see she's biting down on her tongue. And she just let it slip out that she's been married before. Maybe that's a good thing though, it shows she's more comfortable around Rose and Angie.

"You've been married before?" asks Rose with a gasp as Macy slowly nods her head. "Why haven't you told us this?" she then asks, looking horrified.

"I wasn't tight with you guys before," replies Macy, shrugging her shoulders. I like the way she answered that question. "But yeah, I was married for nine months before but the guy was an ass," she explains to them as I give her a smile in encouragement. She doesn't need to let it affect her because that is the past.

"Well, what happened?" asks Rose in concern. Hmm, maybe she won't feel too good telling them everything. I should say something.

"I don't think we should talk about it," I tell them both, knowing Macy probably doesn't want to advertise it. I know she had a hard time telling me everything.

"I agree," says Angie, glancing at me and then nodding her head.

"Its fine guys, I've come to terms with what happened," says Macy with her hands up.

"You sure?" I ask her, remembering how emotional she got when she told me.

"Yeah, I mean its time someone in the family apart from Nicky knew right?" asks Macy and I again give her a smile. "We were married but the relationship wasn't great. My husband's family would constantly put me down and eventually he did too," she explains. Macy then goes on to tell them all about how the relationship was alright at first but then started to go down the drain. Once she finishes no one says a word. "So yeah, that's my shitty marriage," she adds on at the end with a dry chuckle.

"I-I have no idea what to say," says Rose and I can tell she feels bad for prying too much now. I guess it'd be the same if someone asked me about my parents and I'd be all 'Well my Dad's dead'. It's one of those situations where you're sorry for asking what you did because you didn't expect the answer.

"How about congratulations on getting out of that shit hole?" suggests Macy with a chuckle, trying to put a bit of humour into it. The best way to get over something or at least get through it.

"Ok, congratulations on getting out of that shit hole and meeting my stupid brother," says Angie, making us all laugh. "I don't blame you guys for not rushing into anything too quickly now. I always thought you were reluctant to move ahead into your relationship with Nicky because you were waiting for something better to come along," she admits to us.

"That's how I'd come across," states Macy, shrugging her shoulders. At least she admits it. She doesn't deny she was acting different before but she had her reasons and everybody has given her a second chance.

"Obviously that's not what we think now," Rose then points out. "How about a toast? To Macy and Nicky," she says and we hold up our coffee mugs, clinking them together. I look at Macy and give her a thumbs up as she continues to smile, I know that took a lot of guts. I mean, Macy's past is so much worse than mine. And I hate having to talk about mine. It gets me upset but Macy? She did excellent.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"So, how are things with you and Dean?" asks Paige, both of us walking around the arena, hand in hand. I left Dean and Ariana in the locker room. They were getting too touchy with each other for my liking.

"Good, we're back to normal I guess," I say with a small sigh. It is a bit weird how Dean has just sort of forgotten everything.

"Uh oh, what's the matter now?" asks Paige which makes me chuckle. "I swear you guys have more drama than any of us women in the locker room," she goes on to comment, making me laugh. "I'm serious," she then states.

"He's just acting as if everything is fine but it's making me wonder if he still has issues over the whole thing," I tell her honestly. I can't tell with Dean sometimes. He's always been good at masking his emotions. Except for anger.

"Or maybe you're looking for trouble," points out Paige, shaking her head. "If Dean has issues he doesn't want to talk about, leave them. His ass can deal with it and yours doesn't need to worry," she goes on to say. Paige actually surprises me most of the time.

"You know, I never pegged you for being all wise and all," I tell her and she lets out a snort.

"It's your company, your powers have rubbed off on me," she says and I put my arm around her shoulders. "It's a very bad thing. Even Nikki gave me a weird look the other day when we were arguing and I apologised saying it was very childish. You're a bad influence," she says the last part whilst pointing a finger at me.

"I'm a good influence," I argue and just like that we start talking about who the good person is and who the bad person is. I never thought I'd be brought into a conversation like this unless it was with Dean or Seth. But she does have a point. If Dean has any issues, he can sort them out himself.

* * *

 **Reviews would be awesome! :)**


	33. Decisions

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Hope you like it as usual :)**

 **missabbylynn: Hi, my ghost reader! Haha, thank you so much. That means a lot! I find your theory very interesting. I like Dean and Ari too. I'll see what I can do for you. Thanks once again. Oh and PM anytime if want, to tell me what you think or to just randomly talk :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks as always! :)**

 **lourdes1694: I think I followed most of that :)**

 **calwitch: Things will make sense when things come to light but until then you can stay puzzled, haha! I don't think Dean will take offence. He's pretty laidback. Well, most of the time, lol :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 33:**

 **IRIS POV**

"What about you Iris? How's our Seth treating you?" asks Angie which I find extremely weird. But I guess that's what would happen now that we're on alright terms. Still, it's weird talking about Seth to his sisters. It's not like I can bad mouth him. Not that I can or want to. He's been amazing since we've been together. A couple of minor bumps but things are looking strong.

"Alright, I guess," I say with a smile. "I mean, we're both just getting used to being back in a relationship and seeing where it's going," I explain to her. It still doesn't feel like we're just getting back together in a relationship. It feels like we've been together for a really long time.

"Looking at you guys I would never have guessed you just got back together," comments Macy. I don't think most people would. But we're at a point where we just know most things about the other person.

"Really?" I ask her curiously, wanting to know more about what she thinks.

"Yeah, you guys work so well together," compliments Rose. Yeah, we do don't we? We give each other love, support and respect. It's what's needed in all relationships. "It's like you've been together for years or something," she says which I'm glad about. It means we're on the right tracks. I hope nothing sets us back.

"Well we understand each other very well," I tell her as I think about me and Seth. I always sort of knew him but when I was pregnant is when Seth really got to know me and started to understand me better. Now he's the only other person other than Ariana that can tell me how I'm feeling without me saying a word.

"Where are you headed next? Marriage?" says Rose with a curious gaze which makes me chuckle. Although the word marriage definitely gives me butterflies.

"No, definitely not marriage yet," I tell her. That is definitely in the cards for the future, at least for me anyway. "Although, about a week after meeting him I did tell Ariana I would marry him one day," I let them all know. Something that I still do believe. Now that I think about it, no wonder Ariana called me crazy. I'd only known him a week.

"One week? You work fast!" exclaims Angie.

"No, I was very optimist back then. I told Seth I loved him within three weeks of dating him, I mean who does that?" I question them all. Now that I say it out loud, no wonder he tried to keep me at a distance. But as I do think about it, I did love him at that point. Never not been able to love him since then.

"If you know you know," states Rose. At least I didn't come out with love at first sight.

"I wonder what Seth would say right now if he knew that," says Macy with a playful look on her face, my eyes widening at her threat. I know she would do it too.

"No!" I say, pointing at her. I don't want him to think I'm loony. "We are not telling him, it'll be really embarrassing," I then say.

"What are your plans after you leave here? Are you going to be on the road with Seth?" questions Macy which I find really weird. That topic changed quickly. She does get curious quite a lot, is swear sometimes she is more interested in me and Seth than her own relationship with Nicky.

"Uh, I'm not sure," I tell them all. It's been weighing on my mind for a long, long time. "I mean; I love being with Seth. But I remember when I was pregnant, it was hard having a job and traveling with a baby inside me. I don't think I could do it now, with Evan actually having been born," I explain, starting to think about it.

"So you're going to be living in Chicago then?" asks Rose. I also still have Seth's question in my mind. Him wanting me to move in with him. So many decisions and I can't make one.

"I'm not sure," I tell her. "I mean, when I had Evan I was told I wasn't going to survive the pregnancy. But, I always thought if I did then I'd live in one place and raise him. What I didn't bank on was getting back together with Seth," I say softly, a small smile on my face. I never thought I'd be with him again but it did happen.

"So if you weren't with him then you wouldn't travel?" asks Angie and I nod my head knowing that for sure. "Why should that change now that you're with him?" she then questions. "I love my brother but I also don't think you should make decisions about your life based solely on him," she gives me her viewpoint. More like a feminist viewpoint. You don't need men controlling you like that and whatnot.

"Agreed, do what makes you happy," says Macy with a nod of her head. That's always been easy to do because there's always been one person who makes me happy.

"Seth makes me happy," I tell her. Nothing has ever made me happier, apart from Evan of course. "But I need to put Evan first. I can't make him travel around for selfish reasons. He'll need a school and good friends. One thing I loved growing up was having my best friend beside me the whole time," I explain to them all. It would be very unsettling for Evan to not even have the normal experience of going to a school.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Macy then asks me. That is the question isn't it, what do I do?

"Think about it a bit more," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I don't have to make a decision right away; I still have time.

"Maybe you should talk to Seth," suggests Rose and I nod my head, that sounds like a good idea.

"Probably, especially since he…." I pause for a second and look up from my coffee. "He asked me to move in with him," I say, making Rose squeal and Macy and Angie's mouths open in shock.

"Seriously?" asks Angie and I nod my head. I still can't believe it either.

"It was that day when we went to the movies, he asked me to," I tell them with a smile. He always picks his moments doesn't he?

"And you said yes?" asks Rose but I shake my head. "You said no?" she then asks, a sad face about to come on.

"Not exactly," I tell her. "I said I'd think about it," I say, looking around at them all. I can tell they all weren't expecting that but as I've mentioned before I have so many decisions and I can't even make one of them.

"Sounds to me like you have a lot to think about," comments Macy, making us all chuckle.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. I've been avoiding thinking about it but once this visit is over and done with, I will have to make a decision on what to do. I did tell Seth he'd have his answer once we leave from here. I know what my heart wants but my head keeps getting in the way.

"You think you're moving too fast, don't you?" asks Angie and I nod my head. Now that we're getting along she's definitely understanding me a whole lot better.

"Yes," I answer, nodding my head. I don't want to rush things and have them messing up.

"How can you when you were ready to marry him within a week of meeting him?" questions Rose.

"Because that's who Iris is, she takes things fast," states Macy with a small smile. "But after getting burned you changed," she then says, something which I can't deny. I have become more cautious and less likely to take risks. At any point when we were first together, if he asked me to move in then I would have jumped at the chance.

"You're lucky Rose, Damien's kept you happy as a clam since high school," comments Angie and I have no doubt in my mind that Macy and Angie are thinking about the life turning events that changed them too. We do a bit more shopping and then finally go to lunch.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I hum with a smile as I walk around the Rollins house. I was talking to Anne and Annette and convinced them to go with Mason, Marie, Nick and my Mother to John's house. He's a long-time friend of theirs and isn't well so I manipulated them into going to see him now. I gave Lacey and Lily sweets and in return they annoyed Damien, Anna and Nicky to go to the park. That leaves Seth at home all by himself. For me.

"Park, Park, Park," I hear the girls sing and smirk when I realized it has definitely worked. This is going to be easy. Depending on Seth who likes making things difficult for me.

"Ok, stop it already jeez," says Nicky, holding Lily's hand whilst Damien holds Lily's, Anna walking behind them all snickering.

"Hey Isabel, we're going to the park. Wanna come?" asks Damien but I shake my head. I have got way better plans.

"I have some things to take care of," I tell them all, putting on a sad smile. "But you guys go, have fun," I say with a sweet smile. They nod their heads and say goodbye.

"You better not be leaving without me," I hear Seth's voice and everyone stops walking. Wait, what?

"Wouldn't dream of it your highness," comments Nicky as I look between them, catching on. "See you later Isabel, have fun taking care of whatever it is that you need to," he then says as I stand there bewildered. Seth's going too?

"I'll catch up with you guys, I left my phone in my room," says Seth, having put his hands in his pocket.

"And that isn't the first time he's said that, come on guys. We'll get a move on," says Anna, shaking her head. As they go though, she gives me a small glare which I try not to let it show that it has affected me. Anna, well she's never liked me. She always accused me of using Seth and stringing him along. I think she was the happiest out of everyone when he decided to leave to pursue wrestling. He'd be away from me.

"If you're going to bribe the girls then make sure that they don't speak when asked about where they got those sweets from," comments Seth and my mouth opens in shock. Damn kids.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," I say, shaking my head and acting innocent.

"Cut the crap Isabel, I know what you're up to," says Seth, getting his phone out from his pocket. "Looks like this plan of yours won't ever work," he says, putting his phone up to his ear as I try not to look annoyed. "Oh, hey babe," he says into the phone, smirking at me. "Nothing, I just missed you," he says, walking away from me with a triumphant smile. You may have won this round Seth, but I'll get you next time.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Are you ever going to start dating again?" Rose asks Angie, who looks beyond uncomfortable talking about something like this. I don't blame her either, I felt the same way after Seth. I mean I know I went out with Rick but after that if anyone asked, it felt too weird.

"Nope," replies Angie and I giggle at her boldness. It's the way she said it and the way Rose's face fell that's more funny.

"Just because Jason is an idiot doesn't mean your life should be ruined," Rose tells her, pushing it a bit too much if you ask me. Angie just sighs and gets up.

"I need some fresh air," says Angie and gets out of there. No one likes to be pushed to do anything but I don't think it would be right to interfere between her and Rose. They are sisters after all.

"Oh you've done it now, you've angered it," comments Macy as Rose looks on in a frown. You can rely on Macy to put humour into the situation.

"I think you should go outside and talk to her, be her older sister," I suggest and Rose gets up to do that. I think Angie would feel better talking about this with Rose, on their own. No audience.

"Is it me or is Angie being nice is creeping you out too?" questions Macy, her head tilted to the side as I let out a laugh. It is a bit weird considering she's stopped glaring at us both.

"Don't deny it, you love her being on our side," I say, sitting back in my seat. She is the kind of person you'd need to back you up.

"Maybe, only because she can be as witty as me," says Macy with a laugh. Her phone starts ringing and she excuses herself. That phone has been ringing a lot today. I wonder what's going on. But I figure I don't need to, she looks beyond stressed when she gets off the phone. It'd be like poking an angry bear with a stick.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

"It's rude to just get up and walk," says Rose but I roll my eyes, not caring. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would bother you if I asked in front of them," she then says to me.

"It's not that," I say, knowing I've been stupid writing both Macy and Iris off before I even knew them properly. "It's just difficult to think about. It hurts," I admit to her, looking down and feeling ashamed. It shouldn't still hurt because it's been three years but it does.

"Do you still love him?" Rose asks me, a question that I can't give a straightforward answer to.

"I don't know," I tell her truthfully. "I just wish you'd all stop acting like I need to be dating someone to have something interesting going on in my life or to move on in my life," I then tell her, looking up at her. "You, Mom, Aunt Annette. You're all pestering me to date, to get back out there. What if I don't want to get back out there? Maybe I do still have some feelings for Jason, I don't know ok? But that's not it. I don't want to date because I don't want to, it's not something I enjoy anymore. And if I ever decide to take it up again, then fine. But till then I don't want anyone pushing me," I explain to her and she nods her head understandingly. "I need more time," I add on.

"I understand, I guess," says Rose with a small smile. "I just want you to be happy," she then says which makes me smile. Rose is probably one of the greatest big sisters anybody could ever have.

"I know," I tell her, moving forward and hugging her. "But that's not going to happen by dating. I'm happy right now," I say, moving back and keeping a hold of her hands. "I have a great big family and a great best friend. That's all I need," I say, shrugging my shoulders. That's all anyone needs. If I ever do meet a guy, it shouldn't be I was missing someone from my life. It should be about me gaining someone in my life.

"Good, then let's finish off lunch with our future sister-in-laws," says Rose, putting an arm around me. "Truth be told, I never thought you'd get along with any of them," she says and I nod my head. I never thought I would but here we are.

"Me either," I admit with a chuckle. We walk back to the table and sit down, continuing with our lunch. At least I am getting along with them now. I feel a lot better now that I'm giving them the chance. It's not a nice feeling to always glare at people and act like you're in a bad mood.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

I give Dean a small smile as both start to get our things together to go back to the hotel. Ariana is with the girls, saying she'd gotten sick of testosterone. I'm still surprised at the fact that she said Dean trusts me more than her. It feels nice to hear that. I know we sorted out our issues over them guys confronting Paige the way they did. But like I said to my girlfriend, something doesn't feel right.

"Hey Dean?" I call his name and he quickly glance at me to acknowledge that he's heard me. "Is everything ok with you?" I then ask him. I don't know if it's me keeping secrets or something else but I know when he's not himself and something's bothering him.

"Fine, you?" asks Dean, zipping up his bag and then standing up straight, looking at me.

"Good," I say and he sends me a smile before picking up his bag. Usually he'd be talking about something useless right now, which he isn't doing. Why isn't he? That's the question. "Are you sure you're ok?" I then ask him again.

"I'm Dean Ambrose," is the response I get with a laugh.

"You're not mad about me keeping secrets?" I ask him and his smile falls a little. It still does bother him.

"Look, whatever man," says Dean, making me frown. "Yeah, it annoys me and I've told you that before. But I'm not going to fight you over with it now am I? Because as you kindly pointed out, that is stupid," he says and I let out a chuckle. I did say that.

"You know Dean, we all have secrets," I tell him and he nods his head.

"We sure do," says Dean and I have a feeling that means a lot more than what I'm getting. "Now, will you make sure your girlfriend doesn't wear black to my wedding? It'll look like she's at a funeral," he says as I pick up my bag and head out with him.

"She can wear what she wants Dean," I say, realising I have nothing to worry about. Like he said, it annoys him but he's not going to hold it against me. I would do the same if the situation was reversed.

"But we're not mourning Ariana getting married to me," complains Dean and just like that, I'm in another useless conversation with my best friend. He didn't say anything silly and I thought something was wrong. But here he is, back to the silliness.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hello?" I say into my phone just as Angie and Rose get back. It's Seth calling me. I wonder what he could want. I hope he is ok. Why wouldn't Seth be ok? Right, I think I have lost my mind just because my boyfriend decided to ring me.

" _Oh, hey babe,"_ I hear Seth's voice on the other end which makes me smile. When he calls me 'Cutie Pie', well it's cute. But when he calls me babe, damn it sounds so sexy.

"Hi again, so what's up?" I ask, finding it kind of weird that he's calling me when he knows I'm probably busy with the girls. I smell an ulterior motive.

" _Nothing, I just missed you,"_ he replies which makes me giggle. He can be so sweet sometimes.

"I miss you too," I tell him, trying to lower my voice but Macy's snickering tells me that it didn't work. I swear she acts like she's in high school sometimes. I look over at Evan in the baby seat, still looking on happily at his surroundings as he plays with a toy.

" _How's my little guy?"_ asks Seth. He's probably just checking up on us both. I think we're the same in that aspect. Always needing to make sure the other two are alright.

"He's fine, he's loving us girls," I let him know.

" _Good, I'm glad. I'll see you later alright? I love you,"_ says Seth, my heart beating fast as always.

"I love you too, bye," I tell him and then hang up. "What?" I ask them all, seeing three pairs of eyes on me.

"You're obviously totally in love with him yet still need to decide whether to move in with him?" questions Macy, shaking her head at me. I guess it does sound ridiculous that I love him but am hesitating a lot when it comes to moving in with him.

"You're right," I state, gently stroking Evan's cheek which he seems to love so much. "Thank you Macy, I believe you just helped me make a decision on that," I say with a big grin. Seth will definitely be happy when I tell him my decision.

"Now you need to decide on how to tell Seth you want to be a stay-at-home Mum," states Macy and I nod my head.

"I guess," I say in a small voice. I really don't want to be apart from Seth. And I don't want Seth apart from Evan but I think it might have to be like that. It's not like I can ask someone what it'll be like. Most women who do decide to have kids don't even bother coming back. No one I know anyway.

"Ok, enough of this sad bullshit. Let's talk about something happier, alright Rose, what did the doctor say about the baby?" asks Angie and I'm glad that she changed topics so quickly. I knew I was unsure about whether to go on the road with Seth but the truth is its been clear from day one that for Evan its ideal if we stay in one place. I just hope Seth doesn't have a problem with it.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"It's so nice we don't have to hear either of them complaining about the other," I tell Paige as we gather our things. I think we'll go out and have some fun since we've got the evening to ourselves. Where to have this fun though? I have no idea.

"I know right? Roman's complaining about Dean and all I want to say is 'I don't give a fuck'," says Paige which is understandable. You don't really want to spend your time together talking about how stupid someone else is being.

"Only because they don't talk like normal people. They just glare at each other in anger like as if they're trying to blow each other up or something," I comment, making us both laugh. I spray some deodorant on myself and then chuck it into my bag. I think I have most of my stuff.

"The only reason I'm tolerating it is because that's what couples do," says Paige, rolling her eyes.

"That the only reason?" I ask her, giving her a teasing look.

"And the fact that when Roman is sad, he has these really cute puppy dog eyes. And I'm a sucker for his damn eyes," says Paige as if she's trying to wean herself off an addiction.

"I'm the same with Dean," I let her know. Those blue eyes just work wonders. It's the one thing that'll always have me doing what he wants, of course I don't let him know that. He'll only use his powers for evil. "Sometimes I'm yelling at him and then he just stands there looking down at me and all I want to do is kiss the hell out of him. I completely lose my train of thought," I then tell her.

"The power these men hold over us," says Paige with a sigh, making me laugh. I lie down on the bench, waiting for her to finish gathering her things.

"If Dean even knew about having any power over me, he'd waste no time in using it," I say, that being the truth. The only time he thinks he has power is when we're in the bedroom. I absolutely love letting him take control. But anywhere else, he thinks I have the power.

"I don't doubt that for a second," comments Paige. "I think me and Roman are equal for most parts. Especially considering he's not a two-year-old," she says and I get up, frowning at her for that last comment.

"Take that back," I say instantly, feeling very protective over my boyfriend.

"You say that about him all the time," points out Paige but I don't care and continue to glare at her. "Alright fine, I take it back. Jeez," she says and I lie back down.

"No one but me can call my boyfriend a two-year-old," I say with a big smile on my face. Paige lets out a scoff and continues to do what she's doing. I know she's thinking I've lost my mind. I don't mind people calling Dean a kid to his face but when he's not around, only I can. I know, it sounds stupid.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I feel so much better after pulling that with Isabel. Although, she's getting more and more daring as time goes on. I laugh my head off as I watch Damien and Nicky try to catch Lacey and Lily who are refusing to leave, Anna just pointing and laughing. Not being helpful at all. I can't believe Isabel has stooped so low that she's using the girls to get what she wants. It sickens me. My phone rings and I let out a sigh as I look to see Isabel is ringing. I should just delete and block her number.

"Whatever it is I don't want to listen to it," is the first thing I say as soon as I answer it.

" _Not even if It's about your dear girlfriend?"_ questions Isabel which gets my attention. What could she possibly have to say about Iris?

"What about Iris?" I ask with a frown. "What have you done?" I question her. I just talked to her, nothing can be wrong.

" _Me, I haven't done anything but it looks like your girlfriend is thinking about doing some things,"_ she says and I can hear the smirk in her voice. What the heck does that mean?

"Stop messing around and just come out with it," I tell her in annoyance. Either she tells me or I cut the phone off and don't listen. I am sick of playing games.

" _Did you know your girlfriend is planning on keeping your son away from you?"_ asks Isabel, my heart dropping at the sound of something like that.

"What crap are you talking about now?" I then ask her, knowing Iris would never do something like that. "The next time you want to create problems between us pick something else because Iris would never take Evan away from me," I tell her in confidence. We're a family now which means we're not leaving each other. Ever.

" _Are you sure? Because she's planning on getting a new job where she lives,"_ says Isabel which confuses me. Iris still needs to make a decision about whether she'll move in with me. And why on earth would she need a job when we're doing just fine?

"You're lying," I say. "Iris and Evan are going to travel with me," I state. Iris has never said she wants to stay at home. I'm sure it's because she wants to be on the road with me and everyone else.

" _Is that what she's told you?"_ says Isabel and then laughs. _"She must have you wrapped around her little finger because that's now what she's been telling everyone else. Your girlfriend is planning something Seth and its laughable that she's strung you along like an idiot,"_ she says, hanging up.

"No, no she wouldn't," I say to myself. Iris is not like that, she loves me. I know she does. Isabel has to be lying, there's no way Iris would leave me. But then why did she say that? She's playing mind games, that's it. That's all it is. Just because she says something about Iris doesn't mean that I should believe it. I've known Iris for a long time. I'm not believing a word of anything Isabel says.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"I don't think he believes me," I tell the voice on the other end. "I told him but he didn't want to believe it. And somehow I don't think he's going to bring it up with Iris anytime soon," I explain. He seems like he trusts her too much.

" _We don't need to worry about that,"_ says the voice. _"That's not going to be a problem,"_ says the voice and hangs up. What does that mean? But then again, why should I care? As long as this works I really don't care what goes on to make sure this happens.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Why have you been on your phone all day?" I ask Macy as I keep Evan in my arms and walk into the house with her. "Are things in the office really that bad that they need to keep on calling you?" They should be considerate that Macy is taking some days off but every two seconds they keep ringing and stressing her out. What's the point of taking days off then?

"Believe it or not they can't function without me," says Macy with a grin. She clearly loves they're so dependent in her. "So, are you going to tell Seth?" she then asks me, referring to the whole situation about me wanting to stay at home with Evan. I haven't mentioned anything like that to him so it's going to hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I don't know, somehow I don't think he'll take it well," I then tell her worriedly. "I mean," I start, walking with her up the staircase. "If he finds out that I'm not going back with him to the WWE, he won't take it kindly," I explain to her and she nods her head. It's going to be crappy and I'm going to hate it but I've been thinking about it for a long time.

"So when are you going to tell him?" Macy asks me which is the question to ask isn't it?

"I don't know," I tell her shrugging my shoulders just as we get to the top.

"He already knows," I look up to see Seth standing there with an unhappy expression on his face. I look at Macy and then back at Seth. He doesn't say a word and just walks off to our room. Oh crap, now how do I fix this? I have no idea. I could just kill Macy for bringing it up in the first place. Everything was going fine, finally. But it was too good to be true.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	34. Bad Feeling

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. Sorry for the lat update but if you looked on my profile you'd know that I have not been feeling well so I couldn't update on Friday like I wanted to. I haven't been sick for the past two years so I think it's probably just my body's way of letting me know I'm not invincible. Haha!**

 **Amnbama: Maybe this chapter might strengthen that view :)**

 **lourdes1694: Glad you're enoying it :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Jade: Girl, you're alive! Lol. Aw, it's fine. As long as you keep checking in with me so I know you're alive I'm fine.  
I love how a lot of you think she's a lesbian. I find that really funny. I'm glad someone bought up Kane, I thought everyone might have forgotten about him. Because if you think about it, he's the first person your mind would go to wouldn't it?  
You're not going to let that happen? What are you going to do? Yell at me with caps lock? Lol!  
Yes, Anne is Mom and Anna is best friend. I know it's confusing but a friend wanted to be put into the story and you know how I love putting people in. She wanted to be called Anna so I literally put her in las minute and couldn't change names or anything otherwise I would have.  
You've actually given me an idea. I think it would be fun to see Evan you know crawl, teeth and stuff. But because of the timelines in my story we're not getting that anytime soon. So, I have come up with something which you will find out about in the future. But thanks in advance :)**

 **CHAPTER 34:**

"Crap," I say with a worried look on my face. Why does this crap always happen to me? But I remember what I said to Seth last time, he can't go off on one whenever he hears or sees something he dislikes.

"You can say that again," comments Macy which doesn't help at all. I give her a look and she says, "What?" I swear she can be so insensitive sometimes. Kind of like Dean which is why I have a soft spot for her.

"I have to go talk to him, take care of Evan please?" I ask her and she nods her head taking him off of me. I should have been upfront with Seth in the first place. But the thing is, I'm never sure on what I'm going to do that I don't talk to him.

"We'll be downstairs, won't we Evan?" says Macy and leaves as I walk off to my room. I go inside and find Seth standing at the window. I walk into the room, not knowing what to say so I decide to say a universal thing that everybody tends to in this kind of a situation.

"Can we talk?" I ask Seth in a soft voice, standing in the middle of the room. I hate it when he's mad at me. It's the most horrible feeling in the world.

"Do we really need to? I mean, it sounds as if you've made up your mind about everything," says Seth angrily which makes me flinch.

"Seth, just listen-" I start to say but he cuts me off.

"Listen to what?" asks Seth, turning around. "How you're not going to be traveling with me? How you're going to take my son away from me, again!" he says as I stand there and look at him in shock. Why on earth would he think I'd be taking Evan away from him? Where's that even come from?

"I was never going to do that," I state, making that clear. Seth and Evan are important to each other. No matter where Seth and I end up, Evan will always have his Father around.

"Why not? You've done it before," he points out which I have to admit does hurt. I really thought we were past that. I thought he'd forgiven me and I'd forgiven him and it was all in the past. Apparently not.

"So that's what this is about? Why you're so angry? You think I'm taking Evan away from you?" I ask him, hurt that he'd think I could still do that. Especially now when everything was going alright. "Seth I would never…" I trail off and take deep breath before my emotions get the best of me and I start crying. "I know what I did before was…unforgivable, but I thought we dealt with it. I honestly thought we did. And I know in my heart that I could never even try and do that again to you, or Evan for that matter," I tell him, my eyes watering.

"And how do I know you're not just telling me that?" asks Seth. "How do I not know that you're only saying this and the minute we get back you guys disappear?" he goes on to question. He's really scared about all this isn't he? But it's my fault. If I never kept it hidden that he's Evan's father, then he wouldn't be feeling like this at the moment. I can't say I blame him.

"Because if I wanted to disappear I could have done that a while back!" I exclaim, pointing out the obvious to him. "Seth, I love our family. And I would do anything for us, I know I should have talked to you about whether I'll still travel with you or not and I made a mistake. So I'm sorry," I say, looking into his eyes and hoping that he'll believe me.

"I need some fresh air," says Seth wand walks right past me, not looking at me at all. I didn't think he'd be so upset over this, especially to think that I'm taking Evan away from him! Why would he think about something so extreme out of something that's not that big? I have no idea.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I don't know if I'm angry at Iris or just myself. Maybe I'm just disappointed that we're both keeping secrets from each other. Or maybe I just didn't expect her to keep anymore. I don't want Iris or Evan leaving me but then why do I feel like this? I got very uneasy when I found out she kept this from me, still am. But only because the last time she hid something it was a matter of life and death. But how can I even get angry at her when I'm keeping something from her myself? Was she ever going to tell me or just do it?

"Looks like you could do with some company," I look up and see Isabel standing at the door of the garage. I'm currently sat on one of the cars, trying hard to think about what I should do next.

"I don't," I tell her in disdain. I already have enough on my mind without her coming here and trying to mess with my mind.

"Aw, did you finally find out that Iris has been keeping secrets?" asks Isabel in a mocking voice as she walks further into the garage. "It makes you wonder what else she has been hiding huh?" she asks as I let out a sigh. She's right, that's all I can think about. But then I think I have no right to because I'm doing something worse.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I go downstairs and find Macy. I think she can tell I'm upset because the next thing I know is she's dragging me into her and Nicky's room, closing the door behind her. I have no idea what to do. I think it's a good thing Seth didn't blow up and went to get some fresh air. But at the same time, I want him to talk to me.

"What's wrong? Did it not go well?" asks Macy as I take a seat on the edge of the bed. I suppose it could have gone worse. How though, I have no idea.

"He won't even look at me," I tell her truthfully. "I know I sort of tried to take Evan away from him before and it was wrong. But he seems to think that's what I'm doing again, but I'm not. I just want what's best for my son," I explain to her as she keeps Evan in her arms and sits next to me. Seth just needs to believe me.

"Did you tell him that?" she asks me. I can't believe he still thinks I would do something like that. But if he just looks at me, he'll know that I can't.

"I tried to, he won't give me a chance to explain," I tell her. "I don't know how much more I can take of this Macy. I mean, I love Seth. I really do. But any argument that should be little gets escalated really quickly. And I mean really quickly," I explain to her. I don't know if it's because he gets angry over the smallest things or because he cares so much.

"Like this one?" asks Macy. I understand he's mad but he just needs to listen. I suppose that's easier said than done when you're not the one breaking upsetting news.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be something he walks away from. It should be sorted within two minutes but it's not," I explain to her. "If everything in our past is going to keep affecting our present then what the hell are we doing? Can I really live like this?" Can Evan be put through this? I trust Seth, I do. It's why I can trust him to be alone with Isabel. No matter how much I dislike her, I know he wouldn't hurt me. I just hoped he'd think the same about me.

"Only you can answer that," says Macy, shrugging her shoulders. "All I can say is, I see the love you guys share. It's special and after everything you told me, it sounds like you guys have had to fight real hard for it. It'd be a shame to give it up for anything then right?" she says and I nod my head. Going through what we have, it should make us fight to stay together.

"What do I do?" I ask, looking at her for some sort of advisement. I normally have Roman for this most of the time but he's not here. I need someone, a friend. I need Macy.

"Give Seth time," says Macy with a nod of her head. "You know guys get all hot headed. Just give him time to cool off and then go talk to him. I'm sure everything will be fine once you guys can talk at a time when neither of you are pissed off," she says, making me smile at the last thing.

"Yeah, I guess," I say, nodding my head in agreement. That's probably the best thing to do. Let him cool off so we can have a calm and rational conversation.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Just leave Isabel, I wanna be by myself," I tell her clearly. Even though I know that won't get the message across.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" asks Isabel, moving forward and taking a seat right next to me. "I mean, Iris might have lied and maybe even manipulated you. But I've always been straightforward with you about what I want," she then says, keeping a hand on my shoulder. I seriously cannot believe her.

"Just because I have an argument with Iris doesn't mean you're better than her," I tell her, keeping my gaze on the floor, too tired to shout or yell for that matter. Couples argue and fight all the time. It was going to be inevitable. But nothing would ever change the way I feel about Iris.

"I never said that, I'm just merely pointing out the difference," states Isabel innocently. "You say she loves you but she couldn't even be straightforward with you about what she wanted. What kind of love is that?" she goes on to question.

"I…I don't know," I say but then shake my head. I am such a hypocrite. "Then again, I haven't exactly been honest with her about you and your advances," I comment, taking her hand off of my shoulder.

"Looks to me like this relationship isn't all its thought to be," says Isabel, her hand at the nape of my neck now, playing with the hair.

"Isabel, stop it," I tell her, moving my head to shake her hand off of it. I'm not going to let her manipulate me into cheating on Iris.

"Why? Is it something you like?" she questions me with a chuckle before removing her hand thankfully. She then shuffles closer and says, "If you need to blow a little steam then I'm free".

"What the hell happened to you?" I snap, turning my head to face hers. "What happened to the girl I went to high school with? The one I played with in the dirt? Because as far as I'm concerned she would have respected that I'm happy with someone else, not try and break that up!"

"That girl is broken Seth," says Isabel in a soft voice and looks down at herself. "I always thought everything was perfect. I had my high school sweetheart, we both had great jobs and we got married. But it was all a lie, you don't just run off into the sunset and get married. Things don't work like that," she goes on to say and I feel kind of sorry for her. She used to have everything planned out and then, just like that she lost it all. "You know how tiring it is knowing you're coming home to a fight every evening?" she goes on to say, looking at me right in the eye.

"I'm sorry," I tell her, referring to her failed marriage. But it doesn't mean she can go around trying to destroy my relationship with my girlfriend.

"It wasn't your fault," says Isabel, shaking her head. "You weren't even here. The thing is Seth, I could be patient and wait for the next guy to come along like a good little girl. But I've already wasted too much time thinking I'd found my soul mate. I thought I would never regret a single thing," she explains to me. "But now I do," she adds on.

"And what's that?" I ask her.

"Letting you go," says Isabel in a whisper, looking in my eyes with unshed tears in hers. Well what am I supposed to say to that? I don't feel like that about her anymore. I have no regrets. I told her how I feel but she didn't want to give me a chance. She went off with Davidand made a life with him.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"And then he said he didn't like any man trying to take his goods!" I exclaim, Paige laughing her head off as I tell her a story about what Dean did. There was this one time where I was talking to a guy, who was openly gay, there was no denying this. We were talking at the bar because he really loved my shoes so of course I started to tell him how it was a gift from Iris. Long story short, Dean came over and staked his territory, looking stupid in the process of course.

"I think you needed to worry about that man trying to take your goods!" says Paige, both of us laughing even harder. We decided we would have a girl's night since it's been a while since it's just been us two girls. Everyone else was busy. Nattie was spending her time with TJ, AJ too busy getting things going off with Dolph, the twins actually tried to convince us to turn it into date night and Naomi, well I have no idea where she is right now.

"I was, the rest of the night he kept throwing Dean inviting glances," I tell her and she bursts out laughing again. "I am telling you, Dean stuck to me like glue, afraid the guy would try and jump him," I say, rolling my eyes and letting out a chuckle.

"Life's never boring with Dean is it?" asks Paige and I give her a do-you-really-need-to-ask look. "Dean's fun, is that why you never gave Seth a second thought?" she asks me, tilting her head to the side and I freeze just as my glass touches my lips. "Oops, sorry. Drinking means I say things out loud that are meant only for my head," she says. I guess it would be curious, especially since Paige doesn't know much about it. All she has to go on is hearsay.

"I never gave Seth a second thought because Dean was the guy I loved and still do," I say truthfully with a smile on my face. No one has ever made me feel the way Dean has. He's special and that's something you can afford to lose.

"But Seth didn't appeal to you at all?" asks Paige after which she orders another drink.

"What, like attractive, smart and a good body?" I ask her and nod my head. "Come on, as girls we're allowed to look, ok? Seth is a decent looking guy but so is Roman. That doesn't mean I'd invite any advances they make towards me. Roman became like a big brother but Seth was always more of a friend," I explain to her. The guys look at girls all the time, doesn't mean they want to cheat on their partners or forget completely about them.

"Doesn't that make it more likely that you'd accept advances from Seth? I mean, why couldn't they both be your brothers," says Paige which actually does make sense. Iris sees both Roman and Seth as brothers.

"I don't know; I guess Seth became the friend I would talk to if Iris wasn't around. And you can't talk boy stuff with someone you think is a brother. Well, you can if it's Roman," I say. Her question really has thrown me off guard. Why don't I see Seth as a brother? Or maybe I'm just thinking too much.

"So, a hot guy like Seth offers himself up on a silver platter and you just say no?" questions Paige, looking really curious about this subject.

"Exactly," I say, taking a sip of my drink. "Seth would make remarks when Dean wasn't around and they'd make me feel uncomfortable. But I never felt tempted or anything. The only guy that can have me all hot and bothered is Dean Ambrose," I say with probably the biggest smile on my face.

"It's a good thing you're marrying me then, isn't it?" I hear my fiancé's voice and then look to see him standing behind where I'm sitting. Did he hear all of that? About Seth? I hope not, I don't want him acting paranoid again.

"What's your ass doing interrupting out girls night?" asks Paige rudely but you have to be when it comes to Dean. He doesn't really give a shit about anything and being polite gets nobody anywhere.

"My ass wanted to see my fiancée," answers Dean before gripping onto my neck and planting a big one on me. I try to resist at first but how can I when my man is all over me?

"This is meant to be no testosterone night Ariana!" Paige shouts loud enough to make me break away from Dean.

"Then why don't you tell Roman to piss off as well?" suggests Dean, pointing to behind Paige where Roman appears from. I narrow my eyes at Dean, this has plan written all over it.

"Babe!" shouts Paige and immediately plants one on him. I don't think they see it but Paige and Dean are a lot alike.

"How much has she had to drink?" is the first thing that comes out of Roman's mouth once Paige is done assaulting his lips. He actually looks like he's kind of red at the moment. I know, Roman a shy person? How the hell did that happen?

"She's borderline but if she has some water right now, she'll be right as rain in five," I inform him. I think she's downing drinks quicker than me.

"We thought we could grab dinner with you guys," says Roman which I find a fantastic idea.

"Oh Ariana, look, the eyes," says Paige, turning to me but pointing at Roman. The girl better not blow our secret.

"How about we sober you up a bit and we meet you boys at the restaurant in 15?" I suggest, hopping off of the bar stool and taking a hold of Paige's arm.

"Good idea," says Roman and I walk off with Paige, Dean whistling at me as he watches us leave. I turn my head and send him a wink which will only just excite him. But then I won't be around so that my friends is what you call teasing. I take Paige into the bathroom and start my magic. I think if we start off with washing her face, getting her water and then some coffee, that will do the trick. It's not like she's drunk, she just needs to be a bit more alert.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Where is he?" I question Macy, noticing that its getting dark outside already. I've tried calling him but he's not picking up. My heart's beating faster with each passing second in worry.

"He's probably just still outside somewhere, kicking himself for shouting at you or something," Macy dismisses as we sit outside in the garden on the swing with Evan in Macy's hands.

"I don't think that's it," I tell her, getting a weird gut feeling. When Seth regrets yelling at me he comes and apologises. He doesn't stay away and not answer his calls.

"Well what else could it be?" asks Macy, looking over at me confused. A question which I don't have the answer to.

"I don't know," I say, leaning back with a sigh. "I just have a bad feeling about something not being right. Like, something awful is going to happen," I explain to her. Things just aren't sitting well at the moment.

"Stop being so paranoid," says Macy, waving a hand in the air. "It's not like this is your first fight with Seth, or your last for that matter. So just, breathe in and out and wait for him to come back," she says to me which is probably what I should do. That's good advice. But how can you stop worrying for someone you love? It's like hardwired into my system.

"Yeah," I tell her, still unsure of what I should be doing. Should I go look for Seth? Is he waiting for me to come find him? But then where the hell is he?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"That's something I can't help you with," I tell Isabel and she nods her head, looking disappointed.

"I understand, unfortunately," says Isabel with a dry laugh. But does she really though? "My gosh, I'm such a slut aren't I?" she asks. "I mean, I've tried to seduce you god knows how many times!"

"I'm just glad you're not naked right now," I tell her as a joke and we both chuckle. I don't know if she's sincere right now. But I have known her my whole life. I'm hoping she is genuine.

"Yeah, I think I've been taking crazy pills," she says to me and I'm glad she did. Maybe she's finally turning over a new leaf. "I'm sorry about everything, I don't know what got into me. I guess I thought you'd still be there, waiting for me as always," she says and then shakes her head. "But I was wrong".

"I was for a while but I guess I didn't anymore after I moved away," I say honestly. She's stupid to think that I'd still be waiting for her. Yes, you can wait for the person you have such strong feelings for but you get to a point where you think it's not worth it. And when you think that, you know you're not waiting for the right person.

"My bad luck right?" asks Isabel and I shrug my shoulders. Bad luck, destiny, it can be called anything.

"Maybe there's someone out there that's better for you," I suggest to her. I never thought I would get over Isabel. Then I got to know Ariana. For a long time, I thought I was meant to be with her, only to realise that I'd been so stupid not to see who I was really meant for. Iris.

"You've found yours and I need to find mine right?" asks Isabel and I nod my head, glad that we've sort this out between ourselves before she went any further and I'd have to tell Iris. Which makes me realize I shouldn't have yelled at Iris, I'm doing the exact same thing and she can accuse me of hiding everything about Isabel because I wanted to cheat on her. But I don't. All I want is Iris. She's all I've ever wanted for a long time. And I can't let her get away from me.

"Yeah," I respond. When I think of Iris, I don't doubt that we'll be together for as long as she'll have me.

"Seth, I'm really sorry. I guess I got selfish for a second there," she tells me and I know what she means. I did the same thing with Ariana. I only thought about what I wanted.

"I know exactly how you feel," I tell her. "I was doing what you did once," I admit to her, that's why I've been so easy on her. Hoping she'd see the light sooner than I did. The thing is, if I don't give Isabel a chance then how can I feel that I deserve a second chance from everyone else?

"What do you mean?" asks Isabel in a small voice. "How could you ever do something so horrible?" I ask myself that question all the time. What was I thinking? What was going through my mind? How could I put my friends through something like that? How could I put Iris through something like that?

"It's hard to believe but I did," I then tell her honestly. "When I first started dating Iris, it was something casual to me. I actually…liked Ariana," I admit to her, which not many people know about. It's not something I like being plastered to my forehead.

"Ariana?" questions Isabel and I nod my head. No one expected it. I was just very good at masking everything. Not letting anyone know where my attention really was.

"Yeah, I wanted her," I tell Isabel. I thought it was love at the time but none of the things I did back then could be said were done out of love. "I was with Iris but I wanted her. So I hurt her, Dean and Iris. All the people that I said I cared about. I tried to do anything in the playbook to get Ariana but none of that worked," I explain to her, keeping my eyes on her hoping she'll understand now. I wasn't meant to be with Ariana and Isabel isn't mean to be with me.

"Then what happened?" questions Isabel. "How come you're back with Iris?" The only reason I'm back with Iris is because she has a heart of gold which I've fallen in love with.

"Well, I broke Iris's heart," I say honestly, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. It hurts to think I did something like that. "She caught me and Ariana. I was trying to get Ariana to see that I loved her but she wasn't having any of it and Iris saw us together. She left and the next time I met her, she was pregnant and not wanting to talk to me". It was honestly the toughest time of my life. Iris being indifferent towards me, not accepting my apology.

"What about Ariana?" asks Isabel, looking interested to see how this went.

"She stayed with Dean obviously," I reply at which Isabel hits her head which makes me laugh. "I tried everything but still I couldn't even get her to look at me differently. I couldn't even get her to consider the possibility of being with me for a second and not Dean. Because they were meant to be". I was a stupid, selfish asshole. But that's not who I am and that's what made me see things more clearly. I was never one to turn my back on my friends. It hit me like a ton of bricks afterwards, when it was too late.

"Like you and Iris are meant to be?" questions Isabel and I nod my head. Iris always knew it but I was too stupid to see it.

"I know we are, we just need to get through everything like we have done so far," I state. We'll probably be able to sort out this issue, whether she's traveling with me or staying at home. To be honest, I shouldn't have assumed anything.

"What are you going to do now that she doesn't want to travel with you?" questions Isabel and I shrug my shoulders. I literally have no idea how to handle any of this.

"I don't have an answer to that question," I answer her. "All I know is, ever since Iris has come back into my life, I can't imagine living it without her. I guess I knew even before that she can have what she wants, no matter how I feel". I just want to keep her happy and a part of me feels as long as she gets what she wants, she will be happy. As long as that smile is on her face, I don't care about anything else. Even if she's away from me most days.

"Why do you say that?" Isabel keeps on asking me questions.

"Because I'd rather give her everything she wants in the world then lose her again," I state without hesitation. I know my anger got the best of me but I also know Iris is understanding and we can sort things out. She always says communication is key.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Girls, are you coming in for dinner?" Annette calls us and we both look back at the doors. I don't even feel like eating. Not without sorting things out with Seth first.

"Coming!" Macy says back to her in a loud voice. I look to see Evan has fallen asleep and smile.

"Hmm, what to do with Mister Sleepyhead over here," I wonder aloud. "Do me a favour and put him down in his cot. And bring the baby monitor as well whilst I go find my boyfriend," I then say and she nods her head. I'd rather just sort out everything with Seth, I'm sure he's had enough time to think about everything. He has to be around here somewhere.

"Why don't you check the garage first?" suggests Macy which I find odd. "Nicky's told me that Seth sometimes ends up there to think. And because you're already outside so it couldn't hurt," she says and I nod my head in agreement. That sounds like a good idea.

"Ok and thanks," I say, both of us getting up and going our separate ways. I smile to myself as I go to find Seth. He really cares about me a lot as well as Evan that's why he's upset. I need him to know that I'm not happy with the decision I made but it's something we have to do. We have to put our child before us because it's the right thing to do.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I smile at Seth and then my phone buzzes. _It's done, now make sure you play your part right._ I read the text and smile inwardly to myself. I look up at Seth and know that this is the only chance I'll get to finally finish this once and for all. He'll probably never forgive me but that's ok. I'll just be patient and hope everything works out for us all.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"I need to find Iris and apologize," I then say to Isabel, sliding off the hood. It's gone dark outside which means I've been brooding for a good few hours at least. And Iris must be worried. I know if I was in her place I would be. I don't doubt that she loves me, we just need to look at where we are.

"Can't you find her later? I was having fun bonding with you again," says Isabel and I shake my head. She's still acting selfish. As a friend her top priority should be for me to sort out things with my girlfriend.

"Girlfriend and son come first," I state which makes her chuckle. She holds out her hand and I help her down from the car. "I must say it's a relief to have you back to normal," I then say. Not fully normal but back to where she should be.

"Me too," says Isabel and I smile seeing the genuineness in her eyes. As she gets down she stumbles and laughs, bumping into me. "Oops, you'd think I'd have something to drink!" she jokes. I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't.

"Ok," I say, finding it weird that she's still very close to me. Right, maybe I should move.

"Wow, your eyes are still so dreamy," comments Isabel and before I even know what's happening her lips are on mine. As soon as she kisses me I push her away, not expecting her to try anything again. I hear a gasp and look to the side and my heart drops at seeing Iris standing at the door. Oh fuck.

* * *

 **Reviews would be amazing! :)**


	35. Trust

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey guys! Hope you like the next one! The starting of this chapter is a gift to my lovely ghost reader missabbylynn. Some lovely Dean and Ariana bits! :)**

 **Guest: Sorry! No more hanging! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thank you so much! :) Xx**

 **Lourdes1694: It was only a matter of time :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: I hope it doesn't disappoint! :)**

 **Calwitch: What is it with you and Iris or Ariana just walking out on their guys? Lol :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 35:**

 **ARIANA POV**

Me and Paige freshen up in the bathroom before going to the hotel restaurant for dinner with our boyfriends. Well, there goes girl's night. To be fair, I think I've gotten so accustomed to hanging out with the boys it would be weird to have a night without one of them around.

"And there she is, the object of my affections," says Dean as I sit down next to him, Paige sitting down next to Roman opposite me. Dean pecks my lips and sits back, looking proud of himself.

"Do I even want to know what's going on?" I ask Roman, looking at him as I grab a menu.

"He's been discussing your sex life again," comments Roman and I put my menu down, looking to the left where my fiancé is sitting with an innocent look on his face.

"Ha! You joker!" exclaims Dean loudly. He then sits forward and hisses, "That's the last time I tell you anything!" I do not understand why he can't keep things to himself.

"For fuck sake Dean," I say unhappily, shaking my head. "Sorry Roman, this one doesn't know when to keep a lid on it," I comment, rolling my eyes.

"I don't even understand why I shouldn't say that I have a good time when I'm making love to my fiancée," says Dean and I keep the smile hidden that's threatening to appear. Damn it, I can't stay angry at him. He said love, not sex. When he first started to use that term, Seth would bully the pants off of him. But it never stopped him from saying it with pride. And he still does.

"I think we all get it now," says Paige. I bet she's still trying to figure out what Dean's deal is. Honestly, I have no clue. But he's funny. Smart, when he chooses to be. Serious, again when he chooses to be. Loving, all the time. He keeps me happy and what more could a girl ask for? "Ariana, I heard when he first came onto the scene, you hated Dean with a capital H," she says, obviously wanting to annoy him. But, I'll bite.

"I think hate is a too much of a weak word," I comment, my eyes skimming the menu. I feel really hungry today. I could eat a lot.

"Do we really want to get in to that headache?" asks Roman and by the looks on Paige's face, yeah she wants to.

"Yeah, I want to know," says Paige, shrugging her shoulders. "You're the one that said to me at the start of the relationship, your friends are important to you. So I should make an effort to get to know them. This is me making the effort," she says and I couldn't come up with something better if it was rehearsed. I know she just wants to annoy Dean since he does that all the time with her.

"Alright fine," I say, putting my menu down to the side.

"You're seriously going to talk about it?" asks Dean, sounding like he didn't expect that.

"Well yeah," I say in a 'duh' tone. "So basically to form the SHIELD these guys got called up. Me and Iris had been working close to a year by then I think. Anyway, he came up and he was just acting all cocky. Like the world revolves around him. I actually remember thinking, hot body but shit personality," I describe Dean and he lets out a gasp. "Really? You called me the wicked witch of the west," I point out to him.

"I meant it nicely!" Dean defends himself.

"How can anyone take that nicely?" asks Roman, giving him the most confusing look ever.

"And believe you me, the more we met the more I knew I was right," I then go on to say. We butted heads so much at the start.

"Then what happened?" asks Paige, leaning forward to listen to my answer. "How did you from hating him beyond anything to loving him more than anyone?" she asks, the last part looking like it's brightened up Dean's face.

"Well, we had a weekend off. Iris and Seth were already dating by this time," I start to explain the story. "Roman left to see JoJo and the rest of us when to our apartment in Chicago. Seth and Iris disappeared but they didn't come back. They rang us and told us they were going off for a couple of days," I explain, shaking my head at that last part.

"It was all a part of their secret plan to try and get us to get along," says Dean and I nod my head. The bickering got to a point where everyone had just had enough.

"At first, we both blamed the other for what was going on. I had half a mind to kick Dean out of my apartment," I say, thinking back to the plans I was making in my bedroom.

"Not that she could even if she wanted to," interrupts Dean and I give him a look. "Sorry," he says and drinks his beer instead.

"We both just stayed in our bedrooms but then I...I got a call that my Father was unwell, like really unwell," I say, remembering my Father in good memory. "I was so frantic and all over the place that Dean came out to see what all the chaos was about. When he managed to put the pieces together, he just kept me together. He managed to help me grab what I needed and somehow got me down to the hospital. When the doctor told us it's looking like it won't be good news, I broke down. But the lunatic here kept a good hold on me. Never left my side," I say, a big smile on my face and a soft tone in my voice. "He stayed with me in the hospital the whole night, didn't complain once. When Dad was finally cleared Dean forced me to come home, change, eat. He even tried distracting me to get my mind off everything".

"Yeah, we watched Finding Nemo," says Dean, looking pleased with himself. Yep, that's one of my favourite movies of all time.

"The next day he went with me to the hospital and made sure I ate and everything," I say. I remembering being surprised at how caring he was. "I saw a different side to him. But once the weekend was over and our friends were back, we just went back to bickering and things. But something was different. I guess you could say we connected somehow, on an emotional level,"," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"If that's what you, uh, want to call it," says Dean, scratching the back of his neck. He's such a little coward when it comes to letting other people know he has emotions.

"We went to an ice rink one day with everyone and Dean kept trying to talk to me," I start to tell the next part.

"Something always came up though. Your phone, my phone, Iris needing pictures taken," he lists things that stopped him from telling me what he needed to.

"When he was finally face-to-face with me instead of saying anything he just kissed me," I tell her, placing my left hand on Dean's right thigh. "When he pulled away I was just...well creeped out at first. But then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I just avoided Dean all together till he cornered me and kissed me again. Since then, my lips have never left his," I finish the story with a little joke, making everyone chuckle.

"And they never will," says Dean in a slight possessive tone. He gets jealous really quickly but I don't mind because it's such a huge turn on.

"If a kiss is all it takes Ariana then where are your standards?" Paige says but she's joking of course. "At least the mystery in my head is solved. Dean was in the right place at the right time and managed to bag the girl," she concludes and I squeeze Dean's thigh when he sits upright after listening to what Paige said. I give him a look that tells him to leave it and move over to give him a kiss.

"Love you," I say in a small whisper which seems to put him back in a good mood. We have been through a lot and despite the fact I hated Dean before, I love him more than anything else in the world. After my dad died, he's been my family. Well, him and Iris.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I quickly turn around and walk away, getting out of there as fast as I can. My eyes water but I hold back in my tears at the sight of Isabel and Seth in a kiss. They were kissing. How could he kiss her? How could he do that to me? It's just like last time.

"Iris! Iris listen!" shouts Seth behind me but I ignore him and go inside. I go to the living room and walk over to Macy who gets up on her feet when she sees me.

"C-can I have Evan please?" I say to her in a shaky voice. I was so convinced he'd changed. I really thought he loved me. If he did, then he wouldn't have been in a compromising position like that with her.

"Iris, please listen to me," says Seth but all I do is take Evan off of Macy and keep my back turned in his direction. I don't want to talk to him. He promised he wouldn't hurt me. And for some daft reason I believed him.

"What's going on?" asks Macy, as I try to breathe in and out but can't, not properly anyway.

"Oh, nothing," I hear Isabel's voice, she must have followed Seth. He told me there was nothing left between them, that he only loved me. Yet I ended up looking like the idiot again. My heart still says that he wouldn't do something like that but my eyes tell a different story. They saw him. They saw his betrayal. Oh please let this be an awful nightmare because in my heart of hearts I cannot believe Seth would do such a thing.

"It can't be nothing, Iris is in tears," says Macy, keeping a hand on my shoulder but she's facing them. I didn't even realise when my tears started to fall.

"What's going on?" asks Nick but all I do is keep Evan close to me. What do I do? I...I...

"Yes, why is Iris so upset?" asks Anne, joining in but by the end I'll be the one embarrassed. I couldn't keep Seth from going astray again. Am I still not good enough? He was fed up of me last time and the same thing has managed to happen again, despite my best efforts.

"Wait a second, you haven't had another fight have you?" questions Macy with a sigh. A fight is one thing, what I saw was another. What the hell do I do? That's the second time I've seen him like that but this one hurts more than the last.

"They've been fighting?" asks Rose and it makes me rethink my decision on coming in here. I should have just gone upstairs but I needed my baby. I don't know, Evan makes me feel calmer. Seth does too but right now I can't be near him.

"You know, the whole Iris wanting to stay at home rather than go on the road. We discussed it at lunch," Macy explains to her. "He's found out and acting stupid," she goes on to say. I wish that's all it was. I wish he was just angry about that. I'd rather him just be angry about that than what I just saw.

"Seth, if she wants to stay at home then let her. It's not a big deal," Angie chips in this time. I appreciate this but if only they knew the truth then...oh god...I need Ariana. I need my best friend. I don't know what to do. I'm panicking.

"I'm sure you guys can talk about it, there's no need to fight," comments Anna. At least Seth gets away with it easy right? He can just shrug it off saying it's about that fight but I can't even speak right now. I'm afraid if I do then I'll just completely break down.

"That's what I said!" exclaims Isabel which makes me scoff. She wasn't saying anything; she was too busy clawing her way into Seth. I knew I should have just gone with my gut instinct. But Seth reassured me there was nothing left. I believed him. And I was a fool.

"Stop lying," I hear Seth's voice which surprises me. I turn around slightly and look at him, tears rolling down my eyes profusely. He's looking right at me and I know he can see how hurt I am. "We didn't get into another fight," he then says as I stand there quietly.

"Then what…" Macy trails off. He's not going to tell the truth is he? That won't be beneficial for him.

"Iris saw…" Seth pauses for a second and takes a deep breath. "She saw me and Isabel…kissing," he admits to everyone and by now if they weren't on their feet they are now. I can't believe he just said that. I can't believe he's just told his entire family that I caught him cheating. Why would he say that?

"What the hell is the matter with you?" asks Anne in an angry voice as I look at the floor now, I just can't look at Seth anymore. "After all the kafuffle that happened last time you risked it again?" she goes on to question him.

"It's not like that," says Seth, looking innocent and shaking his head. Rose comes over and stands next to me.

"Then what's it like?" questions Nicky and I'm shocked and surprised that everyone here is standing up for me. "After the hell you put her through you decided to do it again?" he questions, not looking happy at all. I guess this is what it's like to have family.

"I know I messed up last time, but this isn't like that," states Seth and I almost feel sorry for him. He has to defend his past every single time but after what I saw, why should I care? "Iris, please," he starts and is about to walk up to me but someone stands in his way. And that someone is Angie. If anyone knows what it's like to be betrayed by the one person you love the most then that's Angie.

"You give her one good reason why she should listen to you," states Angie as I continue to stay quiet.

"Because it's not what it looked like," answers Seth but Angie just scoffs. "You know what Angie; you stay the hell out of this. Just because Jason cheated on you for such a long time doesn't mean that you get involved in everyone else's business whenever something like this happens," he then says in annoyance and from her stance I can tell that's just made Angie even more mad. I know Seth is probably annoyed right now but to say that to Angie?

"You better choose your next words carefully little brother," Angie then warns, a pointed look on her face. If you think she's normally scary, right now she looks even worse.

"All I'm trying to do is get everyone to listen to me, if you would then you'd know that I didn't kiss Isabel. She kissed me, I didn't even kiss her back," Seth explains and I look at him once more, this explanation having gotten my attention. "Iris, I would never do that to you again because I really do love you," he says as fresh tears make their way onto my eyes. I want to believe him but head says that I believe him last time and there didn't end well. "Please, believe me," he says and goes past Angie, coming to stand directly in front of me. "I know I've messed up before but I haven't regretted anything more in my life. Iris, you're my life. You and Evan both," he says, taking one of my hands.

"H-how do I know t-that's true?" I ask, my voice just above a whisper. I don't want to be the fool that believes him just like last time and then winds up alone.

"Iris, look at me," says Seth and I look into his eyes. "I love you and I'm telling the truth," he states and then I glance over at Isabel who's looking worried. "Just trust me, this once. You won't regret it, I promise," he tells me as I try to think about what to do. He's never broken a promise to me since he's come back in my life. They always say go with your heart and my heart is telling me that….

"I believe you," I say and immediately see relief wash over in Seth's eyes. I know Seth would never lie to me, not here and not like this. And when he tells me he loves me, I believe it. I believe it with everything in me and he needs me to trust him.

"Thank you," says Seth, tears brimming his eyes. I know what I saw but I also know what I'm seeing right now. And I'm seeing genuineness in Seth's eyes. What I saw when he asked for my forgiveness. What I see every time when he tells me he loves me.

"Ok, well what the hell actually happened then?" asks Macy impatiently, looking like she wants to get to the bottom of this.

"It's my fault," says Seth and I'm taken aback. He just said she came onto him! He wasn't lying was he? "Iris, I've been upset with you today because you hid something from me. But that wasn't why I got angry, I got angry because I've been keeping something from you too," he says and for the first time I see fear in his eyes. Fear of telling me something that could lead him to lose me.

"W-what is it?" I ask hesitantly. Seth then goes on to explain how Isabel has been trying to seduce him and come on to him. How he's constantly been rejecting her but that she's very persistent. I can't believe this has all been going right in front of me. I didn't even realise. How could I have not seen it? Even Macy pointed out something was fishy.

"I should have told you the moment it happened and I'm sorry," says Seth as I continue to listen to his explanation. Isabel has been propositioning my boyfriend right under my nose and I wasn't even aware of it. "I just…I saw myself in her and tried to give her chances…" he trails off shaking his head. The last comment he makes strikes a chord within me. I know I should be mad but I kind of admire him right now. For trying to see the good in someone.

"It's alright," I tell him understandingly. He's going to get hell for this later but right now, he needs to know his heart was in the right place. "You wanted to protect our little family right?" I question him and he nods his head, giving me a small smile because I read his mind. "I can't be mad at you for that right?" I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"I should have told you sooner," says Seth and I nod my head in agreement. He should have told me as soon as it happened but he knew I'd jump to conclusions. Like I did just before. But he should also know as long as he stays honest with me, I'll believe every word he says.

"You should have," I say, maybe this wouldn't have happened if he did. We could have dealt with it sooner. "But like I said, I understand," I tell him, my tears all dried up on my face now after I'd heard everything. I believe Seth 100 per cent. I don't doubt that he'd lie to me. The past is the past but the Seth I have right now, he's mine. And he's not broken the trust I have kept in him.

"Now, we just need to sort the next thing out," comments Macy and walks away from me, going to stand directly in front of Isabel who looks more than upset if anything. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she questions her and is that disbelief all over Isabel's face?

"Me?" questions Isabel innocently. She's speaking as if she hasn't done anything wrong. I get that she likes Seth but to do this?

"Is she talking to anyone else? Seth tells you he doesn't want you but you try to break these guys up anyway?" asks Nicky in disgust.

"I…I didn't mean to," says Isabel and everyone knows that's a stupid explanation. She looks up at Macy and I don't know what she's trying to do because she looks like she's cowering from her glare or something.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else but I'm very disappointed in you," says Marie, shaking her head. "Our family have always treated you like a daughter so to repay us you decide to destroy our son's home?" she goes on to question. Oh yeah, she's grown up with them. I suppose seeing this has been a huge shock to everyone.

"Please, you've known me since I was a kid. You know I wouldn't do anything like this deliberately, especially not to hurt any of you," pleads Isabel, tears in her eyes now. I don't believe a word she says.

"So Seth's lying is he?" asks Damien. That's the last thing I'll believe right now. Seth didn't need to tell anyone the truth, but he did. He didn't need to tell me what has been going on behind my back but he has.

"Seth's not lying," I state and look at my boyfriend who looks at me with appreciation. It's about time we just blindly trusted each other. I know I got burned once when I did this. But I don't think I will regret it in the future.

"Uh, no. No, he isn't," admits Isabel and I still feel a wave of relief as I hear it from her mouth. "I came onto him, he didn't even kiss me back," she goes on to reveal, my heart jumping for joy. "And I have done everything he said," she adds on, her gaze staying on the floor. I can't believe she just admitted to everything.

"Then why did you do this?" Rose speaks this time. I understand her liking Seth but this goes way beyond just liking him.

"I didn't do it for me," says Isabel, looking around the room at everyone. "I was forced," she says and my eyebrows rise of their own accord. "I've been blackmailed," she reveals to us all. Blackmailed? Seriously? Who would blackmail her and why?

"What?" this time Angie goes on to ask. She actually looks beyond mad right now.

"It's true, I never wanted to break up Iris and Seth," says Isabel, looking at us now. "When I first saw them I admit I was jealous ok? But I just wanted to get on with my life. I wanted to stay out of it but then one day I got a phone call," she explains, looking around the room at everyone. "The person on the other end told me they needed me to break these guys up. I said no and then they threatened me and my Mother as well. I came home and found…I found our house broken in to. There were pictures left on the table in the kitchen. It showed pictures of my Mom out and about doing her daily routine. I got really scared so I agreed to do it ok? And I'm really sorry but my Mother is all that I have left," she says. Why do I feel compelled to believe her? Or is it just that I don't think someone could lie about their Mother like this?

"Who was it?" asks Seth, keeping his arm around me. I glance at him and can tell this is the last thing he expected as well.

"You believe her? She's lying," says Angie, not even letting Isabel speak. I wonder why she's so verbal today.

"Look, I don't want to cause any trouble. All I want is for my family to be left alone," says Isabel and I see fear in her eyes. She actually is scared.

"Just tell us who it is," says Rose as I start to feel scared. Who could it be that doesn't want me and Seth together? I know Angie had her doubts but she's seemed to be alright with it. Everyone else is too. Who could actually have a problem with me and Seth being together? Why would it even be a problem? We're not bothering anyone or anything.

"You actually believe her?" asks Angie, pointing to her in disbelief. And I guess I get why since Isabel's been pretending to be nice this whole time. I'm just glad I haven't lost Seth. Whoever this person is needs to get a life besides trying to ruin mine and Seth's.

"Well she's not going to lie is she?" says Rose, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah because she's been the epitome of truth up until now (!)" comments Angie.

"I agree," says Macy, stepping away from Isabel. "Iris, I told you she was up to something and we were right in thinking that she was trying it on with Seth," she says and I look at Seth who gives me a look of surprise. "And now she's trying to pin the blame onto someone else". It's not like she can without any evidence.

"What do you think Seth? Do you think she's lying?" Nick asks, everyone's eyes now focusing on Seth.

"If you asked me 15 minutes ago then I would say no," says Seth at which Isabel's hope looks like its dying. "Just before she apologized for everything she did and then tried it on again. So, I don't know what to believe. She could be lying for all I know, I have no idea," he goes on to say. At least he's being honest. I think he's more disappointed than he's letting on about this whole situation though. I think he genuinely wanted her to be telling the truth for once when she apologised to him.

"Seth? Come on, we've been friends since we were kids," says Isabel, looking desperate for him to believe her.

"Yeah and I still can't get over what you've been trying to do," says Seth, standing in front of me now. "If someone was blackmailing you then you could have easily come to any one of us. You could have asked for our help but you didn't," he points out to her. That's true.

"I had no choice," cries Isabel and I start to feel sorry for her. But I don't say anything. I've had enough of Isabel trying to ruin the happiness I have with Seth. I am done with trying to be nice to others who just try and ruin my life. Enough is enough.

"No choice?" questions Nicky. "We've grown up with you. If there's anyone else apart from your mother that you can call family, it's us," he then says and I can tell he's hurt by what she's done. They're all supposed to be good friends but she's not acted like one, at all.

"How could I come to you guys when it was one of you?!" Isabel shouts and the room goes quiet. So quiet that a pin drop could be heard. I shake my head; she can't be serious. It can't be anyone in here, surely no one here would do anything of the sort. No one here would go to such lengths and have no reason to either.

"You're lying," this time it's Seth that says this to her. His family couldn't do this to us.

"No, it's true. The person that's been blackmailing me is standing in this very room," reveals Isabel and we all look around. Someone in this room hates the idea of me and Seth so much that they blackmailed Isabel into trying to break us up? She has to be lying.

"No, I know my family and no one here would dare do something like that," Anne defends.

"Well they did," says Isabel. I don't even know what to believe. I don't think anyone in this room would fall down to this level. "And I know I should have told everyone a lot sooner but I love my Mom too much," she says, wiping tears at the corner of her eyes. How good of an actress is she? I really would like to know.

"Are you going to tell us who would dare do this then?" asks Mason. I feel sick. I don't want to believe her but what if... "If it's true and someone in this room has done something so disgusting then believe me when I say that they're not getting away that easy," he goes on to say.

"And we promise nothing will happen to your Mother," says Nick. They are right. If someone actually is doing this then they're not getting away with it.

"This is ridiculous," mutters Angie.

"Because you're scared I'll name you?" Isabel goes on to ask and then shakes her head. "Don't worry, it's not you," she then goes on to say. Why would Angie be worried Isabel would say it's her? "When I told you at that party that I'm glad Seth has someone, I meant it. After that when I agreed to break him and Iris up and go along with your stupid plan it wasn't because I actually wanted to," she then goes on to say, my eyebrows rising at this revelation. Plan?

"What the hell are you talking about? What plan?" Seth starts asking but neither of them say a word. Instead, they both stand there quietly looking at each other.

"My plan," says Angie with a big sigh. "When you and Iris first came here I didn't want you guys together. So I tried to push you and Isabel together by inviting her to the party and then for other things. I wanted her to get your attention so you'd break it off with Iris," she explains as I take a step back. Angie? I knew she hated me before but to hate me so much that she wanted us broken up? She tried to break us up. I can't believe this.

"Angelina Maria Rollins!" scolds Anne, looking horrified at what she's done. I don't know what's surprising, that she did it or that I'm not actually as shocked as I should be.

"Look, I know what I did was wrong and I shouldn't have done it," starts Angie, defending herself. "I told Isabel that we can't continue because I realised Iris is a nice person. I made a mistake ok? And I really am sorry but when I told Isabel the whole thing's off then she threatened me to keep my mouth shut but I can't. Because it's wrong," she explains and then looks at me. "I'm sorry Iris," she says but her words have stopped feeling like they have any meaning behind them. How many times do I have to go through something like this?

"Anyone else in my family plotting to destroy one of the two greatest things in my life?" questions Seth and I put a hand on his shoulder. This can't be easy for him. Finding out your own sister is trying to ruin your relationship? It's got to be horrible. Angie's not my sister yet I'm feeling sick to the stomach.

"We're very disappointed in you Angelina," starts Nick. "We knew you dislike most people but to go as far as that? That is unbelievable. Now, the person that Isabel is talking about has ten seconds to make themselves known and if not then I for one will not go easy on them," he goes on to say. When no one says a word, Nick looks even more angry if that's even possible. "Isabel," he then says as she looks around unnerved. "Either tell me the truth right now or I'll take you down to the police station on account for blackmailing my daughter," he then threatens.

"Ok, alright," says Isabel, her hands visibly shaking. She can't fake that fear. Who is it that's gotten her so scared? "The person who's been blackmailing me…it was…it was Macy," she reveals and my mouth opens in an 'o' shape at the name that comes out of her mouth.

* * *

 **I hope you guys liked it! Leave a review! :)**


	36. Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Next update finally. Honestly, this site does my head in a lot of the time. If you looked at my profile you'd see I was having trouble with uploading the document. It still won't do it so I've copied and pasted it. Which I didn't even think about doing till a friend pointed it out! Haha! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Lol, I love that line! Thanks! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I know, I know. Haha! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much! :)**

 **Calwitch: You did. A method to the madness, I like it. All I am going to say is read on :)**

 **Missabbylynn: I am so glad you liked it! Aw, I hope you find what you're looking for. No problem. I know a lot of writers just want to do their own thing but I like putting smiles on people's faces. Plus, a lot of the time the reviews I get do give me ideas! A spin off? You're getting all demanding now aren't you? Lol, jokes. If I decide on something like that then it will be in the future. Yes, you did call it, haha! You're going to have to read on to see if you're right though :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 36:**

 **IRIS POV**

"No," I whisper, looking at Macy who doesn't appear fazed at all. Not until she looks around the room at the rest of us. Macy couldn't do this. Could she?

"You guys don't believe her right?" asks Macy, looking at each and every one of us. "She's obviously lying, I would never do something so cheap and disgusting," she defends herself and at the moment I don't even know what to think.

"I'm not lying," defends Isabel adamantly. "I agree I have lied before but this one is the truth. Macy has been the one blackmailing me into trying to break up Iris and Seth," he goes on to say. Why would Macy do something like that though?

"Oh did I now?" says Macy, about to go for Isabel but Nicky puts an arm around her waist and stops her. "And why the hell would I do something like that?" she goes on to question. "I have been great friends with Iris since day one. I've never had any trouble with her, I think you'll have to pin it on someone else instead," she says.

"I'm not doing anything except for telling the truth," states Isabel. I'm trying to find any signs of Isabel lying but I don't know her well enough to judge. But when I'm looking at Macy, I don't believe she is.

"As if! Macy's got no reason to go after Iris," Nicky says, defending Macy. I'd probably be more doubtful if Macy disliked me but she never has. We have always got on so well.

"Really? The reason she's done this to me is because she's jealous of Iris," comments Isabel. How can she be jealous of me? What can I possibly have that Macy would want?

"Jealous? Are you thick in the head or what?" Macy questions her, looking kind of angry.

"Why would Macy be jealous of Iris?" Nicky asks, looking like he doesn't believe Isabel at all. I don't think Macy could do something like this. She's been extremely nice to me since we first met. She's the one I've gotten close to the most since I've been here.

"Because everyone loves her!" exclaims Isabel. "Macy's been around for a while and all of you have hated her. But Iris came on the scene and everyone loved her instantly! Macy said she didn't think that was fair so she decided to use me to get rid of the problem," she explains to us all. Wow, that actually sounds believable.

"That is the biggest bunch of bollocks I have ever heard in my entire life!" shouts Macy in anger.

"Well it came from your mouth," retorts Isabel. "I have had it. Iris, keep Seth if you want I don't want him. All I want is my mother. And Macy, get someone else to do your dirty work because I am sick and tired of being your little pet. Every two seconds I have to call you to give you an update and quite frankly it's getting to my head!" she goes on to say. Something she says though, sticks out to me. The calling to give an update. The phone calls Macy received…was that Isabel the whole time?

"I don't know what game you're playing but I am not standing for it, I haven't done anything!" Macy goes on to defend herself. "Iris, you believe me right?" she asks but all it takes is my one moment of hesitation and she gives me a look of betrayal. "Iris," she says my name and walks up to me. "You believe me right?" she asks again but I don't say anything.

"I don't know what to believe," I finally give her an answer, closing my eyes for a few seconds.

"Iris, you can't seriously believe that cow over me!" says Macy and it makes me feel guilty. I've called Macy my friend but I'm doubting her. "You know I don't have many friends. But I've trusted you. I've told you so much about myself, you can't honestly think you can trust her over me?" she goes on to say. She's right, I can't just believe Isabel.

"What did she tell you?" Isabel interrupts us. "How she was married before? How her husband eventually started hitting her? How she was getting abused by her in laws? Yeah, it's all true," she then goes on to say nonchalantly.

"How…how do you know all that?" Macy asks her, turning around to look at Isabel.

"Stop acting Macy, you told me you were going to use your past to get closer to Iris so it'll be easier for her to trust you," Isabel explains as my mind starts processing things at a hundred miles an hour. The emotions I saw on her face that day were real. They couldn't have been fake, could they? "Iris, did she tell you that she was still married?" she then asks me, looking at me. I see everyone's eyes on me, waiting for an answer.

"No," I finally manage to say. I had no idea she was still married to her husband.

"So what?" Nicky goes on to say which surprises me. It's then that I know he knew. He knew she was still married but he still went out with her. I can't blame them though, the way Macy described her husband it would be hard to get him to sign divorce papers. "Just because she doesn't want to go around discussing every aspect of her private life doesn't make her a bad person," he defends his girlfriend.

"No, but picking and choosing parts of her life to manipulate Iris with does," states Isabel. I nod my head at Lucy and gesture for her to come forward. When she does I hand her Evan and she gets the message to leave the room with him.

"Stop it!" I say with my hands in the air. "Just stop it!" I say, finally having had enough of it all. "Macy has become a good friend of mine and just like Seth I'll believe her over you," I state, nodding at Macy who keeps a small smile on her face. "She's not given me one reason to doubt her and unless you have definitive proof to back up everything you're saying, I don't want to hear it!" All Isabel wants to do is ruin anything I have, she's just playing games.

"Proof? Where am I supposed to get proof from"? questions Isabel.

"How about thin air(?)" Macy suggests, looking amused.

"If she's been blackmailing me don't you think she wouldn't leave any evidence behind?" Isabel goes on to say which I guess is true but a person always leaves something. "Ok, how about when she talks to you. Has she ever tried to make it seem like something was going on between me and Seth?" she goes on to ask as I think back to when I first started to doubt Isabel.

 ** _Last night, after Seth left her room I was walking past and the door just happened to be open. You should have seen how she was dressed!_**

I remember what Macy said the night Isabel slept over. How she was convinced something was going on even though I was coming up with as many excuses as I could.

"Maybe," I answer Isabel and see Macy sigh, shaking her head.

"And let me guess, she was convinced something was going on between me and Seth and wasn't letting you get a word in edgeways right?" questions Isabel as if she was present for that particular conversation. "That was her job Iris. I was the one that did everything and she was making sure you'd start doubting Seth," she says in a sympathetic voice.

"That doesn't mean she's behind all this," I say, backing Macy up. "As a friend, if she sees something then it's her right to tell me. That doesn't mean she's blackmailing you," I go on to say. If any one of my friends saw that then they'd come and tell me, that's a given.

"Ok, well has she been on the phone a lot lately?" questions Isabel. That part once again sticking out.

"What are you getting at?" Macy asks her because we both know that one's true.

"Yeah but it's for work, someone set fire to some important papers," I defend Macy to Isabel. Macy genuinely seemed frustrated at that.

"Is that what she told you?" Isabel asks with a scoff. "Sorry to tell you this Iris, but she lied. The whole time she was on the phone to me," she states.

"That's it," says Macy and is about to walk forward but Nicky grabs her arm. "I don't know what you have against me but I'm going to bury you here if you even think about pinning any of this on me. I was on the phone to my office," she goes on to say angrily.

"Nice try (!)" says Isabel. "Why don't you check her phone? That'll tell you everything," she says, sounding sure of herself.

"Fine, if that's what it takes," says Macy and takes out her phone from her back pocket. "And once they see that you're lying I'll be the one to laugh," she goes on to say, holding her phone out. I glance at Seth and he takes it off Macy, going through her phone. I walk forward and stand behind him, this situation is just getting worse. I really hope Seth gives me some good news.

"She's…she's telling the truth," says Seth and I close my eyes for a second as my heart drops. I open them again and realize this isn't a dream but reality. And reality says that Macy has been trying to break up my relationship with Seth. "This is Isabel's number," he states and turns to show me. "I'm sorry," he whispers and I nod my head. I cannot believe this!

"What? That's not possible," says Macy, coming over to us and taking her phone back off us. "That's Elizabeth's cell number. That's what she's been using to call because her desk phone doesn't work," she explains desperately.

"More lies, aren't you embarrassed by now?" Isabel asks her. How could she do something like this to me?

"This is Isabel's number," Seth insists and then sighs. He takes Macy's phone and rings the number, Isabel holding hers up proudly when it starts ringing. She then cuts it off and Seth puts it down.

"No, that's a lie. She's done this," Macy accuses Isabel but its futile now. It's been proven. "This isn't something I would do," she then says. I really want to believe her and my heart says it isn't her but, she's been calling Isabel this whole time.

"You said," I start, thinking back to her words. "You said you needed to take care of that bitch? That's me right?" I ask in a low voice, disappointed that someone I trusted could do this to me.

"What? No!" says Macy looking horrified. "Iris, someone in my office burned papers and that's what I've been dealing with. I don't know why its Isabel's number that's in my phone. I honestly don't". What other explanation could there be?

"It's your fault me and Seth fought," I state, finally looking up at her. "You brought the topic of me not going on the road again and Seth heard," I then go on to say. She must have seen he was there and brought it up on purpose.

"I swear Iris, I had no idea he was there," says Macy with her hands up in defence.

"Didn't you?" I question her.

"Of course not!" says Macy, sounding like she's getting irritated with me.

"You were the one that put doubts about Seth in my mind. You're the one that has Isabel's number in your phone history. You're the one that brought up me not going on the road," I list everything that points towards her being behind all this as she continues to shake her head. "And you were the one that told me to go to the garage," I then finally say as the last arrow hits home. It **_was_** her. Macy is behind all this. She's done everything she can to make sure me and Seth break up and all because she got a little jealous.

"I only suggested that because it would be easier for you, I didn't know what was waiting for you," Macy again defends herself but how can she? It's as clear as day what she's done.

"It's over Macy, they know the truth," says Isabel, shrugging her shoulders. "Tell them the truth and save yourself from even more embarrassment," she goes on to say. How am I supposed to deal with this? The person that I thought was my biggest fan around here turns out to be…something entirely different.

"I am telling the truth and I'll be saying the same thing over and over, I didn't do it!" says Macy. Why does she keep denying it when all the evidence is clear as day?

"No one here believes you," says Isabel. "What further proof do I have to give?" she goes on to question.

"None, but this time I'll give proof," says Macy and starts dialling on her phone. I wonder who she's calling. "Hey Al, hang on," she says and holds the phone out, putting it on speaker. "Who's the person who burnt those paper in the office?" she questions.

 _"Burnt papers? Person? What are you talking about Macy, everything here's just fine,"_ says the guy on the other end. _"We haven't had a fire since 1999, are you pulling my leg again?"_ he goes on to say as my eyes go blurry at the tears held there.

"What? No, there was a fire and papers got burnt. I've been on the phone to Elizabeth for the past few days regarding this," says Macy, looking confused. But it's just an act isn't it? She's not actually surprised at all on the inside. She's panicked because the truth is out. I can't believe I fell for her kind words and smile.

 _"Elizabeth? She's been on sick leave for the past week!"_ says the guy on the other end. _"If you guys want to fool me, try something else. The boss is coming I have to go,"_ he says and all I can hear now is the dialling tone. Well there we go, the excuse she was using was a lie too.

"How could you?" asks Rose. I bet no one is more shocked than me though. I did not see this coming. I thought she was friendly with me because she liked me, not because of some ulterior motive. "Iris was the first one in this family to accept you and you do this to her?"

"She made us think you were really nice but you try this? You're sick," states Angie. Although, what Angie did was no better either. Three people have tried to break up me and Seth, I'm thankful they didn't succeed. But why did they have to try in the first place?

"Girls, please," says Nick, stopping them. "We are not doing this. Now, I have no idea what you would get from this young lady but we are not going to stand for it. And we can't allow someone like you to stay in this house any longer," he goes on to say as Macy stares at a blank space.

"I understand," says Macy and moves slowly to go upstairs. That's surprising. She's just going to leave? Not even admit she did it and give me some sort of an explanation?

"If she's going then I am too," says Nicky, walking after Macy.

"Son, please don't," says Anne. I don't think he'll stop though.

"You don't understand," says Nicky, looking at us all. "I love Macy and I know who she is. She would never do anything like this. I don't care what any of that says, I believe her. I don't know who's done it but…I'm not deserting her," he says and then runs upstairs behind Macy.

"Leave him be Nick," says Mason just as Nick is about to move and go. "He's in love. He won't listen," he says, patting Nick's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, did someone give you an invitation to stay?" questions Annette and I look to see her talking to Isabel. "I don't care what you did and why, all I know is that you did. You're not welcome here anymore, leave," she says. At least the people who have tried to destroy what me and Seth have won't be around anymore to continue to try it.

"B-but it wasn't my fault," states Isabel, looking at Anne with her sad eyes.

"You could have stopped this and you chose not to so yes, it was," says Anne, joining in with her sister. "Leave now," she orders her and Isabel nods her head, not looking too happy. With her head down she leaves. She leaves just as Macy and Nicky come back down, bags in hands.

"I still think you should seriously reconsider what you are doing," says Anne to her son.

"I know exactly what I'm doing Mom," says Nicky before gesturing to Macy as they both leave through the front door. Before they're out of sight though, Macy looks in my direction and I feel my stomach drop. I still can't believe she did this to me. As soon as she's gone, I immediately get out of there and go up to my room. I let the tears out at losing a friend I never knew I needed or wanted. I hear footsteps at the door.

"How could she do this to me?" I question and then look up at Seth from the bed. "I thought she liked me. I thought we were friends but she…I still can't believe it," I say and he walks forward, wrapping his arms around me as I silently cry into his chest.

"Ssh, you could never have known what she was up to," says Seth as he strokes my hair. No but I'm an idiot for not seeing what everybody else saw in her.

"You all hated her for a reason and now I realize why," I go on to say, closing my eyes and clinging onto Seth for dear life. I continue crying as Seth holds me quietly, neither of us saying a word. I just lost someone I thought to be a good friend and Seth may have very well lost his brother. Not the best day right?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Oh my god," says Dean for like the hundredth time and I roll my eyes for the hundredth time. He's been doing that ever since he started to eat that piece of steak and it's getting on my nerves.

"You want to get a room?" I ask in an annoyed manner, Dean looking at me with a piece hanging out of his mouth. I notice Roman and Paige trying not to laugh.

"With you, yeah sure. Oh wait, we already have one," says Dean, chewing on the steak. Our kids will not be picking up on those manners.

"So did you not date anyone before you got with doofus over here?" asks Paige, eating like a human being unlike my fiancé. But I would not change a thing about him.

"No she didn't!" Dean butts in, a big proud smile on his face. But he's forgetting about one thing. Or maybe, one guy that tried to get in there.

"Actually, yes," I say, taking a sip of my wine. "When I first started to have my thing with Dean, Randy wanted my attention too," I go on to say, any evidence of happiness draining from Dean's face. He hates Randy with a passion. Randy's also been named his enemy for life. Which is healthy (!)

"So you dated them both at the same time?" asks Paige, liking what she's sharing. Well, anything that annoys Dean sits well with her.

"Technically, yeah," I say reluctantly. Although, I wouldn't change a thing. Dean was getting too full of himself and thought he could mess me around and I showed him that he couldn't.

"You see Paige; my best friend here shouts loudly to the world what he wants. But then he never shows how much he cares or makes a commitment," Roman says, describing Dean well. AT least what he used to be. He still doesn't show other people just how much he cares but he definitely doesn't cower from commitments anymore. I should know, he's asked me to marry him!

"Why did you choose Dean over Randy?" asks Paige, gesturing to my fiancé who is currently slurping his drink from a straw.

"Technically, I was always her first choice," Dean butts in. As expected as well because it favours him.

"Dean wouldn't commit," I answer easily. "I'd always see him flirting with girls in the corridor. He saw me as casual. But as soon as a guy would laugh with me then he'd start asking a million questions. He even went out on a few dates so I thought, why not go on some myself? I knew Randy had a thing for me because the girls were talking about it in the locker room," I go on to explain. I can't believe I ever even went on a date with Randy. Considering what he's become since then. "So I asked Randy out. We went on our date and about halfway through Dean came and yelled shit at me. I took him to the side and told him my side of things and left him there. Finished my date with Randy and the next day I get a bouquet of flowers with a card asking me if I wanted to be Dean Ambrose's girlfriend," I finish off. One of the sweetest things Dean's done in his time.

"Worst mistake of your life right?" asks Paige, nodding her head in sympathy. "So, is Randy a good kisser?" she asks me all of a sudden.

"She didn't kiss him," says Dean at the same time I say,

"He's ok". Dean looks at me and I bite down on my tongue for letting it slip. Dean never asked what happened on my date with Randy and I never told him.

"You kissed him?!" gasps Dean. And this is exactly why I didn't tell him. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd smooched all the girls I saw with him. But I never let it get to me. They were just to pass his time. "When did you kiss him?" he asks me in a low voice but Roman and Paige can still hear.

"Don't answer that Ari, it's a trick question," Roman warns me. I don't think it's that much of a big deal.

"When he dropped me off at my hotel room," I answer casually, Dean not looking happy one bit. "Look, all that happened was he dropped me to my room, said goodnight and went in for the kiss out of the blue," I explain briefly. I was beyond shocked when he did kiss me though, caught me completely off guard.

"And you didn't bother telling me that?" asks Dean, having turned his chair in my direction.

"Did you ask?" I question, turning my body to look at him. "Besides, you never told me all about the smooches you had with those skanks you were always talking to in the hallway," I go on to say, him looking kind of embarrassed right now.

"So is Randy a better kisser than Dean? Because then you should have totally stuck with him," says Paige, lightening things. You see, Dean can take things too far sometimes. I think it's genuinely upset him to find out that I kissed Randy. It was inevitable that he would be upset. Dean's eyes aren't leaving me right now, everybody waiting for me to answer the question. Instead, I get my phone out and text Paige the answer to her question.

"Look at your phone," I say to her, putting mine back inside my purse because I know Dean will try anything to see what message I've sent her.

"Oh," says Paige as if she gets it, both men looking on curiously. "I totally know what you mean," she says, waving a hand in the air and getting on with eating her food, the topic having died down.

 ** _Dean's always been the best kisser because when he kisses me, I feel alive. I feel fireworks._**

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I wake up in the middle of the night, not feeling Iris next to me. I get up worried. She didn't eat dinner last night and refused to speak to anyone. She didn't even say a word to me. This has hit her harder than I thought it would. I get up out of bed and walk over to the bathroom, having noticed the light on. I open the door a little and my heart drops at the sight before me. Iris, sitting on the floor with her legs up, crying again.

"Cutie Pie?" I say, walking forward to her. I don't know what to do. I can't make it stop hurting, I wish I could but I can't. "Hey," I say and bend down in front of her to her level.

"N-no," says Iris, swatting my hand away which hurts and shocks me. "D-don't. I just w-want to b-be left a-alone," she sobs. I try to keep my composure in front of her even though it really hurts that she doesn't want me right now. I'm about to tell her I think it would be best if she'd let me be with her but then I hear Evan's cries.

"I'll get him," I tell her and get up leaving the bathroom. I walk over to the cot and pick up Evan. I hold him till he stops crying and then lay down in bed with him. I can hear muffled crying and wipe the corners of my eyes. It's my fault. If I told Iris about Isabel sooner, we would have known the truth about Macy sooner and Iris wouldn't have gotten attached. It's my fault.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I didn't mean to be mean to Seth but I just needed to be left alone. I get up from the floor and wash my face. I then dry myself using a towel and take a few deep breaths. I can't let this get to me, any of it. It's not fair that every time someone else does something and I end up in tears or Seth is hurt. I walk out the bathroom and crack a smile at the scene before me. Seth is sleeping with Evan on top of him. These are the only two people I need in my life. I walk over to the bed and gently take Evan out of Seth's arms. He stirs a bit but I bounce him up and down, keeping him asleep. I place him in his cot and get under the blanket on the bed. I place my head on Seth's chest and wrap my arm around him, holding him close. I'm just glad I didn't lose him today.

"I love you Seth," I tell him, closing my eyes and holding onto him tightly. I don't ever want to lose him.

"I love you too Cutie Pie," I hear Seth's voice and feel his arms enclose me. I smile as I try to fall asleep. All I should focus on is that I have Seth. I have Seth and that's the positive from today. I can't ever forget that.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I think Dean's mad about the whole Randy thing. He's acting kind of off and whispered that we need to talk later on in my ear. I don't get what the big deal is. He's probably kissed ten more girls and I only kissed one guy. Besides, what else happens on dates? You kiss the person you're with. To be honest, Paige may be asking a lot of questions but I feel fine answering them. She's just getting to know me and it's important she does know what happened in the past to understand how we work as friends.

"I really like the purple you put in your hair, it looks fantastic," I compliment Paige and we start to talk about hair, dying and snipping it off. I think the guys are just wishing they were somewhere else.

"Can we please not talk about hair?" requests Roman at which both of us roll our eyes.

"Then you shouldn't have interrupted girl's night," says Paige and I nod my head in agreement. You reap what you sow and all that. "We were fine talking about Seth and everything then you guys come and ruin it," she says, downing her wine as my eyes widen. Damn it! She gets too mouthy when she starts to drink.

"What about Seth?" asks Dean curiously, leaning forward.

"No one needs to know, it was just general stuff," I say, trying to brush it off as I give Paige a look which tells her to calm it down, whether she'll do that or not, I have no idea.

"Yeah, just the general past on when Seth was trying to get with Ariana," comments Paige, grabbing Roman's beer and starting to drink that too. Oh for the love of god. I glance at Dean who's staring at me, as is Roman. I let out a really weird laugh for some reason though.

"Oh, she takes the cake," I comment, taking a sip of my own wine. Next time I'm with Paige I have to remember to keep her away from the drink. She was like this when we were planning Iris's baby shower as well.

"Ariana! Oh my god!" I hear Nikki's voice and I'm glad I do because I would rather be doing anything than having to deal with Paige and her big mouth. "I cannot believe you," she says, walking up to our table, John, Bryan and Brie in tow. Brie looking annoyed.

"What's up guys?" says John and they all just have like a small greeting.

"You wanted a girl's night remember? Last I checked Dean and Roman were guys," she says and damn it again! Why do I have to keep getting put into it tonight.

"And proud of it," comments Dean, me sending him a 'really?' look but he just shrugs his shoulders. I can't catch a break tonight. The universe hates me.

"Sorry Ari, I tried to stop her," apologises Brie, always being the more sensible one out of the two.

"They barged in on girls' night," I defend myself before Nikki can attack me again. "And before you start giving me a lecture let me get it out of the way. 'Ariana, you're a complete hypocrite. You changed this into a double date and we could have all eaten dinner together. Honestly, I can't believe you'," I finish mimicking her and then look up at her with a sweet smile on my face.

"I don't talk like that," says Nikki at the end but behind her Brie gives me a thumbs up letting me know I nailed it. "I just thought it would be nice if we all went out together," she says, looking kind of upset. Bryan, John and Brie all shake their heads. John even mouthing 'blackmail' to me.

"Maybe another time then," I say, kicking myself mentally for even falling for it. I just feel bad if I say 'no' and she's standing there all sad and pouty.

"Yay! I know exactly what we could do," says Nikki, looking like she's about to shower me with ideas.

"You can talk about that another time, why don't we head to dinner for now?" says John, putting his hand on Nikki's back. She agrees and says goodbye, turning to leave as I mouth a 'thank you' to John who gives me a nod.

"I don't know how he handles her," comments Roman and I give him a look.

"The same way you're going to handle that," I say, gesturing to Paige who is currently playing with Roman's hair. I think she's getting a little too frisky for my liking.

"He's like goldilocks, but not," says Paige, glancing at me for a second. Yep, next time we have girls' night it definitely won't be changing into date night. We finish off our dessert and me and Dean head up to our hotel room. He goes into the bathroom and I quickly change into a shirt of his, lying down on the bed. He wants to talk and I'm open to talking. I close my eyes for a second and open them when I hear Dean calling my name.

"What?" I ask, leaning on my elbows. I then realise he's staring at me. Longer than necessary too. If he wants some loving, he would have jumped me by now. Is he...contemplating? Since when does he do that.

"It can wait till morning," says Dean and I get up and kneel on the bed with my hands on my hips.

"You coming over?" I ask him with a smile and before I know it I'm on my back, Dean placing hot kisses everywhere. I let out a giggle and bring his lips to mine, showing him how much I love him. I guess he wants to talk about Randy in the morning. I'm not too worried though. Dean's a hothead most of the time but he's actually a very understanding guy if you talk to him.

* * *

 **Reviews for this one will be interesting :)**


	37. Obsequious Seth

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Back with another update! I loved hearing your views on the last chapter, very interesting indeed. Everyone's thoughts and opinions are so different :)**

* * *

 **Sebastianm101: Iris's ex would have just been too obvious in my opinion. But I'm glad I surprised you! Aw, thank you! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Haha! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Well nobody would own up to such a thing :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: They are, aren't they? I like what you're thinking. I think you'll be interested in what happens next :)**

 **CiCix3: Hello! It's been such a while since I heard from you. I hope everything is going good with you! Ooh, Team Macy. Keep reading and see if you're right or not :)**

 **Calwitch: Haha! Am I making you think too much? Because then I'm doing my job! The split personality comment was funny. But it's good your mind is trying to comprehend everything. Look at the facts.  
Yes, we all know Ariana will give it back to him. He's just a possessive jealous guy, lol! :)**

 **Jade: Hello stranger :D You don't need to tell me every time you review, I know you're keeping up to date as much as you can. I hope things are good with you. Hmm, Kane. No one had brought him up yet so that's interesting to hear from you. It does seem Macy would not be able to do such a thing considering how she has been. Maybe your opinion will change. Maybe it won't. Maybe things will turn out completely different. Who knows?  
Ok, I don't mind spoiling this. Kane is not Macy's abusive ex. That would just be weird. I love how you come out with things no one else does though, haha!  
Thanks! I hope it stays interesting for you. You take care :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 37:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean," I say, having woke up to find him not beside me which is unusual. He insists on himself being the first person I see every morning. I hear a hushed voice and put on Dean's shirt, going in the direction of the voice which I'm sure is his.

"Yeah, ok bye," says Dean, hanging up as I lean against the doorframe of the bathroom and watch him intently. He turns around and sees me, surprised at first. "You're up," he says, less enthusiastically than he should.

"What can I say? I felt cold," I answer, looking more closely at him. He chuckles and leaves the bathroom. This boy is hiding something from me again. I follow him back into our bedroom. "Are you hanging out with Roman today?" I then go on to ask him. I'm not going to prod him to tell me. We had this talk about secrets a while back. I jumped to the wrong conclusions and although he makes me beyond suspicious at times, I trust him.

"Yeah," answers Dean as I get started on making our bed. If I stare at him any longer I might just go for another round. What can I say? He looks good in just boxers. Boy it's a good thing he isn't naked.

"So, you want to talk about Randy?" I ask, continuing to keep my focus on what I'm doing. I normally have no problem standing opposite him and discussing the elephant in the room. But when it comes to things like this, I get nervous I guess.

"Not really," says Dean, sounding unhappy. I think he's just scared about what he's going to hear. I keep telling the lunatic that there's a reason I'm with him and never bothered with Randy or Seth. He has told me at times that he can't believe I put up with his shit but who else is going to?

"You want me to explain?" I then ask him, chewing on the inside of my cheek. Randy's always been a very sore subject for Dean, especially considering his numerous attempts to get me. But no one other than Dean could because I was made for him.

"Please," says Dean, his hands on my shoulders. I feel a kiss on the side of my cheek and stay standing like that.

"It's literally what I said last night at dinner," I say, playing with the end of the bed comforter. "You were testing my patience with the whole commitment thing and the girls kept teasing me about getting attention from Randy. So as you know, I went on a date with him. I knew you didn't like him anyway so that was just a bonus. We sat for dinner, you interrupted, then you left. To be honest, Randy loves himself. Throughout the whole of the dinner I couldn't get a word in edgeways and when I did he kept insinuating that he wanted to sleep with me," I say the last part in an annoyed manner which makes Dean chuckle.

"He can dream," says Dean, those being my thoughts exactly. Randy is one of those people that wants a trophy girlfriend on his own terms.

"He dropped me off to my room and before I know it he has his hands around my waist, his lips on mine," I say, stopping when I feel Dean's hands tense. I don't want to go on if he reacts badly.

"Did you kiss him back?" asks Dean and I can tell it's hard for him to ask me that.

"Not at first," I tell him honestly. "Then after a few seconds I did. But in my head I was just comparing it to when you kissed me on the ice rink. Randy's was just oozing with lust but yours was something different. And I liked that something different," I say, dropping the comforter and placing one of my hands on his. "I pulled away and said goodnight, sort of slamming the door in his face," I say sheepishly.

"That's my girl," says Dean and I'm granted a kiss on my neck for that one. I turn around and look at Dean. He's the only guy that's made me feel so strongly like this. For the first time with a guy I truly feel we're meant to be together.

"So, I'm not going to ask whether you kissed all those girls because I know you did. But, how many did you sleep with?" I ask. If we're going there, then we might as well get it all out in the open.

"None," answers Dean after a moment's silence, my eyebrows rising of their own accord. "Don't give me that look," he says, placing his hands on my hips.

"How can I not? You just told me you didn't sleep with any of them!" I exclaim, happy but really surprised at the same time. All this time I assumed he did sleep with them but now that I know he didn't, it makes me feel better. "What did you do then?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"Made out with them. Like a lot," answers Dean, letting out a nervous laugh. "I wanted to sleep with them but I just couldn't," he says. I feel like laughing on our conversation right now.

"Why couldn't you?" I ask him and he looks into my eyes.

"Because every time I kissed them I saw your stupid beautiful face," says Dean, a smile overcoming my face. The stupid is because he probably got frustrated with that, the beautiful because that's what he thinks of me. "The thought of sleeping with someone that wasn't you just wasn't exciting enough I guess," he finally explains to me and I put my arms around his neck.

"Thank you for being so sweet," I say, quickly tapping his nose with one of my fingers as he lets out a groan. "Don't worry, no one will know you are," I add on, shaking my head. I swear sometimes his reputation means everything to him. "You know, Seth, Randy, whatever. It could be any guy and he still wouldn't manage to take me away from you because I'm yours," I reassure him. I think we both get insecure at times but who doesn't? When you find your special person, you're always scared that you're going to lose them.

"I know," says Dean. I don't think the jealousy will ever subside but that's who Dean is. I wouldn't love him without it. He leans down and kisses my lips. "I can't wait to marry you," he says, my smile growing.

"And I can't wait to become Mrs Ambrose," I let him know. He gives me another kiss. "Would you have been so upset if it was some other guy?" I then go on to ask him.

"Would have been angry, just not as much," answers Dean and I wait for him to explain. "I mean, come on. This is Randy we're talking about. The guy is the biggest asshole on the planet who needs his brain rewiring," he says, making me chuckle. Dean just hates Randy because of everything Randy did to try and get under his skin as well as get with me. Come to think of it, the more I've gotten to know Randy the more creeped out I feel for ever having gone on that date.

"I promise, no more asshole Randy," I say, kissing his lips after which Dean lets out a sigh. "What now?" I ask him. Something's wrong. Dean doesn't just sigh like that for nothing.

"There's something you should know," says Dean and I push my imagination to one side, giving him my full attention. I have no idea what he's going to tell me but as usual I'll listen and then either give it to him or hug him. Who the fuck knows. It's Dean Ambrose after all.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

The next day we all try to go about our usual routines but its futile. Everyone's moods are down. Everyone keeps sending me sad glances and Seth is being overly nice. I love Seth but he's trying too hard. He tried doing everything for Evan this morning but that's not what I need. I need him not to give me any special treatment because of yesterday, I need normalcy. I realize I need to change Evan's nappy and go into the bathroom.

"Iris?" calls Seth and I roll my eyes. What now? It's like he's checking the clock every fifteen minutes to see where I am. It's sweet he cares so much about me but I need my space right now. I am not a china doll that's going to break in the 15 seconds he's not with me.

"In here!" I reluctantly call and within seconds he is in there. I love Seth but he is seriously getting on my nerves. As soon as he realises I'm not anywhere near him, he starts calling for me. As soon as he lays his eyes one me then he gives me a smile and talks about something stupid.

"What are you doing?" asks Seth and I gesture to Evan and the nappy. I'm doing what a Mother does. "It's ok, I've got it," he says and kneels down. He takes the nappy off of me and tries to do it himself which makes me roll my eyes.

"Seth, I'm capable of fixing a nappy," I state, keeping my eyes on him. I am really trying not to snap at him right now but if he keeps this up then I will.

"I know, I just thought I could do it," says Seth but I shake my head. Right, there's only one way to do this before I blow up like a Volcano.

"That's it, stop," I tell him and put my arms out, physically stopping him because that's the only way I can get him to stop it. "Seth, stop babying me. I know you love me and you care about me but this isn't the way to go about it," I explain to him. "Yesterday, I found out a friend of mine has been plotting to separate me from you. I lost Macy. But that doesn't mean I'm a china doll that can't get work done just because something like that happened, ok?" I know every little thing affects me in a big way but if I let it get to me then I wouldn't be where I am today.

"I-I just thought you'd be upset and I didn't want you to do everything," states Seth. His intentions increase the love I have for him; his actions make me want to chuck a vase at him. I finally understand what Ariana feels like when she's with Dean.

"I know, ok? I know," I say, placing my hand on the side of his face. "But I am perfectly fine doing all this. And I am hurt, quite a bit. In here," I say, using my other hand to gesture to my heart. "But I'm a girl and we take things head on and keep on going. I'll be alright and I don't need you trying to take all the work off my hands. I need the distraction," I tell him and he nods his head. "I love you," I say softly and move my head forward, kissing his lips.

"I love you too," says Seth and its then that it occurs to me that he may be upset about Nicky. In all my heartache on what Macy has done, I completely forgot about the ramifications on the family regarding Nicky.

"Have you talked to Nicky?" I ask him and he shakes his head as I give him a look.

"Oh, come on Iris. He sided with the girl who's tried to break us up, there's nothing left to say," he says as I ignore my gut feeling.

"He's your brother Seth, you can't just do this," I let him know. "If you were in his place, you wouldn't believe I could do something like that," I then point out to him. I don't think anyone can when they're in love with the other.

"That's because you can't!" defends Seth. It's not about whether it's believable or not but rather how deep your feelings run for a person.

"And that's how he feels about Macy," I state. "You better call him today Mister or I'll be very mad," I then warn him at which he chuckles.

"Mad? You, mad? That's cute Iris," says Seth with a laugh as I shake my head. It may be unbelievable but I can put my foot down just as much as any other person. I have Dean to thank for that since he insists on arguing about literally everything.

"Just make sure to get it done," I tell him just as my phone starts ringing. "You're lucky, you get to take this one," I then say, getting up and answering the call. I decide to leave Seth with Evan and go into the bedroom. "What's up Ariana?" I ask my best friend, trying to sound normal. If I don't then she'll know something is wrong.

 _"What's up is I just found out about a whole lot of crap from my fiancé minutes ago!"_ exclaims Ariana. What on earth could she be talking about? I wonder what he's done now. _"So much has gone down and you didn't bother to even call me?"_ she goes on to ask. I stay quiet, waiting for her to yell at me again. _"Are you ok?"_ she then asks in a calm voice which makes me smile.

"Yes, I think so anyway," I answer her with a sigh. "I never saw it coming," I state in a low voice. I suppose that's worse. If I had an inkling, then maybe I could have dealt with it better. But she was just so good at making me think she genuinely cares about me. "Wait, how did Dean find out?" I then question her.

 _"Apparently Seth called him this morning,"_ answers Ariana which confuses me. Why would we need to worry them, at all? _"And let me tell you that both our guys have been keeping secrets from us for which mine is definitely getting punished!"_ she says the last part louder than normal and I can only imagine Dean is lurking around somewhere.

 _"Will you calm down woman?!"_ I hear Dean shout. Uh oh. At least he told Ariana and didn't keep it a secret. _"Hey Iris,"_ I then hear his voice on the other end.

"Hi Dean, care to let me in on everything?" I then question him. I don't know what's been going on between him and Seth but I am not going to be left out of the loop.

 _"Ok, well here goes nothing,"_ starts Dean and I know to only expect bad news. It's always bad news if the boys keep a secret together. _"When Isabel first tried it on with Seth, someone sent him pictures of that particular meeting. Then he'd gone to her house and accused her of it but she denied it. Anyway, somebody took pictures of that too and sent them to Seth, I don't know what they were planning on doing with it,"_ he goes on to explain.

"Pictures?" I ask him. Seth explained Isabel tried to seduce him but he didn't mention any pictures.

 _"Yeah,"_ says Dean. _"Seth called me because he had no idea what to do. I told him to leave it and we both agreed it was best that we didn't tell you or anyone else anything. I've been trying to find out where the pictures came from and who got them made. I've been ringing around and trying to get some information and just this morning…"_ he pauses for a second.

"What?" I ask him eagerly.

 _"I found out who got them printed,"_ says Dean as I feel my stomach drop. The evidence from last night was all about the phone calls and conversations, this is something more physical.

"Oh gosh, who?" I ask him, not being able to take anyone else trying to ruin mine and Seth's relationship.

 _"It was Macy,"_ confirms Dean and I let out what feels like the billionth sigh. I was secretly hoping her name wasn't going to be mentioned because I can't deny now that it was her. I guess I'm still having trouble coming to terms with it. _"She'd got them printed,"_ he then says.

"So that means she was going to use the photos to blackmail Seth?" I then question him. I feel bad that Seth has had to deal with this but I'm also still mad he kept things a secret.

 _"Probably but I don't think she was banking on what took place yesterday, her little plan didn't work out,"_ says Dean and I guess I am glad at that. Everything was foiled. _"Listen, Seth told me everything about yesterday and I'm glad you believed him. I told him it was better not to tell you so if you ever think about getting mad at him then you should come for me first,"_ he then says, taking responsibility for it.

"Don't worry I will," I tell him which makes him chuckle. At least he told someone and didn't keep it to himself. Even if that someone was Dean.

 _"He really was telling the truth Hot Mama, the guy is completely in love with you,"_ Dean tells me just as Seth comes out of the bathroom holding Evan. It's nice hearing someone else say that.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that," I tell him and then put the phone down. I believed Seth yesterday but Dean confirming it all for me just makes me feel a whole lot better. I walk over to Seth and hug him. He keeps Evan in one arm and puts the other around me.

"Everything alright?" Seth asks me, confused by my actions of course.

"Yeah, for now," I tell him. There's a sudden knock on the door and we both pull away from each other. "Come in," I say, running a hand through my hair and I get speechless as soon as I see its Angie. The other person that's tried to break up me and Seth. How do you come to terms with three people trying to destroy your relationship?

"What do you want?" snaps Seth but I give him a look. He doesn't need to be rude. Or maybe he should be because then none of this would have happened.

"I wanted to apologize again," says Angie but Seth just scoffs. I'm not even sure whether I should take anyone's apologies around here at face value. "I know what I did was wrong and I stopped it as soon as I could. Look, I didn't need to admit to everything yesterday but I did because it was the right thing to do. I really am sorry," she then goes on to say.

"Why?" I ask her, needing that answer. "Am I really not that good enough for your brother?" Ever since I got together with Seth, I put him up on a pedestal. When things came crashing down, I always thought there was something wrong with me which is why he didn't love me. Now though, I see us as equals. But why don't others?

"Of course you are!" says Angie and then sighs, keeping her hands in her pockets. "When you first came here, I didn't want you anywhere near Seth. And I kept putting you down. It was wrong but I did it. I got jealous ok?" she then says at which I'm taken aback.

"Jealous?" I question. Why on earth would she be jealous?

"Yes," admits Angie. "You've never told us the full story but most of us know Seth cheated," she goes on to say as I exchange glances with Seth. "So when you came here, I hated you alright? I've never forgiven Jason for what he did. But you forgave Seth. And you got back everything you ever wanted, I didn't," she says, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Only because Iris is…compassionate. She likes to see the best in people even when they're being total assholes," comments Seth which gets Angie to crack a small smile.

"I…I never felt like I could respect you Iris," Angie then says, looking up at me. "How could I when you forgave someone that walked all over you? I didn't want someone like that as my future sister-in-law," she admits with a nod of her head. "It was never you're not good enough for Seth. I despise anyone that cheats on their partner, but Seth's family. I thought he probably might do it again. Ok, you were too nice but he wasn't good enough for you," she goes on to say.

"But Isabel was?" questions Seth, confused just like me. She would rather have Seth be with Isabel and potentially break her heart than mine despite having grown up with her.

"Isabel was just a pawn to use in my game," states Angie, shrugging her shoulders. "I never intended to letting Seth get with her. Someone who agrees to break up the guy she loves and his girlfriend? That's not real love if you ask me. Once she got the job done I was just going to ditch her to the side," she says and for some reason that makes me snicker. Both siblings look at me as if I've grown a second head.

"What?" I ask innocently and bite down on my lip, trying to stop myself from doing it again. I think it's funny. At least Isabel would have gotten what she deserved.

"Ok, so that's everything," says Angie with a nod of her head. "I can honestly say for the first time in a very long time I'm actually very ashamed of everything that I've done," she then says, her head bowed down in shame. "I will do anything to earn your forgiveness, anything at all," she insists. And damn me for falling for lines like that.

"Thank you Angelina," I say to her with a smile. "You didn't have to come here and say any of that, admit to any of those things which I can tell for a fact you feel embarrassed about but you did. And, it's alright. The important thing is you realized what you were doing is wrong," I then say to her. At least she didn't manage to break up me and Seth.

"Y-you forgive me?" asks Angie hesitantly and I nod my head. I'm going to have to now aren't I?

"Of course I do, you're family right?" I then say and she nods her head in a dazed look.

"I told you she was awesome," Seth says to Angie, proudly looking over at me. It's only easy getting over what other people do because Seth hurt me the worst and I managed to move on from that and forgive him.

"Yeah," says Angie, a genuine smile on her face. "I'll leave you guys to it then," she says and we nod our heads. "Hang on," she says and turns her head around. "It's Angie by the way," she then tells me and I nod my head after which she then leaves.

"That was just…bizarre," comments Seth which makes me chuckle.

"Come on, you're taking me out to lunch," I then say, moving to stand behind him and gently pushing him out the door.

"Oh, am I now?" asks Seth and I nod my head with a chuckle. We go out to lunch, just me, Seth and Evan. It feels nice just doing something with my guys for the day. On the way home, Seth even buys me ice cream, knowing how much I love eating it. When we get home, Evan falls asleep and me and Seth end up on the swing outside in the garden. "It's really nice to see you smile," Seth tells me.

"I'm always smiley," I protest, snuggling into his side. Being with Seth and Evan, my family, it gives me something to smile about.

"I know, I just thought you wouldn't be," Seth then says.

"Because of what happened yesterday?" I question him and he nods his head. I look up at him and say, "Yesterday was a lot to take in and very hard. But I've decided to be thankful for all the people in my life that I do have".

"Yeah, like who?" asks Seth, looking down at me.

"Like Dean, Ariana and Roman," I list my friends. "Friends who I know will do anything for me. Rose, who's been great to me. Nick and Mason who have treated me like their daughter. Nicky, who's given me the elder sister role. The girls who have finally made me an Aunt. Evan who gave me a reason to live," I list everyone and then look deep into his eyes. "And you. Who's just been amazing".

"That's a lot of people to be thankful for," says Seth, placing a kiss on my head.

"Yeah and half of them I wouldn't have gotten without you," I then tell him. Seth's been an important factor in terms of who I have in my life. Without him, Roman and Dean wouldn't be there.

"I doubt that, your charming personality wins everyone over," says Seth but I shake my head. "It's true, even Angie bowed down," he then points out.

"Stop exaggerating Mister," I tell him. "I have some news though," I then say to him, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah? What is it?" asks Seth, not looking too concerned.

"I've been thinking about what you said," I start and see a confused look on his face. "You know, about moving," I then make it clearer for him. I notice him sit up properly. "And I've decided…" I pause.

"Yeah?" says Seth and I hold back my chuckle at seeing him all antsy. I can say that right now I do have his undivided attention.

"Yes," I give him my answer. "Yes I'll move in with you," I then say and laugh when a smile breaks out onto his face and he moves forward to hug me, resulting in me falling back on the swing and he ends up on top.

"Really?" asks Seth, leaning up and looking into my eyes. I can just see the excitement bursting out of his eyes. I am only going to do what makes me and my family happy from now on. Living with Seth will make me happy.

"Really," I say for definite. "I talked to the girls about it and I love you Seth. We're together and we have a baby. I mean, it makes sense," I then say. It's practical and it makes us happy.

"What about moving too fast?" asks Seth with a worried look. I was too scared of moving fast but if we can put up with all the crap that has happened since we came here then I'm sure we can handle moving up a level in our relationship.

"Well we already have a baby and have said 'I love you' to each other, I hardly think this is moving fast," I then comment nonchalantly. All of a sudden my face is peppered with kisses, curtsy of Seth which makes me giggle uncontrollably because he doesn't stop. "S-Seth!" I say his name.

"What?" he asks me innocently.

"S-stop I-it!" I say, not being able to stop laughing.

"Nope," says Seth, looking up at me. "I love you and I'm just so damn happy," he says before returning to attacking my face. I'm about to tell him off when he captures my lips in a searing kiss. He strokes the side of my cheek as he leans his forehead against mine and then looks into my eyes. "You've made me the happiest guy alive," he states.

"And you continue to make me a very happy girl," I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Seth leans in to kiss me again when we're interrupted.

"Uncle Seth!" we hear and that's Lily's voice. Seth quickly gets up off of me as I get up to sit. "Lacey, I found him," she says, looking back to the doors as Lacey emerges from there seconds later.

"What's up girls?" I ask, trying not to laugh at the look on Seth's face. I can tell he wanted to continue having his way with me.

"We want to play tag!" exclaims Lacey with a huge grin which makes me laugh. They come around to the other side of the swing and both me and Seth turn to face them.

"Can't we play something else?" asks Seth with a sigh, obviously not a very big fan of tag. What's wrong with tag? It's a fun game and gives people some much needed exercise.

"No, we want to play tag," says Lily, placing her arms across her chest and looking like a little madam. She's a stubborn one I tell you.

"Uncle Nicky always plays with us but he isn't here," says Lacey in a sad voice, shrugging her shoulders. I look at Seth as he looks at me.

"Ok," says Seth and gets up. How can he deny them considering everything?

"Aren't you going to play as well Aunt Iris?" asks Lily, looking over at me.

"Sure, I'm up for it," I say, getting up. Without warning I then hit Seth on the shoulder and run away shouting, "You're it!" I laugh at Seth's muttering as he chases me around the swing with Lily and Lacey cheering me on from further away, not wanting to get caught themselves.

"Hey, stop. Moving. About!" says Seth as I move side to side on the end of the swing, not being able to decide on which direction to run in meaning Seth has to run from side to side as well trying to judge where I'll go.

"Nope!" I say with a huge laugh. "Can't you keep up Mister Architect?!" I then say. I decide to run around the garden now, around a couple of statues there and Seth still can't get me. I must be faster than I thought. Well, going running with Rose a couple of times has helped. Plus, these girls always keep you on your feet.

"Will you ever slow down?" shouts Seth but I just laugh. How is he going to catch Evan when he starts running around when he can't even get anywhere near me?

"Nope!" I shout again and start running backwards. "Hey Seth, why don't we take you to the old people's home? I hear they have an opening!" I suggest which makes the girls burst out in laughter.

"I like that one!" says Lily and Seth decides to go after them instead. Both the girls scream as they run around and Seth deliberately runs slowly so he doesn't get them quickly.

"Had enough yet?" I ask Seth who's got his hands on his knees as I stand in between the girls.

"Hmm," says Seth and without warning lunges forward. He gets me in a good grip. "Got ya," he says with a playful smirk, his eyes every now and then going to my lips.

"So you have," I say, I then push him back and hit him quickly. "You're it, again!" I shout and run off as Seth again shoots after me. The next time he gets me, he holds me up bridal style like I'm some sort of a trophy.

"Ok, you're it," states Seth and then gently puts me down on the swing before shooting off. I guess he saw I was only just going to tag him again.

"Alright, but I have to warn you I am very good at this game," I then tell them, running around the garden trying to catch them all. I end up getting Lily who then ends up getting Lacey and eventually Seth is it again which annoys him because he spends a lot of time trying to catch us. I run around laughing at his attempts because at one point the fell down on his ass! All three of us stood over him and just laughed. But we all screamed and ran away as soon as he got up and told us he's coming for us. Yep, that did it.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


	38. The Neil and Angie Story

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. I was unsure of whether people would like the storyline but you guys are amazing in letting me know it's interesting and you can't wait to see what happens next :)**

* * *

 **Pinayprincesa: Haha! They need to do the deed first! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Ooh, you're still on Team Macy. You're also the first person to suggest Nicky as being the actual person. Thanks! Xx :)**

 **Sebastianm101: Thanks for the lovely review. She is a strong woman. Oh come on, you wouldn't leave would you? Isn't it more fun to stay and kick ass? Lol. I hope you like this one :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 38:**

"Hey," I say to Angie, walking over to the swing in the garden. After playing tag for a while me and Seth had to get back to being parents, of course Lacey and Lily wanted to try it out too. They're currently helping Seth to change Evan's nappy. It was his idea to involve them so he can handle the headache that comes with it. Plus, I got a very interesting call from Neil and some things need to be sorted out.

"Hi," says Angie, giving me a small smile from the swing she was sat on with her legs up to her chest. "You ok?" she asks me and I nod my head.

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," I tell her with a sigh which makes her chuckle. "May I?" I ask her and she nods her head as I take a seat next to her. "If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you started dating again?" I then ask her.

"Because I don't think I can trust another man ever again," says Angie with a sigh. "Jason was someone special to me and I'm…I'm scared Iris," she admits, looking over at me. I can see it in her eyes. "I'm scared that if I trust someone again then they'll…" she trails off.

"That he'll do the same thing?" I finish off for her as she nods her head quietly. I thought the same thing about Seth. I never actually emotionally got involved with Rick because I couldn't trust someone again the way I had Seth. It's actually a pretty good thing otherwise I wouldn't be with Seth right now.

"Can I confide in you?" asks Angie and I nod my head, knowing exactly what she is going to tell me. "I…something happened today. Between me and Neil," she admits as I try to look confused. "It goes like this," she starts and then explain to me what happened.

* * *

 _I decided to meet Neil at his house. After yesterday, I just wanted to talk to someone who wanted to try and understand why I did what I did. He's always known me a lot more than anyone I have ever known. He knows me better than myself. I knock on the door and he lets me in. This is going to be difficult, considering my confession._

 _"_ _Are you mad?" I ask him, I was worried he might be because of the awful things I had done. He even left yesterday without so much as a word to me. He never said anything through the whole thing._

 _"_ _Of course I am, silly question," says Neil, moving to go as I follow him all the way to the kitchen. He sounds serious. His tone has that maturity to it and when it does, it means he's not happy._

 _"_ _I know what I did was wrong-" I start but he cuts me off with a loud voice._

 _"_ _Wrong, it was beyond that," states Neil, being truthful with me as always. "Iris is the nicest girl I have ever met and for all you girls to do that stuff to her? It's horrid. I'm surprised, especially at you," he then says as he points at me, giving me a look of disappointment before turning to go through his fridge. That look has hurt me more than I realised. I'm more hurt with how upset Neil is with me than anyone else._

 _"_ _I know and you have no idea how badly I feel," I tell him, looking down at the floor. "I tried to stop her and…I guess I should have tried harder," I then admit._

 _"_ _But," says Neil, still going through his fridge. See? He knows there's something else._

 _"_ _But I chickened out," I then state. "I was a coward because I didn't want anybody to get mad at me all over again," I say with a sigh and then take a seat on the chair at the counter. "I've been such an idiot Neil, I got jealous of everything Iris had with Seth. We know he cheated on her and I got jealous because…" I pause. I never realised this would be so hard._

 _"_ _Because you wanted that right?" says Neil and I look up to see him looking at me. Intently too. When he looks at me like that, I have no idea what's going through his mind. Is he still mad at me? Or is he just very serious right now? No clue._

 _"_ _Yeah," I tell him and then let out a dry laugh. "I've apologized to them both but I still don't get how she can just forgive him like that. I can't," I then say to him._

 _"_ _Because you are difficult milady," says Neil making me chuckle. "Look, I am beyond mad at what you tried. But, you did see sense by the end and got away from all that lunacy," he then says, looking more than grateful for me having chosen to leave the dark side._

 _"_ _Iris forgave me," I reveal to him as he looks on surprised. "I know; you were right when she first came. She's a great girl," I tell him truthfully. Seth's really lucky. Actually, they both are. To have found each other and gotten through everything the way they have._

 _"_ _I knew you'd see it in the end," says Neil as I walk over to him and stand on the other side of the counter he is standing at._

 _"_ _I just want to say thanks," I then tell him. "You've been a great friend considering how horrid I've been to people. Why?" I question him as he starts to look slightly nervous._

 _"_ _I…" he pauses and looks at me. "I've seen the real you. The nice you. The girl who'd protect anything and anyone she cares about. The girl who loves living life. The girl who egged Lisa's house when she broke up with me," he says which makes me laugh. In my opinion Lisa didn't deserve him in the first place. "That girl is still in there and I'm just waiting for her to resurface," he tells me._

 _"_ _I think that's sooner than we both think," I tell him, nodding my head. I do want to be myself again. My old self. Before Jason came and trampled all over my heart._

 _"_ _Once she stops living in the past," says Neil. He says it all the time but he should actually try it for once. It's not as easy as some people make it out to be._

 _"_ _That's harder than you think," I let him know. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it". What Jason did will stay with me as long as I live._

 _"_ _You don't have to," says Neil and reaches over, taking my hand in his which makes me smile. "You just have to accept it happened and move on," he says which, again, is easier said than done._

 _"_ _And let some other guy walk all over me, leaving me thinking I'm not good enough?" I ask him. I refuse to let that happen to me again. If the next relationship fails...I don't know what I'd do._

 _"_ _No," says Neil, shaking his head. "You are good enough, I see it," he says and moves forward as my heart beats faster. I have no idea why. He's obviously not moving forward to do what I think he's going to do. "And I want to help you see it. I want to show you," he says and before I know it, he's moved in. His lips on mine in a kiss._

* * *

"He kissed you?" I question Angie who nods her head, looking worried as I keep on my surprised expression. I am an actress after all. "Well, did you kiss him back?" I then ask her and she gives me a look.

* * *

 _"_ _What…" is the only thing I manage to get out as the kiss comes to an end. I think I kissed him back for a few seconds too. I don't know. My mind's all fuzzy. I mean, my best friend just kissed me!_

 _"_ _I love you," whispers Neil and I know It's not the general one because of the way we're standing right now. I look at him and see he's wearing a smile on his face._

"Well, what did you do?" I ask Angie with an excited smile on my face, need to keep up appearances. Angie gives me an annoyed look and looks ahead. Uh oh.

 _"_ _What?" I ask confused, moving backwards. I see a disappointed and hurt look on his face as I look on at him confused. I don't know what else to do so I just run out of there. I run like the wind and hightail it home. He kissed me. He kissed me and told me he loved me. I…I liked that he kissed me. And I felt happy when he told me he loved me. Why?_

* * *

"You ran away?" I ask in disbelief, shaking my head at what she did. The worst thing you can do is run away. It never solves anything. Running away from Seth and the WWE, it was never the best thing to do.

"I didn't know what else to do, alright?" asks Angie, shaking her head. I guess I see her side. Whoa, she is definitely Seth's sister. They both like running away from people that love them. Seth does it every time we have an argument. I think it's more because he's angry and doesn't want to lash out. When he stays, he just comes out with horrible things which he regrets later anyway.

"Well, did you like it when he kissed you?" I ask her, looking at her suspiciously. I can't even judge her emotions because I don't know her that well.

"Yeah which is what confuses me," states Angie. She kind of reminds of Ariana right now. When Dean kissed her, she went all loopy. She actually started to eat watermelon thinking she might suddenly like it when in actual fact she hates it.

"Why?" I then ask her. I can just ask her the questions; she has to come out with everything herself.

"Because I shouldn't feel like this," states Angie, shaking her head and then turning her body to look at me as she places her feet on the floor. "He's Neil, my best friend. I shouldn't have feelings of wanting to kiss him again or feeling like I'm on cloud 9 when he…" she trails off once again.

"Tells you he loves you?" I ask her and she nods her head, leaning back on the swing. "Do you doubt he's telling you the truth?" I then question her. I hope she doesn't think I'm being nosey. It's all to help her figure out how she feels.

"No, Neil would never lie to me. It's the one of the things I love about him," she says casually. I don't even think she realised which word she just used.

"Love?" I then ask her.

"Not like that, in a friend-type-thing way," says Angie, shaking her head at my teasing. She needs to be careful considering the topic we're discussing.

"I think he's being very genuine about it," I state with a nod of my head. "If it was me I would have kissed him right back till both our lips were red and swollen," I then say. Angie laughs and shakes her head at me. "So you have feelings for him," I state. She and Ariana are so difficult; they never know their feelings. I've always known what mine are. Then again, everyone is different.

"Yeah, I think I do," says Angie with a small smile. "I didn't think I'd even like anyone else again, but somehow Neil's managed to ignite that in me once again," she explains to me. she didn't even realise there was more than just friendship there.

"Well then explore it!" I encourage her. Now I know how my friends felt when they were getting sick of me and Seth tip toeing around each other. "I know for a fact he'd want you to," I then let it slip, biting down on my tongue. Damn it Iris! Me and my big mouth. Hopefully, she won't realise.

"You would…" she laughs and then pauses. "Wait a second, you've been talking to him!" she accuses me, pointing a finger in my direction, but I shake my head.

"Nope, that's bizarre," I then say, laughing it off as I wave a hand in the air.

"Iris," says Angie in a warning tone. Damn, she sounds just like Ariana when she says my name like that.

"Alright, he may have called me to tell me what happened," I admit to her, looking at the floor and twiddling my hands.

"He called you?" asks Angie and I nod my head. "What did he say?" she asks, sounding interested more interested in the fact that Neil talked to me.

"He wanted me to find out what was going on with you along with telling me everything that happened," I answer her question and then finally gain the courage to look up at her.

"So you knew what had happened and made me say it anyway?" questions Angie in disbelief but I can tell she's not angry because there's still a slight smile on her face.

"Would it make me a bad person if I said yes?" I answer her question with a question of my own. "I couldn't just tell you he rang me and told me. Plus, I wanted to see the look on your face whilst you told me that story," I then tell her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" questions Angie. Just as clueless as Ariana sometimes.

"A lot," I state as if it's obvious. "If your face looks like It's in a daze as you tell me then if you deny your feelings I'll know they're there," I go on to explain. It's kind of a trick but since I don't know her, I couldn't try anything else. How am I supposed to know if she's lying or not?

"Seth told me you were nice, I didn't realize you were crazy too," comments Angie. No one's called me that in a while. Would you look at that? I'm still the old me.

"A little," I then say, gesturing with my fingers which makes her laugh. "All joking aside, do you love him?" I then ask her the big question.

"As a friend? Yes. As something more? I have no idea," admits Angie. At least she's being honest and is open to the possibility of being in love with Neil rather than just denying it.

"Would you like to find out?" I then ask her, nudging her with my elbow.

"Maybe but," Angie looks at me once again. "What if I can't reciprocate his love? What if I can't love him as much as I loved Jason? What if I lose him as a friend forever just because I want to kiss him again?" she goes on to ask which surprises me. For a girl who acts confident 24 hours a day, she sure does have a lot of self-doubt. But I guess in a way everyone does have some doubt within them.

"What if it goes even better thought?" I then question. I'm going to answer her with questions. "What if you end up loving him more than you ever loved Jason? What if your best friend turns out to be your soul mate?"

"You can be very annoying some times," Angie then tells me. Funny, I can say the same thing about her. "How do I know he won't do the same thing Jason did? I know he's my best friend and everything but what if he wants to be with someone else and…strays," she says, looking down at the floor.

"You've wanted to know how on earth I ever forgave Seth right?" I then ask her and she looks up at me and nods her head. It's the one thing I noticed when she was speaking about what happened between her and Neil. "I don't think I could have ever forgiven him," I state. "But Seth did what Jason didn't," I then tell her.

"What's that?" asks Angie. It's not big secret that she's looking at me like it is.

"He stuck around," I simply reply, shrugging my shoulders. "Seth stuck around for me as a friend. He was there when I needed him and maybe sometimes pushed boundaries but he'd be the first to apologize as well," I explain to her. "Jason didn't do that with you," I state. "But in your case, you have Neil and he's there for you. He's stuck around and helped you pick yourself back up. I knew Seth loved me because he'd proven it by sticking around. Neil's done the same thing with you except you've not been able to see it," I explain to her. It's been as clear as black and white.

"That makes sense, I guess," says Angie as I look on at her with a hopeful smile. "What do I say to him though?" she then asks me. I never thought I'd see the day where she's asking me for advice on boys.

"Just say what comes to mind when you see him," I advise her. It's the best thing to do. "But I do suggest you ask him out on a date at least," I then tell her and she nods her head.

"That makes sense," says Angie, nodding her head. "Holy shit, am I really going to do this?" she then asks aloud, her hands visibly shaking.

"Yeah," I say, placing my hand on hers. "You're going to do this and it's going to be perfect," I tell her with the biggest grin I can muster. Angie places her other hand on top of mine.

"Thank you," says Angie and what shocks me is she pulls me in for a hug. "You have no idea what you've done for me," she whispers. I sit there speechless so just nod my head. "Ok, wish me luck," she says, pulling back away and standing up.

"Luck," I say, putting my thumbs up which makes her laugh as she walks off. Hmm, I've done good I think. My phone buzzes and I take it out of my pocket. **_Have you talked to her? What has she said?_** I read the text message Neil has sent me. I don't think I'll give Neil a warning, he can be pleasantly surprised. Ooh, I'm getting cunning the more I get involved. I feel hands on my shoulders and lean my head back, looking up to see Seth smiling down at me. "Where are the girls?" I then ask him.

"They are playing in the living room with Evan watching both of them," states Seth. I'm always thankful for Seth sticking around. He didn't have to. But he did because it was the right thing to do. And then he somehow managed to fall in love with me. I've never been more grateful for anything in my life. Well, except for my son of course.

"Hmm," I say as he leans down and kisses my lip. "I love it when you kiss me," I tell him. I could never get over Seth or move on because as corny as it sounds, he is the one. I could never love another man the way I love Seth or as much as I love Seth.

"I love it too," says Seth, making me giggle. I get up and head inside with him, spending as much time with the girls and Evan as possible. When you feel down, its kids that you can always count on to bring you back up. I hope everything works out with Angie and Neil. Who knows how patient he's been.

* * *

 **ANGIE POV**

Ok, I can do this. It's easy right? Just tell him I like him as more than a friend. Although the closer I get to his house the more nervous I feel and the more my heart starts to beat uncontrollably fast. I stand in his driveway looking at his house. I have known Neil since we were in diapers. I remember at one point I used to refer to him as the brother I never had, only to annoy Seth and Nicky but that statement just seems beyond wrong now. Gathering much needed courage I walk up to his front door and take a deep breath before knocking.

"What are you doing here at this time?" he asks me. It's getting dark outside but I just couldn't not come here. I couldn't wait till tomorrow. I just stand there staring at him. How could I have not have seen how amazing he was being? How could I have not seen we share something more than just friendship? How could I not see that he's in love with me? "Hello, earth to Angie," says Neil, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry," I say, snapping out of it. My thoughts carrying me away once again. Why couldn't he tell me sooner though?

"Are you feeling alright?" asks Neil and I nod my head. "You sure?" he asks me again and once again I nod my head. He looks at me as if I've grown a third head. I have no idea what to say so I just move forward and wrap my arms around his neck, crashing my lips to his. He wastes no time in responding to my kiss which makes me smile. He keeps his arms securely around me as we stand there embraced in each other's arms, kissing till we have to pull apart to breathe.

"I don't know if I love you, I don't know if I ever will or not but I want to find out," I say breathlessly after we've pulled apart. Our arms stay where they are as we look into each other's eyes.

"Thank god, I thought you came here to tell me off," says Neil in relief which makes me chuckle. He comes out with the silliest things ever.

"Neil," I start with a smile. But I forget what I was going to say because I get lost in his eyes. I can believe my feelings have changed so much after him kissing me. I think they were there all along though, he just came and unlocked them.

"Can I take you out tomorrow night?" asks Neil and I shake my head as his smile falls. At least I'll know when he's unhappy about something. He makes it so damn obvious.

"We'll be doing something important tomorrow but you can take me out once that's over and done with," I tell him and he looks on at me confused. There's an issue that needs to be sorted out.

"Ok," says Neil and then places a peck on my lips. "If this ends up being a dream then I swear I will burn my alarm clock," he comments which makes me laugh.

"It's not a dream," I tell him. "Why didn't you tell me before?" I then ask him the question that's been bugging me for so long now. I honestly can't believe he kept it hidden for so long. Hang on, how long has he kept it hidden? He's in love with me so it has to be a long time.

"I was afraid at what you'd say," says Neil, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't want to risk not having you in my life," he then tells me.

"Somehow I don't think I could get rid of you if I tried," I tell him which makes him laugh. "I'm sorry for being so stupid and not seeing this before," I say and then stroke the side of his cheek. "I always told you any girl would be lucky to have you but never considered that myself". I always kept bugging him about being single but he always just told me I was single and then we'd argue.

"You're the only girl I have eyes for," says Neil, leaning his forehead against mine and gently bumping it.

"Even after all the horrible things I did and said?" I question him in disbelief.

"Even after," Neil tells me as I try to keep myself together. I'm not going to cry. I'm not a crier. "I love you for everything about you. Even when you're shouting at someone even though you're completely wrong. Even when you apologize with your tail tucked in between your legs," he says and I playfully slap his chest. "Because, you have a good heart at the end of the day," he finishes.

"Such a smooth talker," I comment with a chuckle. Someone like Neil would be perfect for me. he always understands me and how I feel. If someone else was my best friend, then they would have told me to fuck off already and left.

"Now, because of whom can I not take you out tomorrow night?" Neil then asks me. He's right in thinking it's because of a person.

"Macy," I state and his smile instantly drops. He looks on at me confused but I just suggest this, "How about you fix us with some coffee and then we sit and chat in the living room?" I'll need to tell him what's been going on in my head for him to understand this.

"Fine by me," says Neil and after kissing me one more time he takes a hold of my hand and takes me to the kitchen with him. I have a good feeling about this. About us. I'll have to wait and see about the other thing.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Ari, come on," says Dean but I continue walking around and grabbing my stuff. He may not take this seriously but I do. I don't care about Seth or him or the circumstances. My best friend was in trouble and they both hid it from me. I get why Iris didn't tell me, she didn't want me to worry. But Dean should have told me as soon as he found out.

"Nope," I say, grabbing my purse and leaving the bedroom. I'm not being unreasonable. If the roles were reversed, I would have told him Seth or Roman were in trouble. Or that something was going on and it was being handled. He didn't need to tell me details, just that there's a problem but he's sorting it with Seth and doesn't want to worry me. "You promised to tell me everything," I say, turning around all of a sudden and catching him off guard.

"But I knew it'd make you upset," justifies Dean, that being the biggest bunch of bullshit I have ever heard from him in my life.

"Ok, what if I said that to you?" I ask him with an amused look on my face. "Would that make you any less angry? Like when I told you about the whole Randy thing? That wasn't even really relevant because we weren't an item back then and you didn't ask about him. But Iris is my best friend you jerk!" I nearly yell and walk out to the living space where Roman is happily sitting, messaging away on his phone.

"What happened now? Is it the Randy thing? Because then I am totally on her side," says Roman and I feel kind of sorry for him. Every two seconds it's something or the other with us two. I give Dean a look but he just rolls his eyes.

"You wanna know?" I ask Roman, keeping my purse in my hands. I tell him everything and I can tell he doesn't look too pleased either.

"How could you hide that from us?" asks Roman, getting up from his seat. We're all supposed to look out for each other, no matter what. Even if we're far away. How can that happen if we don't know what the hell is going on?

"Don't even think about getting in between this Roman because you're already keeping secrets about the whole Kane thing which would make you a hypocrite," comments Dean. Damn it, he's right. If only we had another person in our group, they would agree with me for sure.

"And apparently you're one too because you've been keeping secrets as well," I comment, taking a few steps back. "I don't know why you boys feel the need to hide whatever it is you hide. Because then I just end up looking like the idiot for telling you everything," I say in an unimpressed manner. "But you know what? Whatever. I'm off to stay with the girls tonight, if you have any more secrets then email me," I say, turning around to walk out of there.

"Ariana, you know I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry," says Dean in a soft voice. Nope, be strong Ariana. The boy cannot always hide things from you, especially since you're going to marry him.

"I understand it, doesn't mean I have to like it or respect it. And it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do either," I say before finally getting out of there. People always say girls bring drama. Well they were wrong because these boys are the biggest drama queens I have ever seen in my life. I head over to Natalya's room, having messaged her before. She then messaged some of the others and it's going to be me, her, Paige and the Bella's. Maybe AJ if she can make it. We're going to spend the day together and then have a sleepover too. That's more than enough of what I need while the boys take a good hard look at themselves because I am sick of them and their secrets.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"You think she's going to come back?" Dean asks me, staring at the door after Ariana had left. She was pretty mad. I can't even say I blame her because she is kind of right. We're all keeping secrets and she's always the last to know about everything. It probably makes her feel like crap.

"Probably," I comment and Dean gives me a panicked look. "Don't worry man, she's going to let off some steam with the girls. I think we've given her enough of a headache," I then say and Dean nods his head, letting out a sigh.

"I don't know why she has to act so stubborn," says Dean and if it wasn't for the situation, I probably would have burst out laughing.

"Really?" I say to Dean, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're both one and the same. She just needs time to get over it. I don't understand why you even hid that from her man," I go on to say.

"Because she would have blabbed to Iris and I could handle it," answers Dean, shrugging his shoulders. I can't even go full angry on him because then he'll just pull that stuff with me about Kane. Dean looks at me and I can tell he knows what I'm thinking. "Still a hypocrite Roman," he comments.

"Not really, this secret involved Seth too," I say, even though my argument is weak. "Seth could have used us both to help him with this but as usual you thought you were enough to help someone out," I go on to say as he lets out a scoff.

"Because I'm so incapable of helping someone out right?" asks Dean, sounding kind of mad. "I don't understand why no one can ever trust me with anything. I'm not a fuck up, I do what needs to be done and I get it done. If no one likes the way I do it then fuck em," he says, leaving and going into his bedroom. Slamming the door as he goes in as well.

"Well done Roman (!)" I say to myself. I know what Dean's like. I know he wouldn't keep something unless it was necessary. And he has handled it well I guess. He found out it was Macy who printed those pictures. Maybe we should have been easier on him. Me and Ariana both.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved!**


	39. Denial

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, here's the next chapter! Who else is still buzzing from MITB and the fact that Dean Ambrose is finally champion?! I can't get over it! Haha! :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: It's too bad the characters you write can't come to life ;)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks lovely! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: But they're Dean and Ari, they always do :)**

 **Iamkhushbu333: I'm sorry but I cannot tell you anything. It's so hard when you guys ask me questions because I never have any idea what to say :)**

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 **CHAPTER 39:**

 **ARIANA POV**

I look at the tenth message Dean has sent to me in the last hour and ignore it. We're supposed to be getting married. I get that everybody has secrets but when he hides things about my best friend? That's unacceptable to me no matter what the reason. And he knows that but still did it! That's what pisses me off.

"Ari, do you think this blue one suits me?" asks Nikki and I look up from where I'm sitting. The others are all trying on clothes too, except for Paige. She kind of disappeared. Where to, I have no idea. Since I'm the only one that refused to try on anything, I have to tell them all that they look amazing.

"I think the dress is nice but you have to pick a different colour," I tell her honestly and instead of arguing with me or anything she tells me I'm right and goes back inside. Oh thank god. I hate shopping with Nikki. I always get accused of not paying attention. But this time I want a distraction so I'm actually paying attention.

"Hey dude," says Paige, appearing from out of nowhere and sitting down right next to me.

"Where the fuck have you been?" I ask her, turning my head to look at her. I could have used another person sitting out here with me.

"Around," answers Paige vaguely which tells me she's hiding something. "Actually," she starts, lowering the tone of her voice. "I went to get Roman a present. I think it's been about 2 months since we went out on our first date so I thought I should get him something for our date tomorrow night," she says, putting a smile on my face.

"Wow, I never saw that coming," I say with a small chuckle.

"Neither did I, believe me. But Reigns is one special dude," says Paige, making both of us laugh. I put an arm around her and give her a squeeze, she can be cute at times. "How's dress trying coming along?" she then asks me.

"They're actually listening to me for once which is new," I report to her, my phone beeping again. I look and see it's Dean. He should know not to message me because I won't message back.

"Is that Dean?" asks Paige and I nod my head. I haven't told the girls anything, just that I'm not talking to Dean right now for being an idiot. "Half of me thinks it's cute that he keeps messaging you because he really loves you and the other half just thinks he's an idiot for poking a bear with a stick," she explains her thoughts to me. That last part may be true.

"He can keep messaging me all he wants but I am not backing down," I say in a determined manner. I learnt a long time ago that keeping things from Dean makes matters worse, now it's time for him to learn that same lesson.

"Give him hell," says Paige and I shake my head. They got on so well at the start, but all of Dean's teasing just got to Paige and now they're kind of like enemies. The girls decide on what they want to buy and we finally get out of there, heading over to get some lunch.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey," I say as I see Angie walk by which makes her jump. I couldn't resist greeting her. I came down to get some water when I heard someone come in. Exiting from the kitchen, I saw her walking.

"Iris, the fuck?!" says Angie, holding a hand to her chest. I didn't know she's one to jump. I need to keep that in mind for the future.

"Oops, sorry," I say with an amused smile as I walk over closer to her. "I just saw you so…" I trail off. I am curious to know what happened with her and Neil but I also don't want to ask because that'll be prying.

"That's fine, I thought it might have been Dad," says Angie, finally putting her hand down. I wonder what Nick would have said to her. She is an adult, he can't berate her for staying out late.

"No, I'm definitely a woman," I tell her which makes her chuckle. "Everything go ok with you and Neil?" I then ask her and she nods her head. Is that a slight blush I see? I think things went more than good.

"Everything's great, for once," says Angie with a nod of her head. "Neil told me everything," she then says as I tilt my head to the side in confusion. "How you tried to encourage him to tell me sooner," she then says as it comes back to me. Why did he need to tell her that?

"Clearly it didn't work," I state. Otherwise he would have told her sooner.

"No but thanks anyway," says Angie. "He says he wouldn't have even come close to telling me if it weren't for you and that your voice was in the back of his mind the whole time telling him to just do it," she explains which makes me laugh. I knew he was weird.

"That is very bizarre and you can tell him I said 'Your welcome'," I then say to her. "How come you got back so late anyway?" I question. It's like 3 in the morning.

"We were watching a movie and I somehow fell asleep," explains Angie. "Neil tried to get me to stay over but I don't think that was the best idea," she admits and I nod my head. Too tempting. I still can't believe I haven't managed to jump Seth's bones yet. He's shirtless half the time in our room anyway. Especially when he goes to bed. Self-control is very hard. "What are you doing up?" she then asks me.

"Uh, I came to get some water," I tell her, pointing to the glass in my hand.

"Iris, you might be able to brush things off most of the time but I can tell right now that's not the truth," says Angie, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Am I that readable?" I ask with a slight pout.

"Nope, I'm just that good," says Angie and then gestures for me to follow her. She takes me to the kitchen and we sit opposite each other on the dining table. "What's wrong?" she then asks me. That is the big question though.

"That's the thing, I have no clue," I answer her honestly. "Ever since Macy…" I trail off, still upset about the whole thing. "I just...something doesn't seem right. I feel restless, as if something's wrong. I don't know what it is. I can't put my finger on it," I explain to her as much as I can. It's a feeling I've never had before so it's difficult to explain.

"What do you mean something's wrong? Is everything alright with you and Seth?" she questions, looking concerned for us both.

"Everything's fine, he's working really hard at making sure I'm smiling," I tell her with a small smile on my face. "When it's night, it's the only time I can sit and show how I really feel, like now. It completely sucks she did that but at the same time I just wished she had talked to me. Told me how she felt. But I still can't accept she did it. I've come up with tons of scenarios in my head on there being explanations for everything Isabel said about her but I can't and it's frustrating because I shouldn't be doing that you know?" I say and sit up properly as I look at Angie. "I shouldn't be wanting there to be reasons why Isabel's number was in her phone or that that Al guy was lying or anything, But I do," I admit, looking down at the table with a sigh.

"It must be hard," comments Angie and I nod my head. I guess I just don't want to believe it.

"You have no idea," I tell her. "When I have time to myself in the night, like now my head is going at a hundred miles an hour thinking about it all. Any scenario that will make Macy look innocent and it's too much. Jeez, no wonder I can't sleep," I say, shaking my head. I just want it to stop.

"Have you told Seth any of this?" Angie asks and I shake my head. Like he needs another reason to keep asking me if I'm ok.

"No, I don't want to bother him," I tell her, waving a hand in the air. He probably does suspect that something is up though.

"Trust me when I say he won't think like that, right now he'll want to know what is going on in your mind," says Angie which is true.

"Yeah but he won't understand," I say, looking at her once more. "He's never been through this with anyone. Neither have you. You can't understand how I feel no matter how hard you try". Seth was the one that betrayed his friends and me, he wouldn't understand what it feels like to be on the other side.

"Is there anyone you can talk to that might?" suggests Angie and I shake my head but then freeze. "What?" she asks me.

"Actually, yeah. Yeah there is," I say as a light bulb goes off in my head. I know who I can talk to.

"Really? Who?" she asks me.

"Dean," I reply with a nod of my head. Dean's my best chance. He knows what it's like to have a good friend betray you. He'll understand because he went through the same thing with Seth. I thank Angie for the talk and then we both decide we better head off to bed. I go into my room and smile as I see both my guys sleeping soundly. I think it is best if I talk to Dean, maybe I can sort this mess going on inside of my head. I only have 3 more days here so I might as well. I climb into bed and snuggle into Seth, his arms being my favourite place in the world.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Please can we order fries?" asks Paige for the fifth time as all the girls decide what they want to eat. To be honest, we all know what we want to eat. It's just Nikki that's wasting our time right now. She can't make up her mind, as per usual.

"I second that motion!" I say, putting my arm up in the air from where I'm lying on my back on the floor. The girls thought it would be a good idea to sit in a circle on the floor with our pillows. We didn't have enough do ordered up some extra along with a couple of extra blankets.

"Fries? Guys, are you trying to put on weight?" asks Nikki, on her knees with her hands on her hips.

"I'll say yes if it'll make you shut up quicker," says Paige, letting out a groan and then falling forward onto her stomach. She does not have the patience to deal with someone like Nikki. I've had the practice with Iris over the years so I'm accustomed to it.

"Nikki, if they want fries let them have it. You know Paige will only eat what she wants to eat," says Natalya, trying to move the process along, which is difficult with someone like Nikki.

"Alright fine," says Nikki, giving in after only half an hour. She orders the food and we start to decide on what we're going to do for the night. None of us felt like going to a club and I really can't be bothered dressing up for something like that. I get up from my lying position just in time to see Paige bump into Nikki, having gone to get a glass of water and Nikki going to call John.

"Oops, sorry," says Paige, moving past Nikki who gives her a weird look. This isn't normal for Paige.

"Are you feeling ok?" asks Nikki as Paige sits down next to me. Paige nods her head and Nikki asks, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?" asks Paige, drinking her water. I don't think Paige has realised how much she has started to change. Not in a bad way of course. It's little things. But she hasn't noticed it herself. Or maybe she has but isn't paying it too much importance.

"Because normally when I bump in to you, you tell me to watch where I'm going," says Nikki. It's actually surprising how they're both getting along since they didn't before. I still remember Iris's baby shower planning and the chaos that ensued because Paige got drunk. "Then you tell me to get a pair of glasses before walking off angrily," she adds on.

"Oh shit, I do don't I?" says Paige, rolling her eyes after. "It's Roman. Being around him has made me nicer and mature. Damn that Samoan," she says, the last part making all of us laugh.

"I think it's cute," says Natalya, Paige rolling her eyes once more. She hates being called 'cute'.

"Who knew a man could change Paige's behaviour and make her nicer?" says Brie, all of us chuckling.

"It's not funny guys," says Paige. "My mother was actually worried for me when I didn't get all mad about her cancelling the visit she had planned. She thought I was someone else," she tells us resulting in us laughing even more.

"It's what love does to you," I say, shrugging my shoulders and patting her back before sitting with my legs crossed. "Nikki used to be even more annoying, John worked his magic and she's less whiny," I comment, catching the pillow she threw in my direction.

"What if that hit me in the eye?" I question her, sounding horrified.

"Then Dean would come here and send her straight to hell," comments Brie, earning a whack on the head, curtsy of Nikki. "And then you wonder why me and Bryan don't invite you over, god Nikki," she says, rubbing the back of her head.

"Come on, everyone changes when they get into a relationship and for the better too," says Natalya, Nikki sitting down once more. I guess she's forgetting about John right now. "I know, we should go around and say what's changed about us ever since we got with our guys," she says, which isn't such a bad idea. "I'll go first. I stopped prioritising work as much as before and learnt to relax," she says. Natalya has been here for years, she definitely needed to learn to relax.

"Uh, I learnt you don't need to be perfect to be great," says Brie with a smile on her face. "And that all sorts of people can surprise you at any point in your life," she adds on and I'm sure there's some double meaning behind that.

"I learnt to be more patient and to be more considerate of others. What I want and what I can have isn't a life or death situation," says Nikki, the last comment making me think she's talking about shoes or something.

"I learnt to be nicer," says Paige, not even bothering to think of anything else.

"I learnt to be more open and trusting," I state with a nod of my head. Before I always saw it as me and Iris against the world, that's changed now that I have Dean. I realised that others can be trusted too. "Wow, I wonder what the guys would say if we asked them that," I then say aloud, curious to know what Dean's answer would be.

"That would be something," Brie. I'll pick Dean's head when he stops acting like a silly two-year-old. "Ariana can't do that right now because she's fighting with Dean," she then says.

"Believe me, if I ever use the term fighting then you'll actually see us brawling somewhere," I say, making them all laugh. "I'm just setting him straight before I marry him," I let them all know. I don't want even one little thing to escalate so big that our marriage gets ruined. It can happen and I don't want that because I love Dean.

"It's still so weird to think you're getting married in December, I mean I never saw it coming," says Nikki and I send her a frown. What does she mean by that? "Oh, not that you aren't meant to be together or anything. Just that, I never saw Dean as the proposing type," she clarifies which leads to me letting out an internal sigh of relief.

"But he did and it's happening. Are you nervous?" Natalya and to be honest the answer has always been that I'm not. Should I feel nervous? Will something go wrong if I don't?

"Not at all, I'm looking forward to marrying the idiot," I say, making them all laugh. "I'm not nervous at all because I know I'm making the best decision in my life. I love Dean, he loves me and we're good together. I'm not even doubting my decision for a second," I explain to them all.

"Won't you get bored of having sex with the same guy over and over?" asks Paige which makes me chuckle.

"You're saying that as if I'm cheating on him right now with 5 other guys," I say, shaking my head. "Not to brag or anything ladies but Dean is something else in bed. I doubt any other guy could impress me as much," I say, eyebrows being raised around the room.

"But this means you can't break up with him, like ever!" exclaims Paige. I know the thought of spending the rest of her life with someone like Dean would horrify her but he is actually in a corny way perfect for me.

"Good, because I don't want to," I say and she lets out a sigh. I pat her shoulder because I know how much she's wanted me to find another guy. All in good jokes of course.

"And we don't want you to, Dean used to be an ass before he started to date you," says Brie which I completely understand. He was. Which is why we never got along. But things change all the time.

"Who knew there was ever a woman made to set Dean straight," comments Nikki before finally getting up to call John. Our food arrives not too long after that and we dig in. Dean makes me so incredibly mad, all the time. But then when he's not around, I get all loving about him.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

Iris won't talk to me. Ever since everything that happened with Macy, she's acting kind of closed off. The night before I found her crying and last night she disappeared for a couple of hours and then came back to bed. I want her to talk to me, to confide in me like she used to when we weren't a couple. But that's proving to be harder than I thought.

"Iris," I say as I go into our bedroom and see her putting some clothes on Evan. "I just got a call from Stephanie," I then say as she nods her head to show me that she's listening but still attending to Evan. "They want me back at work," I tell her and she looks up at me.

"But I thought we get the whole two weeks off?" asks Iris, having finished dressing Evan. She puts him in his playpen and walks over to me.

"Yeah, but she said that if I can make a surprise appearance on RAW tonight and then tape Smackdown then we get a couple more days which I think would be great, don't you think?" I ask, placing my hands on the side of her arms as she looks to be in deep thought.

"What about me and Evan?" asks Iris, looking at me. I don't think it's best for me to take them and I'm sure Iris will be just fine here.

"You both can stay here," I suggest to her and I can tell that very idea makes her feel nervous. "Don't worry, we already know my family don't bite," I tell her, tapping her nose playfully which makes her chuckle.

"Are you sure?" asks Iris which makes me laugh. "I mean, I won't get to see you till Tuesday night and I'm not sure that's what I want," she then tells me, her hands resting against my chest as I put my arms around her.

"Cutie Pie, I think we need to have a chat," I then tell her and she gives me a confused look. "You don't want to come on the road with me," I state and she averts my gaze. So predictable. "Hey," I say, placing one of my hands underneath her chin and getting her to look up at me. "That's fine," I let her know.

"Really? You were so mad about it before," says Iris. Sometimes doing what you want isn't always the right choice.

"That was me being stupid and as I said before, it was more about me being angry that I was keeping things from you just like you were me," I explain to her. "But that's all sorted. It's always going to be difficult trying to tell you everything".

"Same here," says Iris which gets me wondering what else she could possibly hide from me. "But we'll tell each other as much as we can right?" she says and I nod my head, kissing her forehead.

"Since you guys will be staying in my house in Davenport," I start, looking forward to living with my little family.

"Our," Iris interrupts me and I look down at her. "Our house," she says softly with a small smile.

"Yeah," I say, the excitement building up inside of me at having her and Evan live with me. "Since you both will be home all the time, maybe you should get practicing staying without me," I say which makes Iris sigh.

"I guess," says Iris and then starts to play with one of the buttons on my shirt. "It's going to suck not having you around," she tells me. I won't be gone for long but the real test will start when we continue to do this after I get back to work.

"Yep," I say in agreement and then lean my forehead against hers. "So…can I go?" I then ask her.

"You need my permission?" asks Iris, looking amused.

"Always," I tell her with a grin, making her smile. I love that smile so much.

"Ok," says Iris and pecks my lips. "You can go but you better get your butt back here quickly," she says and I nod my head.

"My butt will leave as soon as it is finished working," I tell her, making her laugh. I then place both my hands on the side of her face and say, "Take care of yourself and our son". In such a short amount of time, I feel like we've always been together. Me, Iris and our son. It'd be really weird without either of them around me.

"I will, I promise," she says to me. "When are you going to leave?" she then asks, not looking forward to that.

"First thing tomorrow morning," I reply and she nods her head. "How about we go out for some lunch again today? Just the three of us?" I suggest and she nods her head eagerly which makes me laugh. At least I can do things to make her happy. And I'm glad she can still smile after the car crash that is Macy.

"Can you take Evan downstairs whilst I get ready?" asks Iris and I nod my head. I kiss her lips before I go and pick up my son. "I'm just going to make a phone call as well, how about if we leave in around 45 minutes?" she suggests.

"Anything you want," I say and peck her lips before I leave the room with our son. I want to keep Iris here for a couple of extra days, it'll be nice that she gets to spend some extra time with my family. Especially since Angie's finally accepted her. Who knows, maybe I can sort this mess out with Nicky as well. I feel bad for him, I really do. It was Macy who did this and he has to pay the price because he loves her.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

 _"Hello, Dean Ambrose's office?"_ I hear Dean answer the phone and laugh. I can never be greeted normally but Dean. But it does make things more fun.

"Ok, may I please speak to Mister Ambrose?" I ask him, playing along for his benefit. If I don't he will definitely complain till the end of time and say things like I don't have a funny bone in my body.

 _"Can I ask what this is regarding? He is very busy today,"_ says Dean as I sit at the dresser and run a comb through my hair. My hair is getting kind of long, I think I'll cut it soon.

"Oh, it's a very important secret business matter," I reply, trying to hold in my laughter.

 _"One moment please, I'll ask him if he wants to take this call,"_ says Dean as my mouth forms and 'o' shape. Ok, time for me to get into the authority role otherwise I'll be playing this game forever.

"He's going to take this call whether he likes it or not," I say in a stern voice. It's kind of funny how sometimes, out of everyone, I can always connect with Dean.

 _"Thanks for ruining the role play,"_ says Dean, sounding unimpressed, but I just shrug my shoulders even though he can't see me. I need to talk to him quickly before Seth thinks something is up.

"What can I say, I got bored," I say. I hope this talk will make things a lot clearer for me. "Are you at work?" I then ask him. If he's working then I can call back later, I'm not having him blame me for being off his game and whatnot.

 _"Nope, at the hotel,"_ answers Dean. Hmm, if he's at the hotel then that means Roman or Ariana might be about. _"Why?"_ he then asks me.

"I need to talk to you, is anyone around you?" I ask him. I don't want anyone getting worried or anything, it's a not a big deal. It's a natural reaction to what's happened over the last few days.

 _"Nope, Ariana went to get some food so she should be back any second,"_ he tells me, his voice sounding different when it comes to Ariana. I hope everything is ok between them. But it is Dean and he gets upset over the littlest things. I shouldn't be too worried.

"Oh," I then say in disappointment. I don't need Ariana knowing about this. What if she comes back halfway through our conversation or something?

 _"But I can always leave and tell her I went for a walk because I got bored,"_ says Dean and already hear him shuffling around which makes me smile. He's a good friend.

"Sure that's not too much trouble?" I ask him. I know him and Ariana have this thing about freaking out when they don't know where the other is. They don't like to show it but it is there.

 _"It means I have to get up but for you, anything,"_ Dean says, making me giggle. _"What is it that can't wait?"_ he then asks me. I hope he can help me get through this. I don't know what else to do if Dean can't help me.

"It's about this whole thing with Macy," I admit to him with a sigh, putting the comb on the dresser as I stay seated and just talk to Dean.

 _"She hasn't done anything else has she?"_ questions Dean. I wish she hadn't done anything in the first place. Or nothing had ever happened in the first place. But they did. They tried to break up me and Seth.

"Nope but I…I'm having trouble coming to terms with it," I admit to him with a sigh. "I…no one understands how I feel right now. They don't get how betrayed I feel yet at the same time I'm in denial". If you think you're in denial does that mean you're still in denial?

 _"Is that stupid boyfriend of yours not being sensitive enough?"_ Dean then asks me, making me laugh. He's always making sure Seth's being the good boyfriend he should be. And I have no complaints. Although, I'm sure Dean would eagerly take any if I had them and then sort them out.

"He's fine, he's always making sure he does something to keep me smiling," I say. Seth and Evan have been my rock since everything happened. I'm only sane right now because of them.

 _"But it's not enough?"_ asks Dean and I shake my head. There's only so many times I can get through things with a smile on my face, more than half the time I feel like crap. I put on a front when I came back and had to be around Seth, I put on a front with the whole Kane issue and I'm putting up a front right now. But when Seth makes me smile, that is genuine. He's the reason I keep smiling when usually that isn't the only reason to get me to do so.

"No," I say with a sigh. "Everyone here is really nice but they won't be able to understand how I feel. So they can't help me get through this". All they can do is be there for me and try and distract me.

 _"But I can because I've been there,"_ states Dean and my silence gives him the answer. _"Are you coming up with scenarios in your head of there being explanations of all of her actions and not because she did it deliberately?"_ he asks me after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes, how did you know?" I ask him curiously.

 _"I did the exact same thing,"_ admits Dean, referring to everything Seth did to get Ariana. _"I kept thinking of reasons why Seth tried to kiss Ariana. Why he was always hovering around her. Why he seemed to always get annoyed when we were making out, etcetera. You get the picture,"_ he explains. I suppose after the truth came out, the puzzle pieces fit together.

"Yep," I say, it feeling weird discussing this because it feels like it happened years ago. And because Seth's made up for it.

 _"That's not going to go away,"_ Dean says which isn't the best news in the world. I was really hoping it would. _"It's going to keep plaguing your mind and thoughts till you've finally had enough,"_ he goes on to say. I swear he's supposed to be comforting me.

"Gee, that makes me feel a whole lot better (!)" I comment.

 _"You want the truth or not?"_ asks Dean and I keep quiet. It's best not to sugar coat things I guess. _"The truth is it's a lie when people say it gets easier, it doesn't. It never does. Until you come to accept everything that she did, these thoughts will keep running through your mind_ ," he says to me.

"Then how do I accept everything she's done?" I question him. I need someone to tell me how to do this. "How do I finally get out of this denial stage?" I go on to ask him.

 _"I can't tell you that,"_ says Dean. _"There is no answer. You'll have to go on like this till you find it within yourself to come to terms with what she did"._ Dean isn't helping at all, if anything, he's making me ask more questions.

"But how do I do that?" I ask him, getting frustrated by the lack of answers. "How did you do that?" I decide to use a different approach. I should stop asking answers for myself and find out how Dean got through it instead.

 _"I confronted Seth and had to hear it from his mouth,"_ Dean tells me. _"Once he told me he did it, it finally sunk in. Then of course I beat the shit out of him and left him to rot but…yeah"._ I didn't even realise they'd fought. I left as quickly as I could, not even waiting for the explosion that took place afterwards.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," I say. I don't think anybody would want to get on Dean's bad side.

 _"As long as you don't try to steal Ari from me,"_ says Dean, making me chuckle. I swear that's the only think that makes him seriously mad.

"No promises," I joke. "The whole time she was accused, Macy just kept denying it," I state. Why couldn't she just admit to what she had done when all the evidence was right there?

 _"That's what Seth did,"_ Dean tells me. _"He kept on denying it till I told him that you came to me and revealed everything. Then I could see it in his eyes, I didn't even need to hear him say it"._ Why do people deny doing what they do? It just makes them look like an even more of a liar than before.

"I don't think I can go back and see her, demanding an explanation," I admit to him. It would be too hard to see Macy again. I know I tolerate things well but even I have my limits.

 _"Then that's up to you,"_ says Dean, not pushing me into anything. It's weird how Dean's the one that's giving me good advice at the moment.

"Dean, can I tell you something?" I ask him, looking at myself in the mirror.

 _"Only if it doesn't cause any problems,"_ he tells me and I smile as I bit down on my lip. There is always something that does cause problems.

"My heart tells me that she didn't do it, that she's innocent," I state, finally letting out the one thing I've been keeping buried within me. "I know everything came out in the open but…I just don't genuinely believe Macy could so something like this". I would say the same thing about any one of my friends.

 _"Your admittance is flawed because you started the sentence with 'My heart',"_ Dean points out. Like what your heart feels is a bad thing. _"The people we love we don't necessarily want to believe they could do anything remotely vile. My heart didn't believe Seth did it either, I was always thinking that you lied to me. That Seth broke up with you and you got bitter, but my heart was wrong wasn't it? Because he did do that"._ I don't blame him for wanting to believe Seth over me at that time. He'd known Seth for years but I was just someone he'd known for a few months.

"I wish it weren't true," I say. I wish Macy was a good friend like I always thought she was and Isabel was lying as per usual.

 _"Everyone does,"_ Dean responds. _"You just got lucky that Seth sorted his shit out and came back to you,"_ he says, lifting me up from the dump I feel that I'm in. Figuratively speaking of course. Seth is beginning to become my silver lining in almost everything.

"Ok, well I better get going because Seth is taking me out to lunch," I then tell him, standing up and going over to put on my shoes.

 _"Ooh,"_ says Dean in a teasing voice. _"You guys have fun and I can't wait to see you and Tidbit when you get back,"_ he says as I bite down on my tongue. Now I have to break the news to him.

"Oh, Seth hasn't told you?" I ask him. I was sure Seth said he would. "We're staying here for a couple days longer," I inform him, knowing that he's going to wreak absolute havoc.

 _"What?"_ asks Dean as I try not to laugh at how horrified he sounds. I then explain everything to him and he doesn't say a word till I'm finished. _"Would it bother you if I sent Seth back without a dick?"_ he asks and I feel myself go red despite the fact that Dean is not here right now.

"Very much so," I say, making it clear that Seth should make it back in one piece.

 _"Fine, but I'm not letting this go without a fight. How dare you keep Tidbit away from me?"_ he asks me.

"Sorry but Evan wants to spend more time with his Uncles, Aunts and grandparents," I explain quickly.

 _"Fine, tell Seth I hate him,"_ says Dean and then hangs up and I laugh out loud. I sure do miss having him around. I actually can't wait to go back and join the gang. I think of Dean's words and shake my head, I am definitely not ready to see Macy yet. It would probably make the pace of things go faster but I just can't.

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated guys! :)**


	40. Lunch

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey guys, on with the next chapter! :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks and it is isn't it? When I wrote the other story I didn't plan initially for things to go that way, it just happened! And I'm glad it did! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Totally agreed. Whether this lunch will prove to be a stress reliever or cause even more stress, I'll let you decide after reading it ;)**

 **Lourdes1694: Well, yeah. Lol :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 40:**

 **IRIS POV**

"We ready to go?" I ask Seth and he nods his head. We go to the car and he drives us to a place. I told him to pick because I don't know which places are good or not. Once inside we get seated and start deciding on what we want to order. "Ugh!" I say in frustration as I read off the menu.

"What's wrong Cutie Pie?" asks Seth and I look up at him. He'll probably think I'm being stupid.

"I can't decide between the Sea Bass and the chicken," I say with an annoyed expression. I love chicken, I really do. But that Sea Bass sounds excellent too. Jeez, no wonder it took me a long time to decide on whether I wanted to move in with Seth or not, I can't even decide on what to eat.

"Chicken," says Seth easily as if it's the most obvious choice in the world. "You love chicken; in the end you always regret not getting the chicken". I remember when we first started dating, Seth would take me out to restaurants every night. And every night he would take me to a different one. I was a mess when it came to deciding on what to eat, Seth would in the end make the decision.

"But I've never had the Sea Bass here, what if I miss out on something amazing?" I then ask him. Yep, these are the thoughts that plague my mind.

"It's fish," states Seth, probably wondering why I'm making a big fuss out of it. "Just pick one Iris before me and Evan start to grow white hair," he comments. He wants to make jokes does he? I can make them too.

"The first plausible reason for you to get white hair is if you dye it," I say, teasing him as I put down the menu and look right at him.

"That's just mean," comments Seth and shakes his head. "Don't be like Mommy, Evan. Nobody likes anybody that's mean," he says, bending his head down to Evan's level who's in his own chair. I have a feeling these two will be a lot of work in the future.

"Your order Sir?" asks the waiter, coming over to our table and looking at Seth who glances at me. now I have literally five seconds to decide on what I want to have.

"I'll have the beef Wellington," answers Seth. Why doesn't anybody else ever have a problem with making decisions? Especially regarding food? "And Iris, what are you going to have?" he asks, a cheeky grin on his face.

"I'll have…the chicken," I finally say as Seth wears a smirk on his face. I would wipe that smirk right off his face if he didn't look so sexy.

"Alright, excellent choices," says the waiter before walking off. As soon as he does, Seth starts to laugh.

"What?" I ask him. If he even thinks about making fun out of me I have a Dean Ambrose that would be more than willing to kick his ass.

"So predictable," says Seth but I just look away. "Oh, don't be like that," he says and grabs my hands, taking them in his. "I love it when you get all angry, you're so sexy," he says, placing a kiss on the back of my hands.

"Seth, people will see," I say, trying to pull my hands back.

"So? I can kiss my girlfriend wherever I want," comments Seth and he succeeds in making me smile. He always knows how to put a smile on my face. "I'm really glad you're ok with me going tomorrow," he then says. I can't believe he'd think I would have a problem with it.

"Why wouldn't I be? You're doing a job you love as well as earning for our son," I state. I don't want either of us to regret anything at all in our lives. Wrestling is important to Seth and therefore it's important to me and Evan that he gets to do that as much as he can.

"That reminds me, once we move to Davenport, what do you want to do?" Seth asks me but I send him a confused look, unsure of what he's asking of me. "I mean; I've never known you wanting to do anything other than wrestling. And I'm assuming you'll want to have a job to occupy your time," he says as I start to think about it. Wrestling has been the only thing that's ever appealed to me.

"Never really thought about it," I tell him honestly, shrugging my shoulders. To be fair, I never thought I'd make it this far so I've not thought about a lot of things.

"I mean; you don't have to have a job. I'm making enough to provide for us all," Seth then says. Like as if I would let him do that. If I have arms and legs that work, I'll definitely be working.

"No, it'd be nice to have a job to go to every day," I then tell him what I think. "I guess I'd never looked beyond wrestling, ever. I did have a small job as a waitress at the start of my pregnancy but it wasn't ideal, you know. It was just to keep me going. I guess I'll need to think about it". Hmm, what could I do to occupy my time? I honestly have no idea. Wrestling has pretty much been it for me. Am I ready to give all that up? Stephanie hasn't, she manages to do both. But I couldn't keep Evan away from me for that long.

"Well take all the time you need, no rush," says Seth, keeping his hand on mine and again being ever so great.

"That's very sweet," I say and lean forward, pecking his lips. "One of the many reasons that I love you so much," I then let him know.

"What are the other reasons?" Seth asks curiously. I think I should leave a little mystery for now.

"I'll let you know in due time," is my reply. Once we get our lunch we eat it and just like yesterday, it was nice to wind down for a while. To just talk and not have to deal with anything. I wonder how I'll manage to do it when Seth isn't here. "Oh, by the way, Dean told me to tell you he hates you," I let him know once we're eating dessert. I almost forgot. If I did Dean would have had it out with me.

"What? Why?" says Seth looking on confused. "What have I done now?" he questions. Although, I think this may be my fault for spilling the beans.

"I may have…let it slip about you going over tomorrow night," I say with a sheepish smile. "He's upset that he doesn't get to see Evan for a couple of days longer now," I explain to him. I don't blame him though; my little guy is just that loveable.

"Oh, that's all?" asks Seth with an amused smile. "Does this mean I have to expect a beat down?" With Dean Ambrose you never know what you're going to get.

"Probably," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders, Most likely anyway. Seth should make sure to stay away from sharp objects or to run away from them if Dean's chasing him with them. "Have you talked to Nicky yet?" I ask him and him avoiding my gaze confirms my suspicions that he hasn't. "Seth, you have to call him," I urge him. They're brothers after all. No matter what happens, they have to keep their relationship intact.

"Why?" asks Seth, looking very unhappy about it. "He proved he doesn't care about you or me or any of us when he left," says Seth, sounding very childish. These boys are so crap at empathising with others, they don't ever both to think about how the other might be feeling.

"Honey, we've talked about this," I remind him. "You'd do the same if it was me. Regardless of what Macy's done, do not punish yourself or Nicky," I let him know. "It's not fair," I add on. I don't understand how they could stop talking because of things that happen between their girlfriends. It makes me feel bad for it all and I haven't even done anything!

"I know I just…" Seth pauses for a second and looks at me. I place my hand over his and give him an encouraging look. "What do I say to my brother whose girlfriend tried to break us up?" he questions. I know this has hit him hard as well. It would be difficult to talk to Nicky since Macy tried to break us up but he's going to have to find the courage. Nicky's only doing what he believes to be right, what his heart tells him.

"Just let him know that he's still your brother," I say softly. "Let him know your family hasn't singled him out because of what he's done. Let him know that his brother still cares for him," I give him a list of things he needs to make sure get done with Nicky. The last thing Nicky needs is to feel deserted by his family.

"That's a start I guess," says Seth after which we finish off dessert. We go back out to the car and I stand next to the door as Seth straps in Evan.

"Oh shoot, I need to pee," I say and quickly run off as I hear a chuckle from Seth. He can laugh all he wants but when you need to go you need to go. I go back into the restaurant and go to the toilets to do my business.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Last night with the girls was exactly what I needed. We ended up eating our food, having a great deal of alcohol and then all fell asleep wherever we ended up. I open my eyes because of the loud banging on the door and see Paige half on top of me, everybody else scattered all over the room. The funny thing is, we all have pillows underneath our heads. Well, Paige has my stomach.

"Who the fuck is trying to break down the door?" asks Paige, snuggling into me more. I think she actually thinks I'm a pillow.

"I don't know but I'm going to kill them," says Nattie and I look at them all to see everyone stirring awake, eyes opened. Well except for Paige of course.

"Ariana, open up!" I hear my fiancé's voice on the other end of the door. What the fuck is he doing here? He can't be worried or anything because he knew I was spending the night with the girls.

"Why does Dean hate us sleeping?" asks Nikki, letting out a yawn before sitting up. Wow. Her hair looks like a bird's nest. I better keep a lid on it, one comment like that and she'll give me a lecture about being insensitive. Even though it's the truth.

"Ariana!" I hear Dean's voice call my name. This time it's so loud it startles Paige and she sits up straight like as if she's seen a ghost,

"Relax, it's just Dean," Brie reassures Paige, still lying on the floor with her arms stretched out. "We must have had a really good night," she comments, referring to the mess in the room. Literally, everything is scattered everywhere. I don't even remember how we all ended up like this.

"I can hear voices, I'm not an idiot!" says Dean and I finally decide to sit up myself.

"Alright, I'm going," I say, quickly getting to my feet as a result of the glares I'm receiving.

"When you open the door, please pound the shit out of him using that lamp!" I hear Paige say as I make my way to the door which makes me laugh. I unlock the door and open it to see my fiancé on the other side.

"What the fuck do you want?" I snap at him. I am not a morning person when I'm woken up. Let me wake up in my own time and I'm a fucking ray of sunshine! Right now though? Not so much! "Well?" I ask as Dean stands on the other side, continuing to stare at me. Have I grown a third head?

"Are we breaking up?" asks Dean out of nowhere, the sudden movement of my neck giving me whiplash. Did he just say what I think he just said?

"What?" I ask, keen on the belief that my ears must be deceiving me. He can't honestly believe that I might be breaking up with him. "Guys," I say, turning around and getting everyone's attention. "I'm off. I'll see you all later," I then say, grabbing my jacket and making a rush to get out of there.

"What about your stuff?" asks Nattie, stretching out her arms. They all remind me of little kittens, spread out on the floor.

"I'll get it later," I say, waving a hand in the air and leaving the room with Dean. I don't say anything and lead him downstairs, going to a coffee shop across the road. I give the order for what we'd like and then sit down opposite Dean at a table in the back. "Why the fuck would you ask me that?" I ask him. When he thinks things like that then it makes me paranoid too.

"You're not answering my calls, messages and refuse to see me. What else is there?" asks Dean and for the first time in a long time, I can't even read him. He's just sitting there with this look on his face as if he's looking right through me. Either that or he's spaced out.

"And since when was this the first time I've done this?" I question, that being my MO every time he decides to piss me off by doing something that isn't right.

"Well you were pretty angry when I told you about Iris," says Dean and I swear sometimes he has the brain of a fish. All bloody men do. Seth acted like an idiot more than half the time when it came to Iris.

"So?" I ask, shrugging my shoulders. "Do you know how many times you've been angry beyond belief? But I never jumped to conclusions," I say after which there's a couple of minutes of silence. "Dean Ambrose, the only way you could get me to break up with you is if you cheated on me and broke my heart, since we both know that's never going to happen, you're stuck with me for life," I explain to him in a way he'll understand.

"I'm sorry," says Dean after a few seconds of silence, a small smile overcoming my face.

"Thank you," I say with a nod of my head. "Dean, all couples fight. I know we're a lot more volatile than usual couples but it's still the same thing. And I guarantee you we're going to continue fighting even after we get married. One fight does not mean the end of the world or the end of our relationship. Ok?" I say to him and he nods his head.

"Are you still mad about everything?" asks Dean and he doesn't even need to ask me that. He can read it from my face because I'm still so obviously annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm furious actually," I say, crossing my arms over my chest and sitting back. "But that doesn't mean I love you any less you big weirdo," I go on to say. I never thought Dean would need reassuring any time soon. Especially after what we've been through with Randy and Seth. If I stuck by him then, why wouldn't I now?

"I love you too," Dean lets me know and I look into his eyes. I give in and send him a small smile because of which I get one in return. This guy drives me up the wall but call it the fiancée inside of me, I can't bear to watch him so unhappy and sad like.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Oh shoot, I need to pee," says Iris and quickly runs off as I let out a chuckle. My girlfriend can be very comical at times. She comes out with the most ridiculous things sometimes. But I totally love her for it.

"Mommy can be really silly can't she Evan?" I say to my son, bending over and pinching his cheeks which makes him giggle. He loves it when I pinch his cheeks. For some reason, he always giggles but when others do it, he doesn't.

"Seth?" I hear and stand up straight, shocked beyond belief to see Nicky standing there right in front of me. "I thought that was you," he says, looking just as surprised as me. I didn't expect to see him so soon.

"Uh, yeah," I say dumbfounded, not knowing what else to say. "What are you doing here?" I then ask him. I know he doesn't live too far but I would have assumed he'd be at work or something since he left.

"Oh, uh, running some errands," answers Nicky at which I nod my head. What do I say to him? "Hey Evan," he says and leans in, stroking Evan's cheek which makes me smile. At least my son is unaware of everything that's transpired. He can't be hurt by any of it. The same can't be said for Iris though.

"How've you been?" I decide to ask him and he steps back as he looks at me once again. I love my little brother; I can't not talk to him.

"I've been alright," replies Nicky, shrugging his shoulders. "How's everyone at home?" he asks me, a sad look on his face. I want to let him know that we all feel miserable without him there, but I don't.

"Alright," I answer, putting my hands in my pockets.

"And Iris?" asks Nicky a little too eagerly if you ask me. But then again, he probably wants to feed that information back to Macy.

"She's doing ok, considering," I say, scratching a part of my beard. No, I can't think like that about my brother. He's just unrelenting in believing Macy is innocent.

"Listen, about everything," starts Nicky but I put a hand up to stop him. I don't think me and him should talk about this. I can't control my emotions when it comes to Iris and I don't want to be getting into a fight with my brother.

"Don't worry about it," I say to him. "I'm not going to judge you for what you did alright? You love…her and I love Iris. It's one of those things," I say, shrugging my shoulders, not wanting to talk about it. Any of it. It'll just anger me. "Nicky, you're my little brother and if you wanna go ahead and support Macy that's fine. But I'm not leaving Iris's side. What Macy did was horrible and cruel and you're still my brother and I love you but I don't want to hear anything to do with it," I make that all very clear.

"Macy didn't do anything," states Nicky through clenched teeth as I try to remind myself that he's in love so will of course feel that way.

"That's what you want to believe and I'm sorry alright but that's not the truth," I go on to say, I'm not going to just stand here and listen to this crap. "Macy lied to you and to us and she used Isabel to try and get me and Iris to break up. I don't even care about the sick reason that was given for why she did it. Just know that I don't want her anywhere near Iris again and if that means keeping you away from Iris too then so be it," I say with determination. I'll do anything to protect my family.

"Just because Isabel said something doesn't mean it's true," says Nicky in a louder voice than he should because some people look our way which makes me glare at him. I'm sure the evidence was lying too (!). "I've never seen Macy warm up to a person more than she has with Iris," he explains at which I roll my eyes. And now we all know why, to destroy anything good Iris has in her life. "She hasn't done this Seth and we're going to prove it". How's he going to prove it when all the evidence is against her?

"Nicky, you're my little brother and I'm not going to hold anything against you," I start, trying to stay calm because I have my son with me. "But if you're going to come in front of me and defend that girl then let me tell you right now that it's stupid. Because I don't want to hear any more about her. She can go somewhere else and ruin someone else's life. I'm not having anyone or anything come between me and Iris, got it?" I made the mistake of destroying the only good thing in my life before, I'm not going to let any other person do the same.

"Oh, I got it brother," says Nicky bitterly, an unhappy look on his face. "As long as it's your girlfriend that's happy who cares about everyone else right?" he goes on to say, making me roll my eyes. "Or is it guilt because you've made her cry more than anyone else has in her life so now you're making up for it, huh?" he says, standing way too close to me. I told him that because I trusted him and he's going to throw it back in my face?

"You know, if you weren't my brother then you'd be on the ground holding your face right now," I let him know with an intense glare. "You know what? You and your girlfriend keep your noses out of my relationship and focus on your own because if you continue to stay with her then let me tell you, no one is going to care for you anymore," I say which is a lie but I want to say something to hurt him. Let him know that's it's not ok what he's doing. That he can't do this.

"I can do whatever the hell I want, we're not little kids anymore," says Nicky as I keep my fists at my side. "You know what? Now I'm kind of glad someone made an attempt at trying to break you guys up," he then says which is completely crossing the line.

"Watch your mouth," I warn him. I know we're in the middle of an argument but why did he have to say that?

"I mean, Macy has been around for a couple of years but Iris comes for a couple of weeks and everyone accepts her just because she's the mother of your kid?" asks Nicky, poking me in the chest. "Maybe I should impregnate my own girlfriend and see if that works?" he then says, as if trying to provoke me.

"Nicky, I mean it, stop it," I warn him because once he says something he can't take back, all bets are off.

"You know what, I'd understand if Macy did it," Nicky then goes on to say. "In fact, if she wanted, I'd help her. Because to be honest, it wasn't fair how everyone accepted Iris and shunned Macy. She hadn't even done anything, she was just being a bit protective over herself," he says as my anger levels continue to rise. I avert his gaze remembering that he's my brother and my fists should stay at my side.

"If this is what you've come to say then leave," I state in a monotone voice. I just have to ignore him.

"Why? If Iris comes back will she break down in tears?" mocks Nicky. "I mean, at least my girlfriend can fend for herself. She continued to fight despite the fact that Isabel was saying she'd done this and that. Your girlfriend? She'd drown us in her tears," he goes on to say, completely crossing any boundaries.

"That's it," I say and grab a hold of his collars at which point I can see the fear in his eyes. "You're my brother and I respect that but right now you're pushing boundaries," I then tell him. "Leave before I take your head and shove it in the bonnet of my car," I threaten him and then let go of him. I don't care if he's my brother, no one talks about my girlfriend like that.

"The more I think about it, the more I see you and Iris shouldn't be together," says Nicky with a smirk on his face. "We all know you're going to cheat on her sooner or later and she's too sweet for you," he says as I start to breathe heavily. I'm not going to cheat on her. "You guys shouldn't be anywhere near each other, all there is in your life is drama and poor Evan is in the middle of it. He will be when you cheat and leave him and Iris. And he will be when Iris decides you shouldn't have the responsibility of being Evan's father," he says and by now I don't even see my brother anymore. I see a guy who's getting a kick by making fun out of my relationship and my family.

"Nicky, stop speaking before I actually do hit you," I warn him, giving him too many chances. There's only so much self-control I have.

"Afraid I'm right?" asks Nicky cockily. I really want to wipe that smug smirk off his face. "You guys don't belong together, even Angie thought so too. The only person that doesn't see it is you and Iris but once she sees it, she'll dump your sorry ass and take Evan far away from you," he says and having had enough of it I swing my fist and punch him on the jaw, sending him flying to the floor.

"Seth!" I hear Iris's voice and snap out of it. I look to the floor and see Nicky holding his jaw, blood coming out the side of his mouth. I'm a terrible brother for enjoying this moment right now. "Seth," says Iris once again as she runs over to me and holds onto my arm. He deserved it.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Hey," I say to Dean, seeing him enter out room. We'd spent most the morning just watching TV and sorting out our schedules for next week. We both got hungry so I offered to go and get some food, I needed to grab my stuff from Natalya's room as well. But then I came back here and he'd disappeared. "Who were you talking to?" I then ask him, I'm sure he was putting his phone down when he walked in.

"Just Iris, she was checking in on us," says Dean and I let out a sigh. I really would have liked to talk to her.

"Can you ring her back? I want to speak with her," I say, going over to where the food is on the coffee table.

"She was just saying she's going to have lunch with Seth, maybe you should call her later," suggests Dean and I nod my head. He's right. Besides, if she's going out and things, it might take her mind off the current situation.

"Has Roman made an appearance at all?" I ask Dean and he shakes his head. He's doing anything and everything not to piss me off further but he doesn't know that's doing the trick in itself. I don't expect him to act completely like himself after what he's done because that would mean he doesn't care about what he's done. But he doesn't need to act like a loyal dog. "Here," I say, having gotten out Dean's food, handing it to him.

"Thanks," says Dean and I again roll my eyes. Thanks? Why doesn't he just kill me with pleasantries?

"Dean, if you're going to be nice in an attempt to get me to forgive you then let me tell you that it won't work because the only thing you're doing is pissing me off," I let him know, grabbing my own food and sitting on the adjacent couch. I cross my legs once I'm sat down and begin to eat.

"But you're always telling me to have some manners," argues Dean, looking at me in disbelief.

"Yes, basic manners. To other people," I inform him. When have I ever called him an ass for not holding the door open and letting it nearly hit me? "If I wanted you to say please and thank twenty-four seven then I wouldn't have dated someone like you. I would have maybe dated Wade Barrett or someone," I comment, taking a bite out of my food.

"So you don't want me to use manners?" asks Dean for clarification.

"Not unless you want me to hit you over the head with a big book," I let him know. I dated Dean knowing that he has no manners. "Dean, I love you because you have no manners with me. We don't need to do all that formal shit. When we're together, we're ourselves. For you, that means no please and thank you unless you really want something and you're trying to butter me up," I explain to him. He better not be thinking that I'm going to break up with him over him not saying something as simple as 'thank you'. I can see it in his eyes when he's grateful and that's all I need.

"Fine," says Dean, then going quiet and eating his food. Ok, maybe things are tense right now. I should probably say something. I'm mad about one thing, not everything he does.

"I love you," I say, keeping my gaze on my plate of food, moving things around on my plate with my fork.

"Love you too Ari," says Dean and when I glance at him I see him looking over at me, a smile on his face and a loving gaze in my direction. When he tells me he loves me and uses my nickname, it means he's feeling a lot of love for me. What am I going to do with Dean Ambrose?

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

After doing my business I leave the restaurant but as soon as my gaze lands to where Seth is I see Nicky there. They look like they're discussing things. If they're sorting everything out then I really should leave them, shouldn't I? I keep myself hidden but as soon as I see Seth's angry face I can't help it and walk a bit further to see what's going on. Neither of them look happy.

"The more I think about the, the more I see you and Iris shouldn't be together," says Nicky as I stand at an angle which means I don't get to see Nicky's face. Why is he saying that though? "We all know you're going to cheat on her sooner or later and she's too sweet for you," he says and I shake my head. Seth wouldn't. He even had the opportunity with Isabel but he didn't and that's proof enough for me. "You guys shouldn't be anywhere near each other, all there is in your life is drama and poor Evan is in the middle of it. He will be when you cheat and leave him and Iris. And he will be when Iris decides you shouldn't have the responsibility of being Evan's father," he says which is completely untrue. If me and Seth ever do break up, then I won't stop Seth from seeing Evan. I was an idiot for hiding it before but I could never do that again. The only reason I did the first time around was because I thought I wouldn't be around to feel guilty for whatever reason.

"Nicky, stop speaking before I actually do hit you," Seth warns him and he better listen because I don't think I've ever seen Seth this angry. Only when Kane put his hands on me.

"Afraid I'm right?" asks Nicky cockily. "You guys don't belong together, even Angie thought so too. The only person that doesn't see it is you and Iris but once she sees it, she'll dump your sorry ass and take Evan far away from you," he says and I shake my head once more. The only way Seth is going to get rid of me is if he tells me to leave. I love him and our little family, I haven't ever wanted anything else. My hands fly to my mouth as soon as I see Seth punch Nicky causing him to fall to the floor.

"Seth!" I shout his name and he glances up at me before looking back down. "Seth," I say his name as I run over to him and keep a hold of his arm. "What are you doing?" I ask, looking at him.

"I warned him but he didn't listen," says Seth and I shake my head. "You should have heard what he said," he says to me as Nicky gets up from the floor, his hand still on his jaw.

"It doesn't matter what he said you don't do this to solve it," I reprimand him. "Your son is right there!" I then say, pointing to Evan and I can see the wheels turning in his head. I know what Nicky said was cruel but Seth shouldn't have hit him. They're brothers for god's sake! Seth lets out a sigh and then tears away from me, going over to the car and hitting his fist on it. "Are you ok?" I ask Nicky reluctantly unsure of how he'll react considering what he's said about me.

"Fine," states Nicky and I can tell he looks shocked. I don't think he expected Seth to do that, hell I didn't expect Seth to do that. Nicky walks away, keeping his hand on his face and disappears out of sight.

"Let's go," I say and shut the back door where Evan is sat. "Keys?" I say and put my hand out in front of Seth. He gives them to me and I get into the drivers' seat. I start the car and wait for Seth to get in before I start to drive. You told him to talk to Nicky Iris, and this is what happened. I just don't understand how it could have gotten this far.

"Iris," starts Seth but I cut him off.

"We'll talk about this when we get home and not in front of Evan," I state, concentrating on my driving and trying to keep my anger in check. This may just have made things worse. Ok, Nicky said one thing but Seth hit Nicky. He hit his little brother and whilst some words can be taken back, this can't.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	41. We Don't Belong Together?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I realise I'm posting this one up early but I won't be able to update tomorrow like I wanted to so here it is! I hope you guys like it. It has parts with all three couples! :)**

 **Warning: A bit of a lemon in this one. I am so not good at them either so just bear with me.**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Keep it up Sherlock, I love hearing your theories! Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Guest: Firstly, thank you. I know what you mean. I'm in the middle of trying to get that done but it's sort of proving difficult at the moment. I guess I'm just waiting for the right moment? I have no clue. We'll see what happens. Thanks for letting me know! :)**

 **Paisley2: Hello! You did a disappearing act. I'm glad you're liking the story though. What's life without any drama right? Haha!  
I've got to turn her into an ass kicker then haven't I? Let your soap opera brain come into play, I'll get to hear some very interesting theories :)**

 **Calwitch: Yeah, Nicky just completely lost the plot didn't he?  
Yes it is Dean, haha! I'm glad you said that, it made me laugh :)**

 **Missabbylynn: Thank you so much! I love writing them both. Yeah, I think it's important to show that. A lot of stories, books, films make it seem like there's no love left every time someone fights but sure there is! Adorable Ambrose, lol!  
Ooh, that's not good. Let's hope that doesn't continue to happen :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: I don't think you need to worry! :)**

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 **CHAPTER 41:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"What do you mean 'no'?" Dean asks me, sitting opposite me on our bed. It's close to evening time and Roman hasn't even come back to the hotel yet. That means Dean sees this as an opportunity for us to have some 'alone time' together. And of course, his 'alone time' means sex.

"Exactly what I mean, no," I tell him once more, grabbing my bag and taking out the things I took for the sleepover with the girls. Things were going well today. We had that talk at breakfast, and another during lunch. But if he thought either of those conversations meant he would get laid, then he has another thing coming. Oh yeah, he called Iris earlier just before lunch. I need to call her too.

"You don't want to have sex with me?" asks Dean, standing up on the opposite side of the bed. Now that's a trick question. The answer to that question always is 'yes I do' and it still is. But that doesn't mean I'm going to do it.

"Let's not see it as what I want or don't want, this is your punishment," I say, pointing a finger at him, a look of disbelief just fixed across his face. "You wanted to hide shit from me so of course there's going to be consequences. Now, I can't ground you or take away your favourite toy. Since you don't really listen to me anyway, I'm refusing to give you the one thing I have complete control over. My body," I spell it out in black and white for him, it looking like it's settling in now as well.

"You can't do that!" exclaims Dean, an evil smirk coming over my face. I stand straight and cross my arms over my chest.

"Just watch me," I say with a challenging look in my eye. He needs to learn there are consequences for hiding things from me. And until I get a better idea of how to punish him, I stick with what I know.

"Ariana," says Dean, sounding annoyed but I just keep my stance and show him that I'm not budging. "You know, I could always force you," he says, that being true. There's no way my muscle power can match that of Dean's. but my intellect certainly can.

"Then I'll scream rape," I state bluntly. If he's going to be difficult then so am I.

"You wouldn't dare," says Dean, trying to challenge me once more. He should know by now that I don't bluff.

"You want to try that theory out?" I ask him, tilting my head to the side. We stare, or rather glare, at each other for a couple of minutes before Dean finally leaves the room, closing the door with a bang. I don't enjoy doing things like this. I don't enjoy making him upset. But if we're going to get married, he needs to learn to be more honest. The only reason he's really mad is because sex isn't sex for us, it's more than that. We're at a level of intimacy where we show each other just how much love there is between us. We connect. Taking that away, it doesn't sit well with him. But I can't just fall weak. I have to show him that there are consequences of his actions. If we're ever going to start a family, he needs to be more responsible.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Once we get back to the house I shut off the engine of the car and get out. I go to unbuckle Evan with all sorts of thoughts go through my mind. Nicky was right thought, wasn't he? No one wants to see us together. It took convincing Dean and Ariana. Now we've come here and we've had to deal with Isabel, Angie, Macy and Nicky. I just don't understand why everyone can't see that we're happy together. We're compatible, at least I think we are. I just…I don't know anymore. Once Evan's in my arms I can tell he's hungry and I go inside. I leave Seth in the car so he can think about everything he's done and when he's ready he can come and talk to me. I go to the kitchen and prepare Evan's milk. Just as I finish making it I see Seth come towards the kitchen.

"Can we talk?" asks Seth and I glance at him as I take out Evan's bottle in the microwave. There always seems to be a pattern emerging when it comes to Seth.

"Talk or fight?" I question at which he rolls his eyes. I close the lid on Evan's bottle and look up to see Lucy coming our way.

"Hey guys," says Lucy with a smile on her face. "You're already back?" she asks and I nod my head. "Well you're lucky, everyone's gone to the park. It's nice weather and they told me to tell you to meet them there," she says. I can't even think about enjoying doing anything when every two seconds something or the other happens.

"Alright, thanks," I say to her. "You mind feeding Evan for me? Me and Seth need to have a little chat," I say and she happily obliges. She takes Evan in her arms and then I hand her the bottle. She leaves and Seth comes around the counter so we're standing nearer each other. I keep a hand on my hip and the other on the counter. "What was that Seth?" I then ask him.

"Me hitting Nicky?" questions Seth and I nod my head. He's gotten mad at Dean and Roman before but never physically hit them. Yet he's hit his blood brother?

"Yeah, that," I say, keeping my eyes on him but he does everything possible not to look at me. I really don't want Seth losing control like that, especially around Evan. I know I punched that girl in the bar once but I'm a parent now. I'm not being careless. Seth needs to stop being careless too. Everything either of us does affects Evan.

"You should have heard what he said Iris," justifies Seth. People have said worse things to me but I never did what he did.

"I did," I let him know after which he gives me a surprised look. "I heard how he thinks we shouldn't be together and that you're apparently going to cheat on me and that I should leave you…and let's not forget how I'm going to keep Evan away from you too," I go on to say. The whole thing just sounds ridiculous.

"Then you should know why I did what I did," states Seth, his hands in his pockets. It should have only made him angry if any of them were true. The fact that none of it is, it makes no sense for him to be mad.

"No, I don't," I tell him, shaking my head. "You know Seth; I have heard the worst things possible said to me. Everyone has but that doesn't give me, you or anyone the right to put their hands on another person. Especially your brother," I point out to him.

"And what gives him the right to come out with a lot of bullshit?" Seth asks, his voice having risen. "Nicky might be my family but so are you! Ok, we're not married but you're the mother of my child. Iris, when everyone else had left and given up hope on me you didn't, you saw there was still something in me worth saving. So I wasn't going to stand there and continue to listen to his crap!" he says and starts walking around the kitchen. No, we're not going to go around in circles. He has to calm down.

"I'm not saying you had to, you could have just walked away," I say, both my hands on my hips now. "We're going through enough and we don't need any more aggravation". The last thing anyone needs is more people arguing and fighting.

"Well he should have kept his damn mouth shut," says Seth, his back turned to me now. "I warned him, a lot, to stop talking but he didn't listen. What did he think was going to happen?" Well, not what Seth gave him that's for sure.

"Seth, I understand that you're upset. What he said hurt me too but you should have controlled it better," I say, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Evan was right there. Yeah, he's probably not old enough to remember this but just a couple of years and you would have made an impression. You could have scared him, is that what you want?" I ask him in a soft voice. I know he loves Evan and he didn't mean it but he needs to think about what he's doing.

"Of course not," says Seth and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah I should have been more careful around Evan but…I couldn't control it. He can say anything about me but when he brings you two into it, all I saw was red," he explains to me after which I think maybe I'm being too hard on him. He was just defending us.

"Seth, he's probably just angry and wound up because of everything that's happened," I explain to him. The current situation is just...tense.

"Which is why I told him not to bring it up," says Seth stubbornly. I had to go and find a guy as stubborn as him, didn't I? "He started to talk about what happened and I told him not to mention Macy and that I don't care what she says, I don't want her around you," he explains, sparking a curiosity within me.

"Then what happened?" I ask.

"Then he started defending her," answers Seth. I guess that explains a whole lot more.

"And you started defending us?" I question and he nods his head in response. "Thank you," I say in a soft voice wanting him to know I do appreciate him sticking up for us. I think he gets surprised at my response because he turns around and looks at me.

"He said he would have helped Macy break us up if she asked him," he reveals to me and I try to comprehend that sentence. Nicky…said that?

"Not Nicky," I say, shaking my head. I've gotten along so well with him; he wouldn't say that.

"It's true," says Seth with a big sigh. "He told me he'd help her if she asked him to because we don't belong together," he says, making me frown. Again that sentence. We don't belong together. "Iris, what was I supposed to do? He kept pushing and pushing me and I snapped ok? I messed up, is that what you want to hear?" I think he's getting me all wrong if he thinks that's what I want to hear.

"I just think you should have had better self-control," I say. I don't want him to think I'm berating him; I just want him not to get into any trouble.

"Well there's only so much I have till I…" he trails off.

"Erupt?" I finish off for him and he nods his head. I take one of his hands in mine. "Seth, I love that you stuck up for us, I really do. But, I still don't think you should have hit him". Today has just probably gone and made things worse between them.

"A part of me agrees with you," starts Seth, taking my other hand and keeping them both in between us. "I shouldn't have hit him, he's my little brother. Macy could be saying all kinds of crap to him. But the other part of me says he deserved it, that he shouldn't have pushed me or said anything about you. I even liked it when I hit him," he explains, looking confused about all of this. I move forward and wrap my arms around his torso, hugging him.

"Find your in-between, he did deserve it but you shouldn't have done it," I suggest, holding on to him tightly. He needs my support right now. I've been so busy with my own emotions I didn't think about Seth.

"I'll try," says Seth and I feel one of his hands rubbing up and down my back. "I thought you were really going to tell me off there, all guns blazing," he comments which makes me chuckle.

"I would have but that wouldn't do anything," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I can yell and scream all day but that would never solve the situation.

"Evan's going to love his Mother the most," states Seth and I shake my head. He's going to love us both equally. "I, uh, I promise I'll try to have a lot more self-control next time. And also, to keep myself aware that Evan's there, watching me," he says. I'm glad he's seeing things from my perspective.

"That's all I want," I tell him, but my mind goes back to Nicky's words. Me and Seth belong together, I've always thought so. I always thought a lot of things that never worked out right.

"I'm sorry Iris," says Seth, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I love you," I tell him and feel his chest vibrate as he chuckles.

"I love you too Cutie Pie," says Seth, hugging me tightly. I close my eyes with a smile, enjoying the moment. Once we finally pull away we leave Evan with Lucy since he fell asleep and go to the park to find everyone else. Seth tells them about him leaving tomorrow morning and that we get to spend an extra few days here. Everyone of course was more than delighted to know that. Anne was practically trying to get Seth to go now which everyone found hilarious. Once we get back home, it's around dinner time. I find Evan awake and spend the time on the floor in the living room playing with Evan and Seth.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Dean would not even talk to me. He wouldn't even look at me. So it's probably a good thing that he left the hotel room. This isn't how I wanted to spend our day off but it's how things are going so I'm just going to have to stick with it.

"Hey Ari," says Roman, the other man who's been keeping secrets. But I already promised him he wouldn't be berated for it so I can't say anything regarding the matter.

"What's up Rome?" I greet him, sitting on my laptop. I figured I could try helping out with the Venue for our wedding and looked at a few places that looked alright. To be honest, I have no idea what needs to be done for a wedding and how it needs to be done.

"Where's Dean?" he asks, setting his bag to the side. Roman has spent most of his day in the gym and with his girlfriend. I swear if he makes those muscles anymore bigger then they'll pop.

"Sulking around somewhere outside," I comment, eliciting a laugh out of him. I really wish I could talk to Roman about my problems but considering he's on the same side as Dean, I can't even do that. So I'm just going to have to figure this one out by myself. It shouldn't be too hard I don't think.

"Have you guys sorted things out?" asks Roman and I nod my head. I know I have. I have made my stance and position very clear to my boyfriend and he better be understanding of it.

"Don't worry, things are fine," I let him know, opening up a word document and deciding that I should probably make a guest list before deciding on the venue. "If you're getting married, do you have to invite your bosses?" I ask him, looking up at him from the couch.

"Probably," answers Roman, taking a seat next to me. "What are you up to?" he then asks me.

"Guest list," I state, rolling my eyes. I'm actually thankful for the wedding right now otherwise I would have nothing else to do. I wonder if Dean would lose his marbles if I send an invitation in Randy's direction? "Do you think I should invite Dean's family?" I ask hesitantly, knowing this is one thing I can discuss with Roman. Dean's been very honest and open about his family, surprisingly. Even though there is absolutely nothing to be proud of. I have only met them once but even that didn't go down too well. Except for his sister, she seemed ok but from what Dean told me she was battling her own demons. His Mom was a whole other story. If I had it my way I would have thrown the bitch into an inferno.

"Depends on who it will be," Roman chooses his answer carefully. "I mean, he's still in contact with his sister. But his other sister, brother, Mother and Father, they're a whole other story. Do you really want them coming to your wedding and kicking up a fuss?" he asks at which I shake my head. I'm not having anything ruining this day for us.

"How can I send her an invitation without the others finding out?" I put forth my problem for Roman. They all still live together, one of them is bound to see it. Dean was the only one that got up and left, being called traitor amidst all of them. Except for his sister Helena, she always just accepted his decision. It's a shame she's turned out the way she has. If only she'd left like Dean, she would have a better life.

"You leave that up to me," says Roman and I nod my head trusting him fully. If he says he can handle this, then he can. I think it'd be nice for Dean to have someone from his family there, someone he actually cares about. I'll need to talk to him though, I can't just make the decision and surprising him with it.

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 **SETH POV**

Me and Iris decided not to tell anyone about what happened between me and Nicky. They didn't need to worry about anything further and I'm grateful for that. I know Mom would have pulled my ear off for doing what I did. The more I think about it, the more I think I did right. I only punched him. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't be walking right now. I go to bed, holding Iris close because I won't see her for a couple of days. A day too long if you ask me.

I stir awake, hearing a noise. The more I come to my senses the more I realise it's a crying sort of sound. I reach over and feel the bed next to me empty. I open my eyes and don't see Iris. I see the bathroom light on and sigh to myself when I realise Iris is crying. Again. Not being able to take it I pull back the covers and walk over. I go in and see her on the floor, her head on her legs. I don't say anything and instead just sit down next to her, placing an arm around her.

"S-Seth I…" Iris trails off. I don't know why she feels the need to do this. It's not something I've ever known her to do. But maybe finally everything's getting to her and she needs to let it out.

"Want to be left alone?" I finish off for her and see her nod her head. I wish she'd just talk to me about this. "Iris, I might have done that the other day but I'm not going to today," I make it clear. We have to sort this out because I refuse to leave later on today if she's still crying like this. "Please, just talk to me," I say, keeping my eyes on her. Iris looks up at me and my heart breaks at seeing her tear stained face, her red eyes and nose and the look of…utter sadness on her face. She's always the opposite, all the time. My Iris smiles, makes me laugh and this isn't her right now.

"W-will y-you hold m-me?" asks Iris, sniffling at the end of her request. I nod my head and hold out my arms. Iris shuffles closer to me and sits on my lap, leaning her head against my neck as she continues to sob. I run my hand up and down her back, keeping a good grip on her.

"Iris, can you please tell me what's wrong?" I ask her, not wanting to push her but not being able to take this. She doesn't answer me but I feel better because her crying lessens.

"I…" Iris says and then stops. I hear her take a deep breath before she lifts her face up and looks at me. "I'm scared," she says whispers, so low that I'm lucky to have caught it.

"Scared?" I ask and use one of my hands to get her hair out of her face. "What's making you scared?" I go on to question. She doesn't say anything and gives me a hesitant look. "Iris, please talk to me. I love you so much and I can't see you like this, it kills me," I let her know. "Cutie Pie please," I beg her, looking into her eyes and keeping my hand underneath her chin.

"I'm scared to lose you," Iris finally says which confuses the hell out of me. why is she scared of losing me? I'm not going anywhere, ever.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"I can't believe it's been two months," I say to Paige who's probably wearing the world's biggest smile right now. Two months since our first date and here we are sitting as boyfriend and girlfriend. After helping out Ariana with more of her guest list I left to go on a date with Paige. Something we've had planned for a few days now, to mark how far along we've come together.

"I know, one minute I'm drunk, the next I'm taking you out for lunch and now I'm your girlfriend!" exclaims Paige, making me laugh. After having to deal with work and my friends, it's nice to have some alone time with my girlfriend. "Oh no, what's wrong now?" she then asks me, a frown appearing on her face.

"What?" I ask, kind of confused at the moment.

"You're wearing your something's-not-right face," Paige points out to me. I didn't even know I had such a face. "What is it this time?" she then asks me.

"It's just Dean and Ari," I say, shaking my head and shrugging it off. "But it doesn't matter, we're on a very special date," I remind her, pouring in some wine for her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asks Paige and I shake my head. I talk about them too much. But tonight is special to me and Paige, nothing is going to overshadow that one bit.

"What? No," I say instantly. "I know I talk a lot about the guys and whatnot and for future reference that will probably still happen. Well, as long as I have Dean as a best friend. Anyway, my point is that tonight is about me and my beautiful girlfriend. No Dean, Ariana or anyone else. Just us," I say, seeing an excited spark in her eye. Paige has been amazing through all the problems that I've had. It's time for me to give a lot back.

"Thanks," says Paige, placing her hand on mine, a smile on her face that can have me doing anything she wants.

"No, thank you," I say, making her chuckle. Our food arrives and we tuck in. Although, I had to keep fending my food because she would steal some as soon as my attention was elsewhere. She's like a little sneaky ninja.

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 **IRIS POV**

"I'm scared to lose you," I finally tell him, keeping the tears in my eyes from falling out. I can tell he looks confused, its written all over his face.

"You're not going to lose me," he tells me in a soft tone but I shake my head. He can't promise me something like that.

"I…there's so many people against us being together," I state, looking in his eyes. "They…they don't want us together," I then say. "First it was our friends…we come here and its…its Isabel, Macy, Angie and Nicky". I know our friends accepted the possibility of us being together before we even got back together, but initially, even they all hated the idea.

"Just because they have said that, doesn't mean it's true," Seth reassures me but that's what he wants to believe. There's a big difference between something being true and wanting something to be true.

"What if we're not meant to be together?" I ask him, my hands on his shoulders. "What if…what if they're right and we don't belong together?" I didn't have doubts before. But all this, the stuff that's happened, it's somehow planted the seeds of doubt in my mind. I don't want them there but they are. And I don't know how to get rid of them.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life," says Seth and I look at him surprisingly. "If there's anyone more perfect for each other, it's us two. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says," he says to me. He's so completely wrong right now.

"It does matter Seth; don't you see that?" I ask him. "They were trying to break us up, when it gets to that point it does matter. We can't keep ignoring it," I say and then look down. It's possible something like this might happen again. "If…if they don't think we should be together then maybe we shouldn't," I say and instantly feel Seth tense underneath my hands.

"Look at me," Seth orders me but I don't. I know the look that will be in his eyes. The utter disbelief of the words that I am saying. "I said, look at me," he says again and I lift my eyes to look up at him. "Don't even think about that, we're together because we should be. The only reason our friends weren't happy with it, was because I'd hurt you before. But they got past it. Angie's gotten past it too," he explains to me. "Isabel's just a jealous cow," he comments which makes me chuckle. "Nicky's just pissed because of what Macy's done and Macy's...another jealous cow," he says and I can't help but smile. "Besides, there's always going to be someone who doesn't want us together, we just have to change their mind".

"Or wait for them to try and break us up," I comment. I know I'm not usually so negative but you can only be optimistic to a certain point.

"It won't work though," Seth says, shaking his head. "Because I would never and I mean never, cheat on you," he says as I nod my head, believing his every word. "Iris," he starts, bringing my face close to his. "We belong together," he assures me. That's what I thought the moment I laid eyes on him. "We've had our ups and downs but we found our way back to each other. When I see you I see my future. I can't imagine being with anyone else," he says to me.

"But what-" I'm silenced by his fingers on my lips.

"Do you love me?" asks Seth and I nod my head, without a doubt. "I love you too and our son. Iris, me and you made Evan. We made that magic happen and I want to see what else we can do together. The fact that we love each other, is enough. We don't need anything else," he says and I nod my head. I move forward and put my arms around his neck.

"Thank you for being so amazing," I tell him. He always knows what to say to make me feel better.

"Me? Really? I think you're the amazing one," Seth says as I keep my eyes closed.

"Oh really?" I ask him and feel him nod his head.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," says Seth. I wonder where Mister Rollins is going with this. "We wouldn't have Evan if it wasn't for you. You could have easily gotten rid of Evan when you were pregnant. You could have thought about your life and not wanted my kid to nearly kill you. But you did and that's why you're so amazing," he finishes saying. I move back and look into his eyes. Without a word I close my eyes and start to kiss his lips.

"Mmm," I moan as Seth kisses me back. I open my mouth and let his tongue explore my mouth. The kiss gets more heated and I change my position and begin to straddle Seth. We break apart for air but Seth starts attacking my neck. I close my eyes and lean back, allowing him more access. "Seth," I say his name breathlessly. He removes his lips and once again his lips are on mine. I smile against his lips as I feel the tent in his boxers against my crotch. I rub against him and feel him groan. I want this. I use my hands to take off my top and start kissing Seth again when he stops me. "What's wrong?" I ask him with a frown.

"I love you Iris," says Seth which makes me smile. "But I don't want this here," he gestures to where we're sitting on the bathroom floor. "Gosh your boobs look great," he then comments, going off topic and openly staring at my chest which makes me giggle.

"Want a taste?" I ask him, lifting an eyebrow.

"You have no idea but if I do then I'll lose all self-control," says Seth, grabbing my top and putting it back on me. "I've waited months for you Iris," he says to me, bringing me close so my forehead is leaning against his. "And I don't want do something so special on the bathroom floor," he says which I find extremely sweet. This time around I am finding out a whole lot more about the real Seth and he's making me fall in love with him even more.

"You know, if anyone ever heard you say that then…" I trail off. I think I'm referring mainly to Dean.

"Yeah yeah, I'm a big girl," says Seth which makes me chuckle.

"I think its sweet," I tell him, completely agreeing with him though. "I want it to be special too," I say, pecking his lips. I got caught up in the moment but Seth tends to do that to me. But at least he's thinking about how special he wants it to be. It's giving me butterflies.

"Good, we agree on that then," says Seth, pecking my lips one more time. "Now, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" he then goes on to question, looking down at the tent in his boxers.

"I think I can help with that," I then say and put my hand down his pants, grabbing a hold of his erect member. I lean in and softly kiss his lips as I start stroking him. Slowly I increase my speed and I don't know if it's because Seth hasn't been touched like that in a while or because I'm that good but he comes quick and all over my hand. I take my hand out and lick his juices all over my hand, knowing that he's staring at me.

"Fuck that's hot," comments Seth which makes me giggle. "Get back to bed and I'll join you in a second," he says. He probably needs to clean up.

"Ok," I say, nodding my head and pecking his lips once more before I move to get up. I wash my hands and then leave the room, crawling into bed with a smile on my face. I wait for Seth and it's a good thing he doesn't take too long. I snuggle up to him after he's settled in.

"Do I have to worry about anymore crying episodes in the night?" asks Seth and I bite down on my lip. Things just get hard a lot of the time. Everyone has their own ways with dealing with these things. Roman has time alone, Dean goes to a punching bag, Ariana eats chocolate, Seth goes to cool off and I cry. No big deal right?

"No," I say honestly, shaking my head. "I think you helped, thank you," I then say to him. All this time I've been banging on about communication and how Seth needs to tell me how he feels that I forgot I need to do the same thing.

"If you continue to thank me then I'll have to glue your mouth shut because It's my job," jokes Seth which makes me chuckle. I am beyond lucky to have Seth with me right now.

"And it's my job to let you know everything you do is appreciated," I counter his argument.

"I'm never going to win with you, am I?" asks Seth and I look up at him. It might be dark but I can make out most of his features. He has a smile on his face.

"Nope," I say and feel his lips peck mine.

"Ok, let's get some sleep before I have to leave," he says to me and I nod my head. I close my eyes and easily fall asleep which is a surprise considering I've had trouble sleeping. But I guess that's what happens when I don't feel worried anymore. Seth has alleviated my fears. For now anyways.

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 **Thanks to everyone who reviews! I love you guys! :)**


	42. Goodbye For Now

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, I am back with the next chapter! I hope you like it :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: As usual, loving hearing your theories. Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks love! :)**

 **Calwitch: (Hugs back) You could go on forever and I still wouldn't get tired of reading it, haha! Good, I'm glad you did :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: I think that's where it gets difficult in relationships right? Communication. You can see it in all of their relationships.  
I think they both have a way of words when the other is upset. They know each other so much, they can always say the right thing :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 42:**

 **ARIANA POV**

I sit up immediately, having heard the door open loudly. I look and see Roman's entered the hotel room. Dressed in last night's clothes? Oh, so this is the walk of shame. He gives me an apologetic look and I use my hands to rub my eyes. I was lying here on my phone last night, Dean still not talking to me, and then I wake up like this. Hmm, where did this blanket come from? Dean must have put it on me.

"Rough night?" asks Roman but I shake my head. "Don't tell me Dean kicked you out of the bedroom?" he says, looking ready to murder my boyfriend. I just find it hilarious how anyone can even come to that conclusion?

"No, I was on my phone and fell asleep," I tell him what actually happened and then let out a yawn. What have we got planned for today? Oh yeah, Seth's coming later on. Well we're meeting him at the next place. I managed to get through to Iris and some time yesterday and she let me know. She also let me know Dean knew. But he'd found out in the morning so it's ok I guess. It's not like it was something really imperative that he tried to hide which he still doesn't seem to understand. "How was your date with Paige?" I then ask, moving the blanket off me and getting up to stretch.

"It went great," answers Roman, a slight blush to his cheeks. I think it went more than great by the looks of it. "What exactly is going on with you guys? Why's Dean mad at you?" he asks me and I don't think I should share that information with him at the moment.

"That is between me and him. Don't worry Roman, the wedding is still underway," I say, picking up the blanket and starting to fold it up. "By the way, since Seth is coming today maybe we should all do something together later on when he comes. It's been a while since we've seen him," I then change the topic.

"That is if Dean doesn't kill him for keeping Evan away just that bit longer," says Roman, eliciting a chuckle from me. Dean is amazing with Evan. His attachment to him is way deeper than any of us imagined. "Have you talked to Iris recently?" he then asks me.

"Yeah, I managed to speak to her last night," I say, looking at my bedroom door to make sure Dean's not coming anytime soon. "She told me Seth asked for her permission to come. Once Dean finds out, she'll get it from him," I whisper to him. "But don't worry, I'll drop her a text to let her know to expect it. That way she can give it to him good," I then say, making Roman chuckle.

"You're back," we both hear a voice and look to see Dean walking out of the bedroom. I don't think he heard us. Still, I need to figure out what to do with Dean. "Clearly someone was up to no good," he comments.

"Whatever," says Roman, acting like he doesn't care. "How about we all get some breakfast together before leaving for the new place?" he suggests and I nod my head liking that idea.

"Sure, I'll just sort myself out and then we'll go," I say, about to leave when I look at Roman. "And maybe you want to sort yourself out. You're not casual enough for breakfast," I say, a smile on my face. I go into mine and Dean's bedroom, grabbing some clothes for a quick shower. I start to take my shower but halfway through I hear a noise, making me alert. "Who's there?" I ask.

"It's just me," says Dean, my body relaxing once more. He better not be thinking he can hop in here with me. "Don't worry, I'm not going to jump in there," he says and from where I am I can see his shadow in the shower curtain.

"Is everything ok?" I ask him, not hearing a peep out of him for a while.

"Yeah," answers Dean, far too quickly for my liking. "Actually, I've been doing a lot of thinking," he then goes on to say. That's unusual, for him anyway. "I'm not happy but I understand," he finally comes out with, unknowingly putting a smile on my face.

"Stealing my lines?" is what I respond with. I know underneath all the anger and childishness; Dean is a very smart guy.

"I'd be just as mad if we'd switch places but I'd do it again anyway," Dean then says. One thing I love about this man is his honestly. Well, when he's not hiding secrets. His intentions are always right. That's one of the other things I love about him. His heart is always in the right place and that'll always keep me with him.

"Will you be ok not doing anything?" I ask after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Does that include not kissing you?" asks Dean which makes me think about terms and conditions. I said no sex. Kissing technically isn't sex. Besides, not being able to kiss Dean is a punishment for me.

"It most definitely does not," I say, this whole not being able to see each other is kind of exciting in a way. I can't see his reactions so I have to wait to hear his voice before actually knowing what he's thinking.

"Good," says Dean and I can't judge anything at the moment. All of a sudden the shower curtain is pulled back which makes me let out a yelp and Dean grabs me, placing a searing kiss onto my lips. I open my eyes once the kiss has ended. Damn it! Now this no sex thing will be a punishment for me too. Dean looks into my eyes and I can't explain it, there's like a silent understanding between us. "I'll see you outside," he says abruptly, leaving there with a smirk on his face. Once he's gone I burst out in laughter.

"Damn you Dean," I say to myself, pulling the shower curtain forward again. "Time for a cold one now," I say to myself, turning the hot water to cold. I think that's special about me and Dean is that when we look at each other the way we just did; we don't even need to say how much we love each other. We just know.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Don't give me that pouty look when you gave me permission to leave," says Seth as I sit there on the bed with Evan sat up against my stomach as we both watch Seth pack a few things that he'll need to keep him going till he gets back here in the early hours of Wednesday. Why did I agree to this again?

"If I didn't give you permission would you have stayed?" I ask him, which stops him in his stride as he looks at me and then lets out a chuckle. Seth comes over and sits before Evan, leaning into to me.

"Probably," he replies, keeping a hand on the side of my face. I don't feel good about him leaving at all. I feel like my shield will be leaving me.

"Seriously?" I ask him and he nods his head. "We're going to miss you," I then say, gesturing down to our son. If it's this hard now then what's it going to be like when he's actually on the road and we're at home?

"I'm going to miss you guys too," says Seth and then removes his hand, tickling Evan's stomach which makes him gurgle. "Especially, you," he then says, leaning in and pecking my lips.

"How much?" I ask him, tilting my head to the side.

"I can't put a measurement on it," answers Seth which makes me laugh. He goes back to getting his stuff together and I put Evan in his playpen deciding that I might as well help Seth. He brings a couple of tops to the bed and I pack them away in his bag. "I'm still unsure if I should go," he says, handing me a couple of pairs of jeans. Well it's too late, the decision has been made.

"Why?" I ask him, looking up as I begin to fold his clothes.

"I just…I don't feel comfortable leaving you after last night," he tells me, standing in front of me. I take his hand and get up from the bed. My guy worries too much about me. That's kind of a good thing and bad thing at the same time.

"If anything you should feel more comfortable after last night," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "I know I feel a lot better," I then tell him, placing my arms around his neck. I hope he believes me because that's how I truly feel.

"Are you sure?" asks Seth with a sad face and I nod my head, pecking his lips to get him to smile. Seth gives me a different kind of strength. And talking with him last night helped.

"Yeah and if I do feel a bit down then I'll call you," I state simply. I'm sure that'll get him to feel better. It's not like we've not done it before. That's what we did when I was living with my Mother when I was pregnant with Evan and I was having those nightmares about Kane.

"You promise?" he asks me, knowing that I tend to keep things that upset me to myself, not wanting to bother anyone. But me and Seth are a team now. Things are going to be different.

"Promise promise," I say which does the trick and gets him to smile. He leans in and kisses my lips. I think we'll be just fine.

"You know when you were pregnant and went to stay with your Mum?" asks Seth and I nod my head. I remember wanting him to stop me from leaving, I was so disappointed that he didn't. "Worst few weeks of my life," he comments which makes me chuckle.

"Since when did you get so dependent on me Mister Rollins?" I question him, my head tilted to the side.

"Since I realized what actual love is," replies Seth without hesitation, surprising me there for a second.

"Good answer," I say and lean in to kiss him, this one lasting longer.

"Oops, sorry lovebirds," says Angie and we pull away from each other to find her at the door with her hands covering her eyes. Talk about being childish.

"And how are you today?" I ask Angie, sitting back down and folding Seth's jeans now.

"Alright, now that you're not making out," answers Angie with a cheeky smile. "Just came to see my nephew," she says and walks over to the playpen, taking him out of it. "Aw, are you upset because Mommy and Daddy left you in here to make out?" she asks him at which Seth shakes his head. "When are you leaving for your flight?" she then asks Seth.

"In about half an hour," answers Seth, having looked at his watch.

"Ok, I'll get Lucy to pack you some breakfast," she says, walking out of the room and taking Evan with her. "Let's give Mommy and Daddy more time to play kissy face," she says and I think I've gone even more red. I would have expected a comment like that to come from Dean. I get up to grab some of Seth's socks when he takes a hold of me and puts his arms around me, keeping me facing him and in place.

"And what do you think you're doing?" I ask, my hands on his in an attempt to get him off of me.

"Didn't you hear her? We get more time to play kissy face," teases Seth, leaning in for a kiss but I push him away with a laugh.

"Socks," I say, pointing to the draw where they're in and he goes reluctantly to get them. Once we get everything together and packed Seth has about ten minutes to say goodbye to everyone before leaving. We head downstairs and he starts to say goodbye to everyone in the living room, giving everyone individual hugs and sharing a joke or two.

"Are you going to miss Daddy?" says Seth, Evan in his arms as he bounces him up and down and then holds him in the air which makes Evan laugh. After giving Evan a huge kiss on the cheek he hands him back to Angie. This is the longest Seth will have been away from Evan since he was born. Both Father and son have been stuck to each other like glue. "You're coming with me," he then says, grabbing my hand and picking up his bag.

"Ooh!" Rose and Angie shout as Seth waves goodbye to everyone and takes me outside to his car.

"I was thinking you could drop me off and then drive my car back, that way I get to spend more time with you," says Seth and I nod my head, getting into the passenger seat. I don't mind because he has a sat nav. Plus, I get to spend more time with him. I know it won't be that long but it'll feel way too long. Once we get to the airport, I go in with Seth. "I'm really going to miss you," he says, keeping me in a tight hug.

"If Ari was here she'd say you were dramatic because you'll see me on Wednesday," I comment, trying to lighten the situation somehow.

"And what do you say?" asks Seth, moving his head back and looking down at me.

"I say I'm going to miss you too and I think that you're very sweet," I tell him. He leans in and kisses my lips.

"I will be back before you know it," Seth tells me and I nod my head. "Take care of Evan and yourself, alright?" he says and I once again nod my head. After one final kiss, Seth has to go and he grabs his bag, waving at me before he's out of sight. I let out a sigh and go back to the car, driving it back to the house. It's going to suck without Seth. Once I get back to the house, Angie pulls me to the side.

"We need to talk," Angie tells me and I nod my head. We decide to go into my room and she puts Evan in the playpen.

"What's up?" I ask her, looking at her suspiciously. I don't get how she could be worried or concerned about anything. I mean, as far as I'm aware, everything is sorted about anything.

"Ok, I'm freaking out," states Angie, pacing the room as I decide to take a seat on the edge of the bed. She needs to know to give me ore clarity.

"What about?" I ask her, not understanding her properly.

"About…" Angie pauses and closes the door to my bedroom before pacing again. "Neil," she finally says, standing in my line of vision. What could be the problem now?

"I thought you sorted everything out?" I ask her.

"Yes but this isn't about that," says Angie, being too cryptic for me to understand a word she's saying. "He's taking me out tonight," she then says in a low voice as if the walls can hear what she's saying.

"On a date?" I ask for clarification and she nods her head. "Wow, that's a good thing though right?" I then say with a big smile on my face. I'm pretty sure going out on a date with a guy you like is a good thing.

"Maybe," says Angie, shrugging her shoulders and pacing again. "I just…I have no idea how to act," she says, giving me a worried look.

"What do you mean?" I ask her and she lets out a sigh before coming over and sitting down next to me.

"I haven't been on a date in ages," admits Angie, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I have no idea how this stuff works anymore. What do I do, what do I say etcetera," she explains to me. She has this all wrong. It's Neil not some random bloke from a bar or something. But, there is something that's bugging my mind.

"Why are you asking me?" I question her instead, wanting to know the answer to that first. "Why not, Rose?"

"Because you're the only one I can say this to without getting laughed at in the face," answers Angie. Does everybody just make fun out of each other here? No one apparently takes things seriously. "You have no idea how much Rose would enjoy this right now," she then says. I think I do. Probably as much as Ariana did when I would fret over everything about Seth when we were dating before.

"You've been friends with Neil since you were kids right?" I ask her and she turns her head sideways, looking at me and nodding her head. "Then what's so difficult? Just act how you normally do". Things have always been kind of easier with Seth the second time round because I know him. I know who he is as a person and I feel comfortable around him.

"That's the thing though, I can't," she says to me. "It's different now Iris, our relationship has changed. He's a guy that I….really like," she says, avoiding my gaze. If all the crazy things she's done so far haven't scared him off I hardly think one date will do that now will it?

"Well just start off with acting like friends and see what happens," I then advise her. I was friends with Seth first, this time round. Whoa, talking about our previous relationship and this one gives me a headache. I'm surprised I can keep up. "Greet him normally, talk to him normally and I promise you, things will just happen," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"You sure?" Angie asks me, looking hesitant.

"Definitely," I say with a nod of my head. She thanks me and then leaves from the room. I pick up Evan and take him downstairs, going to the kitchen and preparing his bottle. Once I've done that I sit in the living room, feeding him. I spend my time with the family, missing Seth's presence throughout the whole thing. Once it hits evening, everyone starts tidying up stuff so we can go have dinner.

"Wow, a princess," says Lacey and I turn to see Angie has come down the stairs in a nice blue dress with a pair of matching heels. She has her hair out and straightened along with a black jumper on top. Whoa, she looks completely different to her normal self. She looks nice. I bet Neil will have to control himself to keep his hands off of her.

"You look lovely Angelina, where are you going?" asks Anne with a big smile on her face. I guess she would be happy since Angie probably hasn't decked up that much since Jason.

"Oh my gosh, you're going on a date aren't you?" Rose questions her and Angie nods her head.

"Who is it?" asks Marie and I can feel the excitement dripping off of them at the fact that Angie has started to date again.

"Uh…" Angie says, looking at me as if asking me what she should say. Is this really the same Angie I've gotten to know since coming here?

"Well?" asks Annette as Angie continues to stand there awkwardly. I give a nod in Angie's direction to encourage her. She shouldn't be hesitant.

"Uh, Neil," answers Angie and just like that the whole room goes silent. Come on guys, say something. Don't just stand there with your mouths open.

"Neil?" asks Rose with a confused look. "Weird, crazy, Neil?" she goes on to ask which makes Angie smile as she nods her head again.

"You sure you know what you're doing? That boy's a handful," comments Nick, looking confused, surprised and kind of happy all at the same time.

"A handful? There's something wrong with him for sure," Mason chips in, being predictable as always.

"This is, unexpected," comments Anne, clearly trying to hide her surprise. "Well you kids have fun," she says and Angie hightails it out of there. Although I can't blame her, I don't think any of them have ever pictured her with Neil.

"This is too weird," states Rose during dinner. "I mean, Angie and Neil?" she goes on to ask. I could tell they all wanted to bring it up but no one knew what to say exactly.

"I think they'd make a lovely couple," says Marie with a smile. "After all, he's the only one that can take her mood swings," she comments, a point which Mason agreed with wholeheartedly. I hope everything goes alright with them though. How can it not though? They're great together. Angie needs to stop worrying and just let things flow. The rest of dinner goes by with everyone still chatting about Neil and Angie. I decide to help Lucy clear the dishes with Evan being looked after by his grandpa.

"I think they're right for each other, don't you?" asks Lucy as we clear the table together. I suppose their date is the hot topic for the day.

"Definitely," I tell her with a smile. "Lucy, why don't you take the rest of the night off. You've been working a lot today and I can get everything finished up here," I say, trying to convince her. She works hard to look after everyone, it's the least we can do.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," says Lucy, looking at me hesitantly.

"I think it is though," I tell her and move over to where she's stood. I stand behind her with my hands on her shoulders and gently move her away from the table and in the other direction. "There's no need for you to do it because I am and I can tell you for a fact we won't need you, so go," I say. She eventually does go but gives me unsure looks whilst she's at it. I clear the table, give it a wipe down and then put all the dishes into the dishwasher. I then start wiping down all the counters in the kitchen as well.

"Iris, if you work like that then Ma will grab you by the ears for sure," comments Rose and I smile as I see her come down.

"Yes well I have free time so why not?" I say, shrugging my shoulders. Plus, it's a nice distraction.

"Oh, so we're missing Seth are we?" teases Rose, hitting the nail on the head. "He'll be back on Wednesday so don't worry," she says, waving a hand in the air.

"Oh I'm not," I tell her, shaking my head. Who am I kidding? He's not been gone for long and I'm already thinking how much duller my life is. I probably sound pathetic to most people.

"Iris, please, I might not have known you that long but I can tell right now that something is up," says Rose, funnily enough sounding just like Angie the other day. "And it's because you miss my, sometimes idiotic, brother. Since you're trying to take your mind off of him, how about when the kids go to bed I come down and we can watch a good movie?" she suggests. That's really nice of her to do.

"I'd like that," I tell her with a nod of my head and she smiles at me. Anything to rid my mind of missing Seth so much. This is making me question everything. Would I be able to live by myself with Evan with Seth on the road most of the time? Can I handle being away from Seth for a long time? Why am I so dependent on him? How did that even happen again?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"You rat bastard," is the first thing I hear as soon as I get into the SHIELD locker room. Oh shit. I know who that is.

"Nice to see you too Dean," I say with a smile, trying to ease the tension. I can tell he's mad. Beyond mad. He looks like he wants to kill me right now. Maybe I should have said no to Hunter. Choose my life over my holiday with my family.

"Ignore him," says Ariana but that doesn't even need to be said anymore. She comes over and gives me a hug. "How are you?" she then asks me just as she pulls back. At least someone cares about me.

"Doing alright actually, what about you?" I ask her and she says she's fine. Next Roman gives me a handshake as well as a hug but Dean just sits there glaring at me. "Ok, what is up with him?" I finally decide to ask. He's had enough of a notification to be able to digest the news.

"He's upset because you came without Evan," answers Ariana. I cannot believe he's still stuck on that. "I'm going to go see Nikki," she then says, leaving the room and I guess she doesn't want to deal with Dean like this. Truth be told, neither do I.

"You lied," states Dean, acting childish. Hmm, I think I can get away with this. I just need to use my brain.

"Technically I didn't since this decision was made just the other day," I say and then walk over to him. "Can you act like a grown up for a second and welcome me back? I haven't seen you in nearly two weeks!" I request him and he rolls his eyes and gets up, giving me a brief hug and slap on the back. "By the way, if you want to talk betrayal you can talk to Iris. I asked her what she wanted and she told me to come," I then state. Sorry for dropping you in it Iris but I can't handle Mister Moody like this.

"What?" asks Dean, this having gotten his attention. "That's it, she's getting it too!" he says, grabbing his phone starting to dial. Is he seriously going to call her?

"Shit," I say to myself. I didn't think he'd do anything about it. I thought he'd probably just shrug it off since they're like best friends. I swear that's what it's like more than half the time.

"Don't worry, if anyone can get him out of his funk it's your girlfriend," comments Roman, slapping me on the back. Yes, but he's not thinking about what that girlfriend is going to do when she realises what I've just done.

"You lied to me!" shouts Dean into the phone so loud that anyone would think Iris is deaf. "You gave him permission? Why would you give him permission?" he goes on to question her followed by a pause so I'm assuming she's saying stuff to him. "What's wrong with being selfish for once?" he says into the phone. "Oh, grow some balls," he then comments. Well I'm sure Iris will definitely have something to say about that. "Ok," he says and then presses a button on his phone.

 _"Hi guys!"_ says Iris's chipper voice which I'm glad to hear. I missed her as soon as I left her.

"Hey Cutie Pie," I say as Roman just says a simple 'Hi'.

 _"Will one of you tell Dean how ridiculous he's being?"_ asks Iris and I give him a look. He can tell by our faces he is. _"I already told you, Evan can spend a whole day with just you when we get back. What more do you want from me?"_ she goes on to ask him. I don't think any of us can judge what Dean wants.

"One day?" asks Dean, sounding as if he's being insulted. "One day was for two weeks, since this is more than two weeks one day is not enough," he then goes on to say.

 _"So, what do you want?"_ asks Iris. I haven't even been here two seconds and I already miss her. Hearing her voice is making it worse. At least it can't be worse than last time. I mean, this time we're together and I can call her without having to make excuses.

"I want…" starts Dean, his free hand tapping his chin as he thinks about it. "I want him for a whole weekend," he then states and I roll my eyes. I hear a sigh on the other end of the phone.

 _"You want to take my son away from me for a whole weekend?"_ questions Iris, not sounding happy. _"Dean Ambrose, you need to stop acting like a spoilt child just because things don't go your way. I am not here to make negotiations daily just to keep you happy and if you want my baby so much go and make your own!"_ she scolds him as me and Roman burst out laughing. That's not the first time any of us have said that and it won't be the last.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion," states Dean with his free hand up in the air. Oh when Iris gets all authoritative with him, he acts like an innocent kid who hasn't done anything wrong.

 _"Just a suggestion?"_ questions Iris. _"You told me to never take Ari away from you and you want to take my son away? What kind of crap is this?"_ she goes on to say. _"As for you fools who think this is funny, let me see you in person. I'll sort out you too,"_ she says and then hangs up. She hung up. Just great. You know it's serious when Iris hangs up.

"Ahem," coughs Dean, trying not to look embarrassed. "That went well," he comments. We all look at each other before laughing again. Dean grabs me and puts me in a headlock, making jokes about skipping work for a girl. We mess around for a while before deciding we need to get back out there and do our thing. I have missed working with my boys.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	43. Fight For This Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys. I know, it's a very late update. But if you went on my profile you'd see that I have been dealing with some things this weekend so I haven't had the chance to. I thank you all for your patience :)**

* * *

 **Calwitch: Cool! I'm glad, I feel like it needed to be. I thought you might like that, Dean getting told off. Lol! :)**

 **AlicelouiseVA123: Haha! Keep coming out with them! Thanks! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Paisley2: Don't worry, I think you'll find things are going to change. We shall see what happens! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 43:**

 **IRIS POV**

I smile as I hang up on the guys. Ariana messaged me saying something like this would happen so I prepared myself. However, I did have to go all 'Mom' mode on them at the end, especially Dean. I still don't understand how Ariana can put up with him. Maybe he is really **_that_** good in bed. I shake my head off the direction my thoughts are going in and go to the living room.

"I got the ice cream," I tell Rose, bringing two spoons with it. We're in our pyjamas and we've even got a blanket just in case we get cold. The kids are asleep, Evan's baby monitor is on the table, the adults have retired to their rooms and it's just us.

"Yay!" says Rose and digs into it as soon as I hand it to her. She just reminded me of myself and chocolate when I was pregnant. Chocolate was literally my life at the time.

"Cravings?" I question her and she nods her head. "I remember those," I say and then take a seat next to her on the couch. For some reason the memory of Seth handing me his snickers bar just popped into my head. I remember all of them came to the stylist room and I started to cry because I had not chocolate and wanted it then. Seth gave me his snickers. I smile at the memory before tucking into the ice cream myself.

"I wonder why Angie isn't back yet," Rose ponders out loud before I can start the movie. "Think she's enjoying Neil too much?" she questions with a raised eyebrow.

"You never know," I say in a singsong voice before I press play. We begin to watch the movie. I feel my phone buzz and see I have a text from Seth. **_I miss you_** , is what it says. I send him the same thing back with a small smile on my face. By the end of the movie I'm not even watching but messaging Seth back and forth.

"What are you guys doing up?" I hear Angie's voice and look to the left to see her standing at the door of the living room. Hmm, she's kind of smiling I would say.

"Finally, we were waiting to get the gossip on your date, duh!" says Rose, walking over to Angie and grabbing her hand, dragging her over to where we're sat. That totally just reminded me of what I did with Ariana when Dean kissed her for a second time and asked her out on a date.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"Hey Ariana," I say, her having just walked through the front door. Dean wanted to talk to her and now she's back, looking mystified to say the least. "Thank god you're back!" I exclaim, immediately going over to her and grabbing her arm, dragging her over to the seating area where we both sit down. "Spill, what did Dean say to you?" I ask eagerly, bouncing in my seat._

 _"Why are you so excited?" is the first thing that comes out of Ariana's mouth as he turns her head to look at me. my best friend never sees the perks of her being in a relationship with Dean Ambrose._

 _"Well wouldn't you be if your best friend was on the verge of maybe starting a relationship with your boyfriend's best friend?" I question but seeing the look on her face tells me otherwise. "Ok, normal people would find this exciting," I inform her. "Now, what happened with Dean?" I ask once more._

 _"Alright, well, the thing is," Ariana tries to start the sentences a few times but in different ways, not coming out with anything but a load of babble._

 _"Ariana, just tell me straight!" I finally manage to say. "What happened once I left you two alone?" I then go on to ask her. We were heading up to our hotel room when Dean cornered us, asking to speak to Ariana. I obviously hightailed it out of there so she can sort things out with her man. Yep, Dean Ambrose is going to be her man. I just know it._

 _"Ok, he kissed me. Again," answers Ariana, finally giving me some good news!_

 _"Like just a kiss or a full on make out session?" I ask her and she gives me a disgusted look. It's very important to know these things in my defence._

 _"I don't know, a kiss," says Ariana, probably not having paid much attention. Dean's lips were probably distracting her. "He...he..." she trails off looking kind of distressed which makes me feel concerned for her._

 _"What? He what?" I ask quickly as if my life depends on it._

 _"He said he wants to take me out on a date," Ariana finally says, looking into my eyes. My eyes widen for a second before I let out a squeal._

 _"Yay!" I say, putting my arms around my best friend for a hug. "This is going to be so great. I have Seth, you got Dean. Now we just need to find someone we like for Roman," I say, getting carried away but then stop. "Hang on, what did you tell him?" I ask, tilting my head to the side. I know my best friend and there's always a catch._

 _"I...I said yes," admits Ariana, looking like a little school girl that's gotten in trouble. Well she's giving off the face of one anyway._

 _"That's so great!" I exclaim, hugging her once more. "We could double date, have the guys sleep over, do coupley things together," I list, getting carried away again. Gee, no wonder Seth's always asking me if I've had too much sugar._

 _"What if we can't?" asks Ariana, looking kind of sad. I don't understand, she's just said yes to dating Dean and now she's looking unhappy._

 _"What's the matter Ari? You've said yes to dating him but you're looking as if you've made the wrong decision," I point out to her. Don't tell me she said yes because Dean glared at her? Like he did with me when he wanted my chocolate bar. I couldn't help it, I barely know the dude and he sort of scares me sometimes._

 _"I...Dean's been with a lot of girls," states Ariana and all of a sudden things start to make sense. "What if he's not serious about me? What if I'm flavour of the month?" she asks and I can't say I blame her. With a guy like Dean, it's difficult to judge._

 _"Yeah but what if you're the one that's different from the others?" I ask with a small smile on my face. "Plus, Dean's not going to mess around with you because I'm Seth's girlfriend and he won't want to mess up Seth's relationship with me which is what will happen if he does anything of the sort," I explain to her, hoping to have reassured her._

 _"I don't know how but I've somehow managed to like Dean," says Ariana, shaking her head in disbelief. "What if I end up more serious about him than he does me?" she asks. I can't imagine what her mind must be like right now. It's probably a mess._

 _"You can cross that bridge when you get to it," I advise her. I know Ariana, she doesn't get attached to people easily because of the slight chance they might leave you. That's what the asswipe in College did and that's what she expects everyone else to do. I'm hoping Dean can change her opinion. He looks at her the way I would want someone to look at my best friend. And I think someone like Dean will be good for my uptight best friend. He can show her how to loosen up._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

"I thought you wanted to watch a movie," I state confused. My guess is the movie was an excuse to see what Angie's been getting up to.

"That too," says Rose but I don't believe her for one second. "Now spill!" she exclaims, turning towards Angie who lets out a big sigh. "How was it?" she asks in a teasing voice. I suppose she should be excited, that's how I was when I found out Dean and Ariana made the decision to start dating.

"It was alright," answers Angie with a minimal reply. I knew she'd give a reply like that. Angie's a very private person.

"Just alright? Come on, give us something to work with!" I say, deciding if I can't beat Rose then I'll join her. I'm sure Neil must have made the whole thing beyond romantic because that's the kind of guy he is.

"Fine, it was great. We went to dinner, took a stroll and then he dropped me off here," says Angie, both me and Rose shaking our heads at her. And I thought Ariana doesn't get excited over things like these.

"And the winner of the stalest date story ever is Miss Angelina Rollins!" announces Rose which makes me chuckle. She said it in such a monotone way as well that it just made things worse.

"There's no scoop Rose," says Angie with her arms crossed over her chest. "We had a good time, just like I always do when I go out with Neil. It just like any other time," she goes on to say. I wonder if that's a good or bad thing for her?

"But did you guys kiss?" asks Rose with a serious look. Now that's a very important question to know the answer to.

"Maybe," says Angie, not showing any signs of letting us know.

"Oh my gosh you did!" says Rose with a squeal. "See? That means It's not like just any other time". I should hope so and all since that would mean other things have been going on for a while.

"Ok, whatever, I'm going to bed," says Angie, leaving the room quickly. What can you do? Some people don't like sharing.

"And they say my sister's not the type to get shy," comments Rose, looking in the direction of the door.

"That's because you tease her mercilessly," I state. I don't think I have ever seen Angie react that way. Although, I doubt Rose hasn't seen this side to her before.

"That is…so true!" says Rose and we both start to laugh. "Alright, goodnight Iris," she says, putting the ice cream to one side and getting up to leave.

"But what about the rest of the movie?" I ask her, looking at her retreating back. I knew the movie was just an excuse.

"I found out the ending I wanted to know about," says Rose with a yawn as she waves her hand in the air, not bothering to look back at me. You know, they remind me of me and Ariana. Except I'm more persuasive than Rose and Ariana is more divulging than Angie. I decide to go to bed too, it's not like I was really watching the movie anyway.

* * *

"How can you, have you heard yourself?" says Anne's voice when I enter the kitchen the following morning. Ooh, something doesn't sound right.

"But-" starts Lucy and then lets out a sneeze. Whoa, her nose is all red and shiny. She's obviously not well.

"You see?" says Anne and then smiles when she notices me. "Iris, did you let her go off early yesterday?" she asks me and I nod my head, feeling nervous. Is she mad about that? "Good, in fact you should have done it earlier or told her to take today off," she says, looking back to Lucy.

"What's going on?" I ask them both. I wonder why Anne's looking so unhappy.

"Lucy is sick," says Anne with an unhappy face. "Yet she's still insisting on staying here and working today," she goes on to say.

"You can't if you're sick," I say with concern. Although that makes me a hypocrite because I always insist on working even when sick. But they don't need to know that.

"Thank you, that's what I've been saying all along!" says Anne. "Now, you go into the guest bedroom and go to sleep. I'll come in with some soup," she goes on to say, pointing to the exit of the kitchen. I notice Lucy is about to say something.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," I advise her, jumping in there. "Anne isn't messing about today," I comment. Lucy nods her head and leaves the kitchen with a box of tissues in her hand. "What kind of soup does she like?" I then ask, deciding I can make it for her.

"Carrot soup," answers Anne and goes over to fridge to look for some. "Unfortunately, we don't have any," she then says with a sigh. So she must have already looked.

"I could pop out and get some right now," I volunteer myself. Lucy takes good care of everyone so it's the least I can do for her.

"Would you? That would be great!" says Anne, a smile on her face. "Just because she works here I don't want her to think she can't get her favourites too. If it was anyone in the family then we'd go and buy some so she should be treated the same too," she goes on to explain.

"I agree," I say with a nod of my head. "Why don't you get everything ready whilst I pop out and get some?" Anne agrees to this and I get Evan dressed. I take him to the car and put his baby seat in the passenger seat up front. I then get into the driver's seat and begin to drive. I have a navigator just in case but I am beginning to understand the roads around here better. My phone starts to ring and I put it in the holder and click to put it on loudspeaker. "Hello?" I say, not having looked at who it is.

 _"Boy does it sound good to hear your voice,"_ I hear and I smile listening to Seth's voice. Damn it, I miss him more. I'm bordering on pathetic here aren't I?

"Same here," I say. It seems that's all we end up saying to each other. Even last night when I was messaging him. "What are you up to?" I then ask him, slowly turning a corner.

 _"Just working out with the guys,"_ replies Seth which I should have guessed. _"How about you?"_ he then asks me.

"Me and Evan are going on a little shopping trip," I tell him and then explain what happened this morning and as expected he agreed with what Anne is doing. "Is Dean behaving any better?" I then question, deciding I need to address that. Dean can be difficult when he wants to be.

 _"Behaving any better? What the hell does that mean?"_ I hear in the background. Did Seth put me on loudspeaker? Or is his phone volume too loud and everybody can hear everything?

 _"From what you just heard, no,"_ says Seth which makes me chuckle. _"How is our son?"_ he asks and I can't imagine how he's doing without Evan. Like I said before, they've not been apart since Evan was born.

"Alright, being an angel as always," I tell him. I sure am glad he's not a baby who hates me sleeping. He'll wake up at least three times in the night but as soon as he's give milk or I just hold him then he's quiet and soon afterwards it's lights out "Angie went on a date yesterday, you'll never guess who with," I then say.

 _"She went out on a date?"_ asks Seth, sounding shocked beyond belief. I suppose that's the impression you'd get considering what she's like. _"You serious?"_ he says which makes me giggle.

"Yes," I answer him. Like it's even harder for him to believe. He was around when she would date and had that relationship with Jason. Yet he's finding it difficult to believe.

 _"It was Neil, obviously,"_ I hear Ariana's voice in the background now. As usual, us girls pick up on everything a lot more than the boys.

"Yes again," I say with a nod of my head.

 _"She went out on a date with Neil?"_ asks Seth and I confirm that for him. They're all finding it so hard to believe it's funny. _"Are you trying to prank me?"_ he then asks suspiciously. Like as if that can be the only logical conclusion.

"No, if I was trying to prank you then I'd enlist Dean's help and it'd involve a whole lot of fake blood," I let him know. If you need pranking, Dean's the guy to call. But for some reason, he dislikes pranking where fake blood isn't involved.

 _"Does this mean I can finally tell people I'm dead and then surprise them by scaring the shit out of them?"_ questions Dean. He's been bouncing that idea around for months.

"No," I state firmly. "Not till Halloween anyway," I then say with a smile on my face. Halloween is something with Dean around. I hear some shuffling about and a door close. "Did you just leave the room?" I ask Seth.

 _"Yes I did,"_ answers Seth shamelessly.

"That was very rude," I state but inwardly smile at the action. I know he hates it when he can't talk to me properly because of others. Especially when the other people includes Dean.

 _"Yeah well I'm going to act selfish today because I miss you too much,"_ he says stubbornly, making me chuckle.

"I miss you too Mister Rollins but you get back tomorrow so that'll be something to look forward to," I say, feeling excited at the thought of seeing him again. I never even realised how quickly I got attached to him once again. Or did it really never go away?

 _"How did you sleep last night?"_ he then asks me and I knew this was going to come sooner or later. The guy loves checking up on me. Well, my guy. He was so attentive and kind during the whole thing with Kane as well, I fell in love with him all over again because of it.

"Not bad, I didn't stay awake most of the night or feel the need to cry or anything," I update him. "But not great either, you see I was missing a certain someone on the other side of the bed. It's getting more and more difficult sleeping without him," I go on to say.

 _"We need to fix that then, don't we?"_ he says to me. Seth so very easily inserted himself back into the role as my boyfriend. I don't think it helped that I never managed to see him as anything else. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, I'm just going with it. It feels right.

"We already did when I said I'll move in with you," I remind him. I still don't think it's settled in yet but that is what's happening. As soon as we leave from here me and Seth will get me packed from Chicago and moved to Davenport. I wonder if he plans on me and Evan staying in his apartment which would now be our apartment or whether he'll want to look for somewhere bigger. We'd need a bigger place now that we have Evan.

 _"And I cannot wait to have you move in with me,"_ says Seth, probably not overthinking it as much as me. _"I know everyone at home will be pleased because Evan and you will be much closer to them than before"._ I know Anne and Nick certainly will be. We're not that far from them. A 20 minute care ride I think it is. I'm not really sure exactly where the others are so I can't say much for them.

"I am too," I say and then gasp as I real something important. "We'll need to do Evan's room up again. And you guys worked so hard on making it look perfect the first time around," I say in disappointment. It looked beautiful in my apartment. The colour, the way everything was place, Evan's name on his crib.

 _"You leave that up to me and don't worry about it,"_ Seth assures me. _"That's my problem not yours. All you need to worry about is whether you want to redecorate the whole place"._ I can't believe he's giving me that much power. There was a time when he hated me touching or changing anything that belonged to him. Now I have the power? I hope I don't go evil with it.

"We'll see," I say, shrugging my shoulders. It actually depends on what Seth's place looks like right now. "Alright, I'll talk to you later. Me and Evan need to go shopping," I say to him.

 _"Ok, you both have fun,"_ says Seth before hanging up. I grab my phone and put it into my jacket pocket. I unbuckle Evan and take him with me into the supermarket. I go to the vegetables section to find the carrots. However, I get this weird feeling that someone's watching me. I shake my head and put it down to paranoia. I always feel uneasy when Seth's not around.

"Hmm, carrots," I say, looking through all the vegetables. When I find them I pick them up in one hand, Evan being in my other hand. I then walk over to the cashier, still getting that weird feeling. I take out the cash I have in my jacket and hand it to the cashier. Once I've paid I go back to the car. I start driving it home when my phone goes off. "Hello?" I say, pressing the button to put it on loudspeaker.

 _"Hi honey,"_ says Anne on the other end. _"Have you got the carrots yet?"_ she asks me. Do I need to be quicker? Because I swear I am being as quick as I can.

"Yes, I'm just on my way back," I inform her.

 _"Would it be too much trouble to ask you to pick up some cough syrup? We've run out and by the sounds of it, Lucy really needs it,"_ she says. It's so sweet how she's taking care of Lucy.

"Alright, not a problem," I tell her.

 _"Do you need me to give you directions?"_ asks Anne, probably worried about me getting lost.

"No thank you," I say to her. "I have a navigator so I should be fine," I tell her and then hang up. I park in front of the store and take Evan out. I go in and buy the cough syrup and leave the shop. I buckle Evan back in and close the door, before I can get around to my car door a sight freezes me in my spot. Angie. Angie and Macy in the coffee shop across the road. They're sitting across from each other and to anyone they look like good friends. I try and breathe as I see Neil and Nicky join them with hot drinks of some sort. What the hell is doing on?

As I continue staring my eyes meet Neil's and he says something. The next thing I know, all four of them are looking at me. I shake my head, snapping out of it and quickly open the door to the driver's seat. I have to get out of here. I don't know what to think but I need to leave.

"Iris," I hear Angie's voice as look to the side to see her run across the street before appearing at my window which is rolled down. "Iris, you have to let me explain," she says breathlessly.

"No, I-I just want to get out of here," I say, turning the key and starting the engine of the car.

"Iris, it's not what it looks like," says Angie, shaking her head. I honestly can't believe she would even sit there with Macy after everything she's done.

"I don't care what it looks like or what it doesn't," I say and then look over at Evan. I refuse to let anyone break up my family. Enough is enough. I open the door of the car, Angie looking shocked at what I'm doing. "You know what? It's not ok. How the hell can you sit there with her Angie? After everything both of you have put me through?" I question her, seeing the guilt in her eyes as soon as I mention her wrongdoings.

"Look, you have it all wrong-" starts Angie but I don't listen to a word and cut her off.

"Was plotting to separate me from Seth with Isabel not enough that you decide to go and do it with Macy now?" I ask, my mind whizzing around with the things they could be planning on doing to me. "I thought we got past this Angie, I thought we were getting along but were you just lying?" I ask in a softer tone.

"Iris, of course I wasn't lying," Angie defends herself but right now nothing she says can convince me otherwise. "You forgave me for what I did Iris. How could you think I'd do it again?" she then goes on to say.

"Forgiveness and trust are two different things," I state as she looks on at me in disbelief. Ok, so maybe I don't trust her. But when people don't give you a reason to depend on them then what do you do? I notice Macy not too far away and just looking at her makes me feel immense anger. Without even knowing what I'm doing, I walk off in her direction.

"Iris," says Macy as soon as I get to her but I put a hand up to stop her.

"Haven't you ruined my life enough?" I ask, ignoring the look of hurt on her face. She tried to separate me from Seth, so she's the enemy. "I am sick and tired of you people trying to separate me and Seth or thinking that we shouldn't be together. We're together and it's going to stay like that no matter what. If you even think about coming near me and my family, there will be consequences," I threaten her before turning around and going back to the car. I get into the car and put my foot down on the gas pedal, driving off. I don't know what to think right now. Why were they all meeting up? What were they discussing? What could they possibly need to meet for? I don't know. I don't know at al. The only thing that's stopping me from knowing for definite they're plotting against me and Seth is because Neil was there. Or do I have to start doubting him now? All I know is Macy tried to separate me from the one thing I've always wanted. Seth. And I won't allow her the chance to do that again. Oh gosh. Macy tried to break me and Seth up. Nicky doesn't think we should be together anymore. And Angie tried to break us up before as well. Are-are they planning something? To finally get the job done? No, I can't lose Seth. I refuse to.

 _"What's up Cutie Pie?"_ I hear on the other end after I've dialled the number. _"We talked not too long ago, miss my voice already?"_ he asks me but I don't say anything. I just need to hear his voice because when I do it makes things feel better.

"I just…I just wanted to hear your voice again," I say, not being able to tell him anything. He's over there working and the last thing he needs is this new headache. He's back on good terms with Angie and telling him would just worsen things, not to mention his relationship with Nicky would get even worse. I can't believe I'm thinking about them at a time like this.

 _"Alright,"_ he says, sounding cautious. _"Is everything alright Iris?"_ I want to say no but it's not appropriate. Seth's at work. But you know what? As soon as he comes back, I am telling him everything. I don't care if it strains the relationships he has with his siblings, they need to understand me and Seth are together for a reason. That reason being we love each other and make each other happy.

"Yeah, everything's just fine," I say in a not-so-shaky voice. I just have to act over the phone till he comes back.

 _"Babe, I can tell when something's not wrong with you,"_ Seth points out, proving just how much he does know me, time and again. _"And right now, your voice is telling me something is wrong. What is it?"_ I really want to tell you Seth, I do. You just need to get your butt over here.

"Nothing, honestly," I reassure him for the time being. "I just hate the idea of being away from you for so long. I thought I could handle it but I obviously can't," I then say. He'll probably think I'm real desperate right now but I can't think of a good excuse at the moment.

 _"Does this mean you'll consider traveling with me?"_ asks Seth. I've actually honestly been thinking about reconsidering that for a while now.

"Yeah, maybe," I say, the last thing I want is to lose one of the greatest things in my life. If I'm with him then I can't be distanced from him. If I can't be distanced from him then we won't break up right? I can't believe they're all managing to put doubts in my head.

 _"That's great,"_ says Seth and I can hear the smile in his voice. _"Are you sure everything's alright?"_ he asks me once again.

"Yes, its fine," I reassure him once again. "I just, I miss you," I then say for what seems like the thousandth time. He's probably sick of hearing it by now.

 _"I miss you too Cutie Pie,"_ says Seth, warming my heart. I hope he doesn't suspect anything, for now at least. _"And don't worry, I'll be home sometime in the night on Wednesday. Then neither of us will have to suffer any longer,"_ he says which makes me chuckle.

 _"You know, you're really mushy for a guy!"_ I hear Ariana's voice in the background. If only she was here, she could tell me what to do. And exactly how to tackle this. I'm not confrontational like Ariana. I mean, I used to be quite defensive, especially when it came to Seth. Like when I punched that girl. But I have Evan now, I can't be reckless. Ok, I have to find my in between. I have to show them they can't mess with me or my family and that I won't let them.

 _"I am not,"_ Seth defends himself, snapping me out of my thoughts. And they're at it again.

 _"You are too!"_ this time its Dean who has decided to speak. _"You're even more mushier than Iris its embarrassing. Man the hell up,"_ he goes on to say. Dean would know how to handle this too. But I can't risk telling any of them in case Seth finds out. And I know he'll be hurt if I ask for their help and not his. I'm on my own right now.

 _"Guys, leave him alone. He's in love,"_ Roman intervenes, defending Seth against them both but he says it in a teasing voice so he's not really defending him.

 _"You see what these guys do when you're not around?"_ says Seth, directing it at me but there's nothing I can do right now.

"What are you all up to?" I ask him, changing the topic.

 _"We're getting ready to head to work,"_ Seth tells me and I start to feel guilty for taking up too much of his time. He needs to concentrate on doing his job right.

"Ok, kick some ass," I then say to him, making him laugh.

 _"Alright, I love you,"_ he says which makes me feel a little more relaxed than before.

"I love you too, we both do," I say, glancing at Evan for a second. I hang up and let out a big sigh. What am I supposed to do? I can't tell Seth anything. But I can't just ignore it either. If they're planning on trying to separate us, then I won't allow it. It's about time that I stood up for my relationship with Seth and for what we have. If I don't fight, then everyone will think they can walk all over us. Seth has defended us many times since we've been here, now it's my turn.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Do you guys have to embarrass me in front of my girlfriend?" questions Seth after hanging up the phone. He's acting like as if Iris has no idea what me, Dean or Roman are like and will think we're crazy which will drive her away.

"Oh come on, you hand it to us on a silver platter," says Dean and I nod my head in agreement. He does make it too easy for us all to tease him.

"I hate you all, especially you," says Seth, pointing to Dean who looks on as if he's innocent.

"Ok, since you hate him he can get a different ride to work," I say, grabbing Seth's arm and dragging him out of there. I hear Dean call our name but I don't know why he's complaining, Roman stayed behind. Mainly probably to make sure Dean doesn't get lose trying to get to work.

"Why are you marrying him again?" asks Seth as we get into my rental. That same question keeps popping up.

"Because he's a sex god with an incredible sense of humour," I answer easily, climbing into the car. Seth gives me a face of disgust which only just makes me laugh. "You know you love him no matter what," I then comment, starting the engine. "How's Iris doing? I haven't had a chance to talk to her properly since...well you know," I say, not wanting to bring it up but at the same time needing to bring it up.

"She's getting it through it I guess," answers Seth, not sounding completely convinced at the moment. "I'm actually really worried for her Ari; I feel like something is going to go wrong. Iris keeps getting hit with things, but she takes it and carries on. I know she's got this whole moving on vibe since she came back into our lives but..." he trails off and I know exactly where he's going with this.

"How long can she carry it on for?" I finish off for him and he nods his head. "Even I don't know Seth. I've known Iris since we were kids and she's always been happy-go-lucky. But if something did upset her, it would bring her mood down. She'd cry, babble all sorts of nonsense, join me in pranking the asshole who upset her in the first place," I explain to him, smiling at everything we've done over the years. "But ever since she got pregnant, she changed. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing but it's happened," I then go on to say.

"She doesn't need to act like everything's ok when it's not," states Seth and he's probably saying that because he's been dealing with it. It's hard to get on with things when you know other things have affected everything else. If that makes any sense to anyone.

"Well maybe she doesn't want to make a scene over there," I offer as an explanation. Meeting Seth's family is one of the biggest things that could happen to her. It's all she ever wanted when dating Seth before and now she's finally got it. She probably doesn't want to mess it up.

* * *

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	44. Go!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, here's the second chapter of the week :)**

* * *

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Keep on guessing, lol :)**

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 44:**

 **IRIS POV**

"This is really very great," says Lucy in a croaky voice as me and Anne stand beside the bed, having given her the soup. After talking to Seth I got back to the house and busied myself in assisting Anne in making the soup. But no matter how hard I try I cannot get the image out of my head of the four of them sitting there and talking as if nothing has happened in the last few days. As if I wasn't hurt.

"And don't you expect us to give you anything less," says Anne in a motherly tone which sounds very sweet.

"I heard Lucy wasn't feeling well," I don't turn around at the sound of Angie's voice. I don't think I can even look at her at this moment in time.

"This girl works too damn hard," states Anne, placing her hand on Lucy's forehead. "We'll get that temperature down in no time," she then states. "Oh, I'll quickly get the cough syrup Iris bought," she says and leaves before I can offer to go get it myself. I feel Angie walk in further to the room but ignore it. I'm not going to dictate who she spends her time with, but I am refusing to allow them all to separate me and Seth.

"How are you feeling Lucy?" Angie asks, glancing at me but I avoid her eyes. Lucy starts telling how she felt off last night and today has just been a nightmare. "Uh, Iris can I have a word?" she asks me in a whisper.

"Here you are darling!" exclaims Anne, coming back into the room. She places the cough syrup on the side of the bed and says, "Now you concentrate on getting some rest and we'll hand everything else. Girls, you coming?" I don't want to talk to Angie right now. I need to think about this whole thing a little while longer.

"Yeah," says Angie, nodding her head and going to the door with her mother.

"I think I'll keep Lucy company for a bit," I say and then sit down on the end of the bed. When I got back Rose insisted on me giving her full reigns of taking care of Evan for a couple of hours which I didn't mind. That way I can stay in here and not worry about him getting sick. Anne and Angie leave the room, Angie letting out a sigh as she does. I smile at Lucy before beginning a conversation with her, trying to forget everything bad in life.

* * *

"Oh great, she's asleep," I hear Anne's voice in a whisper. I smile at her as I see her standing at the door. Lucy fell asleep a while ago but I just didn't have it in me but leave and actually come face to face with Angie. "Come on dear," she says to me and I nod my head, acting normal and going with her. It'd be weird to say that I want to stay with Lucy when she's not even conscious.

"There you are!" exclaims Rose, coming over to me with Evan in her hands. "Evan was wondering where his mummy was," she says. I take Evan off of her and hold him close. I need to protect my family.

"You know Iris, she won't leave anyone till they're fully recovered," jokes Anne. I go about the day, helping around the house with chores since Lucy's in no condition. Evan gets passed onto a different person each time because they see him and just take him. I have absolutely no problem with that because he makes them happy and we're not here for much longer. In the end, Nick and Mason take the girls and Evan to the garden just as I get a mop and bucket to start cleaning the floors.

"Iris, I wish you'd stop doing all this," says Anne with a frown as she watches me. "You've done enough today, just relax," she tells me, walking over to me.

"Sorry, no can do," I say, shrugging my shoulders. Things need to be getting done.

"You're not going to listen to me?" asks Anne with a frown.

"It's not like that," I say, shaking my head. "Someone needs to do it, I daren't expect you, Marie or Annette to do it. Rose is pregnant and shouldn't be doing it and Angie, well she'll ruin it all," I explain, the real reason hidden from her. Cleaning is a great distraction in case anybody needs to know. Especially if you can't run away.

"Hmm, been here a couple of weeks and already know everyone so well," says Anne, placing her hand underneath my chin. "My son sure is lucky to have chosen a gem like you," she then says. I don't say anything because I'm just speechless at what she just said. "Fine, have your way. But I don't want to see you doing anything else," she instructs me and I nod my head.

"Ok," I say and watch her leave. I start wiping the hallway with a smile on my face, she just increased my mood. I keep my eyes on the floor and hum to myself as I clean the hallways. I stop when I see a pair of shoes in front of me and look up to see Angie standing there. I then look back down and move around her, continuing on doing my work.

"Iris, we need to talk," states Angie but I ignore her and continue on doing my work. "You can ignore me but I can be very stubborn and I'll just follow you around all day till you listen," she then tells me. I stop what I'm doing and realise this is the first thing I have to do. To fight for me and Seth.

"I don't want to hear it," I tell Angie, looking up at her. "I know you didn't want me with Seth and if this time you're taking on Macy and Nicky's help well then fine. Just don't lie to me". She has to know it's not ok.

"Lie? Iris, I admit I wanted that before but everything's different now," Angie tries to convince me but why should I think any different? The only reason I looked past everything was because she's Seth's sister. If she was anybody else, then I wouldn't have. "I think you're right for my brother but I also know it was never up to me to decide stuff like that. Just give me a chance to explain," she says.

"Why should I? You tried to break us up, Macy tried to break us up and Nicky wishes Macy would have asked for his help!" I exclaim, looking to the side to make sure no one is coming. "I may be sweet little Iris but none of you have any right to do the things you have done and I'm not going to take it lying down," I say firmly.

"What was that about Nicky?" she questions me with a confused look on her face. Is this another act?

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you considering how close you are," I then comment snidely.

"Iris, what did he do?" Angie asks with a pointed stare. I doubt she'd care much about it. She'd probably agree with him.

"You can ask him yourself," I say, if they're going to go behind my back and plot whatever it is they are then they can talk about this during one of those meetings. "I have been more than nice to everyone and you're all just taking advantage of it and I'm sick of it. I'm sick and tired of it. The next person that tries to separate me and Seth is going to get a major kick up their ass!" I say with a look of determination.

"You're getting worked up for no reason," states Angie, her hands out front. I must look really angry right now. And I am. Seth and Evan are my life. When someone tries to take that from you, you don't sit back and watch them do it.

"Oh no, I'm getting worked up for a reason alright," I say with a finger in the air. "All I came here was for two weeks of peace but all that seems to be happening is endless drama. If I knew you were doing this behind my back then I wouldn't have allowed Seth to get us a couple of extra days here, I'd be on the first flight back which is what's going to happen when Seth comes back," I explain to her.

"What? You can't do that!" says Angie. I didn't even consider it as an option but Seth's always said to me that as soon as I want to leave, I can. I was just stupid enough to stick around.

"I can and I'm going to, I've had it with everyone. All Seth ever said was how nice his family is but I've come here and I've had to deal with crap from day one!" I exclaim and then keep a hold of the mop. If it's not Angie, it's Isabel. If not her then Macy. If not her then Nicky.

"You haven't even let me explain," states Angie. I'm not even interested in hearing what she has to say. Nothing she could say would make me feel better at this point.

"I don't need to, I've made up my mind," I say with finality and then turn back around to get on with my chores. If I was more assertive before then maybe this wouldn't have even happened. No one would have even tried to mess with me.

"What if I said to you Macy is innocent?" I hear her say which makes me freeze mid-mop, if that's even a word. "What if I said she wasn't trying to separate you and Seth at all? What if I told you that Isabel was lying?" she goes on to say and I look at her with my heart thumping in my chest.

"Why-why would you say something like that?" I ask her shakily, not looking at her. No, she's messing about with me. This is another trick.

"Because I believe it to be the truth," states Angie and I look up at her. Please someone tell me the genuineness in her eyes is a lie?

"No, how-how could you possibly think that?" I ask. We saw and heard all the evidence.

"Because I know what Isabel's been like and I wouldn't put it past her to pin everything on Macy," explains Angie with a sigh. They're all capable of anything. "You're the closest to Macy out of all of us and I could see it on your face that day that you didn't believe anything Isabel said, even if she showed you proof," she explains. That's my stupid heart, wanting the people I love to never be wrong.

"That's because I don't want to believe it, its denial nothing more," I state, thinking back to my conversation with Dean. It's hard to digest something like that.

"What if It's not? What if it's the truth?" Angie then asks me, trying to fill my mind with more doubt than there was before. "Me and Neil met up with Nicky and Macy because we believe she's innocent and we're going to try and prove it," she says in a low voice as if it's a top secret mission. "Tomorrow morning we're meeting at Neil's house to discuss strategy and I want you to be there Iris, Macy would want you by her side to prove her innocence," she explains to me.

"How can she prove she's innocent when she's guilty?" I question, sure that I was just being emotional by not believing Macy could do something like that. I'm always wanting to believe the best of people but I've been shown more than enough that's the wrong strategy.

"Things aren't always what they seem like Iris, I realise that now and you always have," states Angie. I shouldn't listen to anything else she has to say. "You believed Seth even though you saw him and Isabel kiss right in front of your eyes," she says, a memory I'd much rather forget. I believe him because I love him and I know he wouldn't hurt me after last time.

"It's not the same thing," I state in a monotone voice.

"Maybe not. But Seth says you're always about forgiveness and giving people chances. And right now Macy needs you to give her a chance, just one chance," she goes on to say and then leaves from there. I try not to think about it as I mop but it's all I can think about. No, Dean's right. I'm just denying everything and right now I have to accept it. I have to accept Macy did that to me. But if that was the case though, Angie out of all people wouldn't side with her.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Don't worry Romeo, you'll see her in a few hours," states Dean, walking past me after having taken his shower. I'd already taken mine and I'm going to catch my flight in a bit. I've missed Iris like crazy and I just can't wait to be with her again.

"Yeah, till then you can just stare at the pictures of her on your phone," jokes Ariana and I roll my eyes. Anytime I even mention Iris or think of her, they attack me like this.

"Says the girl who'd wear Dean's shirt all day when she never used to get to see him," I retort. Days when Dean would work but Ariana would not. It was before she got put in the SHIELD with us.

"How the hell do you know that?" asks Ariana, looking horrified as she stops packing her things. I bet she didn't see that one coming. I have my resources.

"Pillow talk," I reply with a grin showing all my teeth.

"I am going to maim that little ray of sunshine," says Ariana before continuing packing. She hates it when it looks like she's dependent on somebody.

"It's true?" asks Dean and then grins himself. "Cool, I think you look smoking in my stuff anyway," he says and then puts his arms around Ariana's waist.

"Yeah whatever," says Ariana. I get back to checking through my emails when I see Ariana giggling at something Dean has whispered in her ear. Yep, I'm officially jealous. That too, of Dean. After leaving the arena I go back to the hotel, get my stuff together and go back to the guys. I say goodbye to them all and then get in a taxi, leaving to go to the airport. After getting checked in and everything I finally get on the flight. I rest my head back and close my eyes, it'll just be a little while.

Once my flight lands I grab a taxi and give the house address. I pay the cab driver and use my set of keys to get into the house. I didn't call anyone because I knew they'd be sleeping. I make sure to get into the house quietly and make my way to my room quietly. I gently open the door and an automatic smile comes onto my face when I see Iris lying in the middle of the bed on her back. I walk over to the cot and look down at Evan. I gently stroke his cheek and then place a kiss on his forehead. I take off my jacket, shoes, socks and shirt before pulling the covers back and joining Iris in bed.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean, cut it out!" I tell him but he just lets out a laugh which lets me know he won't. "I swear to god Ambrose, hit my ass one more time and I will cut those hands off!" I hiss as I turn around to face him, Dean quickly putting his hands up in surrender.

"I didn't do anything, my hand keeps falling on it," Dean makes up an excuse at which I roll my eyes. I go into the bathroom and lock the door, quietly laughing to myself. What? It's funny. I swear he's doing anything he can to make me break so I jump his bones which is so totally not going to happen. I get changed into a tank and shorts for bed before getting out of the bathroom, looking around carefully for my fiancé.

"Dean?" I say his name, not having spotted him easily. Where the fuck has his ass gone? "Dean?" I say his name. He better not have gone to bother Roman because the Samoan said he needs a lot of sleep. He's been working too hard I think.

"BOO!" comes out of nowhere and I let out a scream. With my hand on my heart I see Dean bent over laughing, my heart beating fast and my chest going up and down.

"Oh you asshole," I comment, shaking my head as my breathing slows down. In his defence, I probably should have seen that coming. "You're the biggest asshole on the planet? You know that?" I go on to say. Iris got Seth. She got the normal one. Here I am with this...thing.

"I heard screaming!" Roman runs into the room, looking sharp and alert for what he will eventually find out to be no reason.

"Dean was playing Casper," I inform him, Roman not looking too happy. We both look at Dean who's still laughing. Now he's pointing and laughing at us both. That is till Roman hits him up the head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" shouts Roman before leaving our room. Hmm, nope, I can't resist.

"Who's laughing now?" I say, letting out a laugh of my own. "Come on, go brush your teeth. We have to go work tomorrow first thing in the morning," I then remind him. He goes into the bathroom and I let out a sigh of relief. At least he listens to me sometimes. I climb into our bed and lie down, closing my eyes. Not too long after I feel the mattress shift.

"Ari?" I hear Dean's voice. I am so tired so this better not be a long ass question. Believe me, he's done that before. He asked me what evidence there is to prove Dinosaurs actually existed. I contemplated taking him to see some bones at one point during the argument but then realised how much of a pointless conversation I was in. He does it to mess with me, I know. But he always managed to get me into it too.

"Yeah Dean?" I say, keeping my eyes close. I feel him move and know he's facing me, looking at me. Well staring.

"How are we going to have babies with this 'no sex' thing?" asks Dean, forcing me to open my eyes and turn my head. Sure enough, there he is staring at me. it's not so dark in the room because we've kept one of the curtains open.

"It's not a forever thing Dean," I state clearly for him to understand. "We can get started on making babies once your punishment is over," I then go on to say, snuggling into him tiredly. "Now please, can you stop playing about and be serious," I ask of him.

"Come on, we both know that's boring," comments Dean, a smile overcoming my face. He does this to bring some form of entertainment into our lives. And dare I say it, I do kind of like it at times. "Hey Ari?" he then says.

"Hmm?" I say, feeling myself getting further and further into sleep.

"I can't wait to make babies with you," I hear from Dean before drifting off into my sleep. I don't know if he meant he can't wait to have sex with me again or if he actually can't wait to have kids with me. I guess it doesn't matter because either way, I feel the same.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I stir when I feel an arm around me. As I turn to the side I smile, being able to make out Seth's features in the dark. Well it's not completely dark, it's kind of light. It's nice to have his arm around me again. It feels so weird not having him in bed.

"Seth," I say his name in a low tone and then turn properly to snuggle into him. "What time is it?" I ask him.

"Half 4," replies Seth sounding tired, and I nod my head as he wraps his arms completely around me.

"I missed you," I say before falling back to sleep again. The next time I wake up I'm still in the same position. I smile and look up to see Seth dead asleep. The poor guy must be shattered. I spend around 20 minutes listening to his heartbeat, I really missed this. His arms around me. Now that he's come back, maybe he can help me sort this mess out. However, I have to make a decision soon. Do I take the invite and go to Neil's house or just stay here? I need to talk to Seth but I daren't wake him up. And he probably won't wake up till it hits 11 or 12. I carefully remove his arms from me and get out of his embrace, careful not to wake him. I smile seeing Evan still fast asleep and head downstairs. I know Anne's probably awake and I can help her make breakfast. After changing into a black dress I go downstairs and just as I predicted she's there.

"Morning dear," says Anne and I give her a big smile. I help her make the waffles she's making as everyone makes their way to the dining table slowly. Angie is one of the first to have her breakfast and leave, giving me a look as she does. I still don't know what to do. After everyone's finished breakfast they all leave.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" I ask Seth, seeing him come down with Evan in his arms. I hope Evan didn't wake him.

"This one is a screamer when it comes to his morning milk," comments Seth with a small smile. I immediately get started in preparing some milk for Evan.

"My son!" exclaims Anne and walks over to hug Seth. "How have you been?" she then asks him. And I thought I was being dramatic.

"Hi Ma, I've been good," says Seth and then looks at me. "But I'm definitely better now," he says. Still being the charmer he is.

"Good," says Anne. "Time for clean up," she then says as Seth takes a seat on the table. But he takes it so that I'm in his line of vision. He's looking at me as if he's never seen me before.

"No, I've got it," I tell Anne, waving a hand in the air. "Go rest, you made most of breakfast," I say and she sighs.

"Only because I get the eerie feeling you want some alone time," says Anne teasingly before leaving. She squeezes Seth's cheek on the way out though which makes me giggle.

"Here," I say, handing Seth the milk bottle. He takes it and place it on the table. Before I can move away he quickly grabs my wrist though.

"What?" I ask with a smile on my face. I'm so happy he's back. Just him being here has lifted my mood despite yesterday's events.

"No kiss?" asks Seth and I lean down and place a peck on his lips. "A proper one," he demands and I lean down again, our lips meeting in a slow soft kiss. "Yep, definitely missed that," he states. He lets me go and I get back to cleaning the kitchen counters.

"I'm nearly done, I can feed Evan and you can go back to sleep," I say, leaving the cloth next to the sink. I walk over and sit down opposite Seth, using my hand to rest my chin on.

"No I'm alright," says Seth, gazing lovingly at Evan. "Besides, I missed the little guy," he says.

"He missed you too," I say, speaking on Evan's behalf. He did keep looking around the room, my guess is he was trying to spot Seth. And he looks really happy in his Father's lap right now. "How was work?" I then ask him.

"Same old, same old," answers Seth, glancing at me. "Not the same without either of you two," he comments, giving me a loving look.

"It wasn't the same without you here either," I say with a smile, enjoying the moment. Once Evan is done I take his bottle and wash it, making sure I've cleaned everything else as well whilst Seth burps him. We then go back to our room and I get Evan dressed whilst Seth takes a shower. I smile up at Seth as he walks out fully dressed and leans down to give me a kiss.

"I really missed you guys," says Seth, taking Evan off me once again and making funny faces to get him to laugh. I just watch them both with a smile on my face. "Alright, what's wrong?" he asks me out of the blue.

"What? Oh, nothing," I say, waving a hand in the air. Seth's just got back and I don't want to get him involved in anymore drama already. Should I even be surprised he immediately knew something is up?

"Iris, I know something was up the other day too when you talked to me but didn't press it and now I'm sure something is up just by looking at you," says Seth, making me sigh. Damn my face. "Now, are you going to tell me or do I have to get it out of you?" he asks me.

"How are you exactly going to get it out of me?" I question him, my head titled to the side, feeling like challenging him today. Or maybe I'm just avoiding everything.

"I know your tickle spots remember?" Seth says, making me frown. He has me there I tell you. "Now, are you going to tell me or what?" he says. I decide I might as well because no matter how much I can bullshit Seth over the phone I can't do the same in person. I start explaining everything to him after which he's just sat there, not saying a word.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" I ask, trying to speed up his reaction. I need someone to tell me what to do.

"First, I'm going to find my sister and kill her," states Seth at which I roll my eyes. That's not going to help me at the moment is it? "I can't believe she'd do that," he says, obviously getting angry.

"Seth, I don't need your protective side to come out right now," I say to him, shaking my head. "I need the Seth who guides me on my decisions. Who talks to me objectively," I explain to him. He did it enough when we weren't together. He'd always talk to me about the good and bad side of things.

"It's no secret that I don't want you around Macy or Nicky, especially after what happened with Nicky last time," starts Seth and then looks at me. "If you're asking me then I'd say no, don't go. They've given us enough grief," he says and I nod my head feeling a little disappointed. Does that mean I wanted to go? "But," he then says as my ears perk up. "Macy was a good friend to you and you both got quite close. I guess in a way you owe it to yourself and your friendship to make sure you know absolutely everything before holding her as guilty," he goes on to say and I know what I want to do. "The main thing I guess is, what do you want?" he then asks me, looking me in the eyes. I know that must have been hard for him to say to me. He's been just as angry at Macy as I have been upset.

"For things to just go back to normal," I answer without hesitation. Seth nods his head and takes one of my hands in his, leading me out the room. He leads me down the stairs and to the front door.

"Go," says Seth, gesturing using his head and I stand there in disbelief.

"But," I start.

"No buts, Macy means something to you Iris and if there's one thing I know it's that you should follow your heart," Seth tells me as if knowing a lot about the topic. "It was because you followed your heart that you believed in my innocence, maybe it's time the same thing happened with Macy," he says, being more than just understanding about the situation.

"Thank you," I say, quickly hugging him. I move back and peck his lips. "You're amazing," I let him know.

"So are you," says Seth, never one to just take a compliment and bask in it. "Here, take my phone as well, in case you need anything. I'm sure yours is lying upstairs somewhere. It has Neil's address in there as well," he then says and I take it off him, grateful for it. "Good luck, I hope you get what you're looking for," he says before I finally begin to leave. I nod my head and leave, getting into Seth's car. I wave at him as he stands with Evan at the door before reversing the car and driving down the road. I really hope I'm making the right choice.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean, we're not having a monkey at our wedding," I state for what seems like the fifth time. What part of my voice doesn't sound serious? I'm not even showing a slight bit of being thrilled at him wanting a Monkey there. "Besides, what the fuck are you planning on doing with one?" I then go on to ask, walking down the hallway at work with him.

"It's not about what I'll do, it's about what it'll do," says Dean and I can only think he'll use it to prank Seth and Roman in some way. Unlucky for him, our wedding will not be the place to do it.

"No means no Dean," I tell him, looking at him. Just because Iris will be planning most of our wedding doesn't mean neither of us are having a say in anything. We're making important decisions here and there. But that doesn't mean he gets to make stupid decisions.

"You're saying that a lot nowadays," comments Dean with a sigh. And there we go. He can't last two minutes without bringing up this whole 'no sex' thing.

"Maybe it'll be my new motto," I say, getting annoyed with him. I get he doesn't like it; I'm not really enjoying it either. I like having that time with Dean. But he doesn't need to constantly complain about it. He's pecking my brain, literally. I guess it doesn't help that we walk by AJ and Dolph who's lips don't seem to detach from the other for anything. "Hey guys!" I say to them both but get no reaction in return. See what I mean?

"Ari, are you coming with us this afternoon? We're all going out for a nice meal," says Natalya, stopping us both in the hallway. I guess the girls are getting fed up with their guys too.

"Yeah, just as long as no one takes me to a place full of veggie crap," I say with a frown on my face, thinking back to the healthy place Nikki took us to. It had no meat. But different meats are healthy so it didn't make sense. I kept arguing with her that it was a Veggie place, not a healthy one. Let me tell you I won the battle, not easily by the way though.

"Eugh, don't worry. I'm deciding on the place this time," says Natalya, patting my arm before walking past both me and Dean.

"Sure, you say yes to her," comments Dean, the smile on my face instantly disappearing.

"For the love of god!" I exclaim, walking off quickly. I am dealing with a two-year-old people; I'm not even joking. I've taken his candy and now he keeps pestering me for it. If he keeps this up, then I just might have to hit him over the head with a hammer and be done with it. There is nothing else to do.

* * *

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	45. Getting To The Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Back with the next one. Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 45:**

 **IRIS POV**

 _"What's up Iris?"_ asks Dean's voice on the other end of the phone. I'm still unsure if what I'm doing is right so I decided to call him to put my mind at ease. I don't know, I feel like the answer I'm searching for I'll get from Dean.

"Is anyone around?" I ask him. I don't want the others to worry or anything. Or even get curious.

 _"Nope,"_ says Dean which is always proving to be helpful. I must have some sort of a sixth sense because I end up calling him at the right times. Exactly when he's free from everything and everyone.

"If for one second you had any reason to believe what you saw and heard about Seth was wrong, that he didn't do what he'd been accused of, would you take that opportunity to try and prove him innocent?" I question him. Angie says Macy's innocent. But I just, I don't know. I thought I knew everything but clearly I didn't because all this crap was going on behind my back.

 _"Wait what?"_ asks Dean, sounding confused for a second there.

"Despite what I said to you when I told you about Seth and Ariana, if Seth tried to prove that I was wrong, that he didn't like her as more than a friend, would you have jumped to believe his story?" I ask him in a different way. I know he'll tell me the truth, that's all I need.

 _"So you're asking if I believed Seth was innocent but everyone was calling him guilty, would I then believe he was innocent and help him prove that to me and others?"_ asks Dean and I clarify that for him. _"Yes,"_ he admits without hesitation. _"Why? Is everything ok down there?"_ he then asks me as I bite down on my lip with a smile on my face. It's funny, he gave me the answer that my heart wants.

"Everything is alright, thanks Dean, I'll talk to you later," I say and hang up before he can get a word in. Ok, my heart tells me I should, Seth says I owe it to myself and Dean would have done the same so it looks like everything is pointing to me having made the right decision. Once I get to Neil's address I park the car outside his house. Taking a deep breath, I get out and walk up the steps. I knock a couple of times on the door before someone opens it, that someone being Angie.

"Iris, you came?" says Angie in surprise and I nod my head as we just stand there. A small smile makes its way onto her face as we both stand there.

"Am I allowed coming in or…?" I trail off and she nods her head, stepping to the side. Once she closes the door she leads me to the kitchen where she and Neil are sat on one side and Nicky and Macy on the other.

"Iris," says Macy and gets up instantly. "You came," she says, looking just as shocked if not even more so than Angie but kind of happy at the same time.

"Yeah," I say, not knowing what to do with myself. My eyes land on Nicky and I instantly look away. After everything he said, I'm not sure I can look at him in the same way again. I haven't told Seth this but it felt good on the inside to know Nicky got punched. The only reason I had to talk to Seth about it was because Evan was there and because Seth shouldn't go around punching people unless they attack him first. Otherwise in court, he would be toast. What the hell am I even thinking right now?

"Would you like some coffee?" asks Neil and I shake my head. "Take a seat, please," he says and I nod my head, sitting down on the end of the table, in between both couples. Gee, this is super awkward.

"Actually, can I have some water please?" I ask him, feeling my throat going dry. One person has tried to break me up with Seth, the other has been accused of doing that, one has let me know he would rather see us apart and then there's only just Neil. Innocent. For now at least.

"Sure thing," says Neil and gets up. He put some water in a glass and then comes over to me, placing it right in front of me and I thank him for it. I avoid looking into anyone's eyes and take a sip from my glass, waiting for someone to say something. "Ok, we all know why we're here," Neil states.

"I have something to say," says Nicky and then I notice him looking in my direction. "Iris, I'm really sorry about what happened last time. I, uh, I lost control and I said some really horrible things so I'm really sorry," he apologises but should I even believe him? "I was cruel and I shouldn't have said that, I don't blame Seth for hitting me. I deserved it," says Nicky, looking down shameful. At least he's repentant and knows what he did was wrong. But that doesn't mean I'll just look past it. Anyone that says anything about me and Seth from now on is going to get it.

"You're right, you did deserve it," I say, looking directly at him and even he looks surprised. "You weren't cruel; you were beyond that. You were supposed to be one of the people Seth could trust no matter what Nicky, one of the people I could trust too. But you've turned out to be just like the rest of them," I go on to say, glancing at Angie for a second. "You just had to try and push Seth, didn't you? What did you think was going to happen? I don't condone going around and hitting people, especially in front of my son but if you do anything to provoke Seth next time then I won't stop him," I finish, all of them looking shocked at what I just said. But I don't care. I've come to realise that just because me and Seth will try to live a good life, doesn't mean others want to. And that means we're not going to just take things lying down or anything.

"We all know why we're here," states Angie as I keep my gaze on the glass in front of me. "Iris, I know it's a surprise that out of everyone I'm siding with Macy but Isabel's changed and I wouldn't put something like this past her," she explains. I sure hope that's not all she has for Macy being innocent. I can't even believe I'm sitting here at this table with them all right now.

"How can you be so sure?" I question, noticing from the corner of my eye that Macy looks hurt. But I refuse to continue trusting everyone. That's been the problem all along. I trust them and they take advantage of that trust.

"Because she's acting weird," answers Angie. "When I first approached her to break up you and Seth, she was adamant on me keeping her out of it. Then the next day she was on the same page. I'm not saying what she said about the blackmail is a lie but I can say for sure the who is a lie," she then goes on to say. "I…when I told her that everything was off, she threatened me. Out of everyone, Isabel threatened me. That's when I could tell something was off…plus…" she pauses for a second.

"What?" I ask, finally looking up at her. This next thing sounds to be important.

"She told me if I said anything to anyone then she'd pin the whole thing on me," explains Angie. Which anyone can conclude is what she's done to Macy. That's her theory isn't it?

"So we think she's done that, only not with Angie," Neil chips in. He's the only one I can look in the eye and actually feel like I trust at the moment. But when will he ruin that? That's the question. I wouldn't even be sat here if it wasn't for Neil.

"Iris, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I haven't done anything," says Macy and I reluctantly look at her. A part of me wants to believe her but the other part of me doesn't want to look like a fool again. That's happened too many times.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I ask, shaking my head. This isn't me fighting for Seth like I said I would. "You know what, this was a mistake," I then say and get up to leave. I make my way back to the door with Angie following me.

"Iris, will you please listen?" says Angie as I open the front door. How can I listen to them? How can I just sit there in front of Macy? That's not respecting mine and Seth's relationship. I think I got selfish for a second and Seth let me but it's not right.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"I'm just going to go to the pool," says Dean, walking past me as I sit with a laptop in my lap, going over the guest list. I look at him and see a smirk on his face. I really fucking hate him right now. He's doing everything he can right now to get me to give in which right now includes standing in the middle of the suite in nothing but a pair of trunks.

"Cool, have a nice time," I say with a smile on my face, returning my gaze to the laptop. I can't even concentrate with him in the room dressed in next to nothing. And he's talking about going to the pool. We actually had sex in a pool not too long ago. And my gosh was it amazing. Honestly, neither of us have any self-control and it's something I desperately need to work on right now.

"I will," says Dean in a singsong voice, leaving the room after which I let out a big sigh. He didn't even ask me if I wanted to join him which is so unlike him. It makes me think he has something up his sleeve. But what though? That's what's haunting me. Not 5 minutes later, I notice Roman walk out of his room in his trunks and a towel.

"Roman?" I say his name, confused at why he's dressed in next to nothing. Don't tell me he's...

"What? I thought we were spending a couple of hours at the pool," says Roman and it all clicks into place. That Lunatic is trying to make sure I end up at the pool too, to drool over him of course. If everyone I know is at the pool, it means I have to go there too. He does not play fair.

"You guys are, I am sitting up here and doing some wedding stuff," I say, actually kind of into the idea of planning it. I can't let Iris know though, she'll actually call me a girl. I'm actually looking at wedding dresses. I suppose it's 1 of the 4 important things in this wedding. The others being Dean, the Venue and the cake.

"You should come and sit by the pool at least, relax a little maybe," suggests Roman but I just shrug my shoulders. If I go down there, Dean gets what he wants. However, hmm, if I do go down there I can do the exact same thing.

"In a bit," I tell Roman, a smile on my face. He leaves the room and I put my laptop to one side. "Two can play this game Dean Ambrose," I say to myself, laughing evilly in my head. I go to mine and Dean's bedroom, rummaging through my stuff. When I find what I'm looking for I nod my head. This should definitely do it.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Seth?" I say his name and see his hand is up as if to knock. "What are you doing here?" I ask him, surprised to see him here.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," says Seth, still looking tired from not enough sleep. I think he needs to go back to bed for now.

"Its fine, I was just leaving," I say, looking to get out of here as fast as I can. I feel like I'll suffocate if I stay around any of them for longer.

"Iris, you have to at least listen to us," says Angie from behind me.

"I-I don't want to," I say, turning back around to talk to her. I see Macy, Nicky and Neil standing not too far off. "I'm sorry but I just can't do this. Knowing what she's done, I care too much about me and Seth to just sit there and pretend everything is alright when it isn't," I say and turn back around, walking past Seth.

"Iris!" says Seth, jogging over to me just as I get to the car. "I thought you wanted to listen?" he asks, keeping a hand on my arm. He's so sweet, he's going with what I want. Not even mentioning how he feels but I'm not going to take advantage of that. He's beyond mad at Macy and Nicky and for once it's going to be about how he feels, not how I feel.

"I did but…" I stop and place my hand on my forehead. "What if I'm getting my hopes up for no reason? What if they're lying and I feel betrayed again? I…" I trail off, looking up into his eyes.

"You're scared?" asks Seth, placing both his hands on the side of my face. I nod my head as my answer. "Don't worry, because I'm right here with you," he says, taking a hold of my hands and squeezing them.

"They tried to destroy what we have Seth, sitting here with them is disrespecting our relationship," I voice my thoughts and shake my head. "You're important to me and since I keep making bad decisions, we're doing what you would want. We're not going to trust them and just go back," I then go on to say, noticing a frown on his face.

"That won't solve anything," comments Seth, shaking his head. "Believe me, it would be so easy to just tell you I agree with you so we can get out of here but...Nicky's my brother. And Angie's my sister. I've always given them the chance to speak their mind and after everything, I don't think Angie would lie," he goes on to explain to me. "We can do this," he states and I move forward and hug him.

"Iris," I hear Macy's voice and pull apart from Seth. He keeps my hand in his as we both look at her.

"I know it looks like I did all those awful things," starts Macy, a pleading look on her face. "If I was you, I'd blame me too. I mean, it was a lot of evidence so this has to be really hard. But, let's just take it step by step? Give me a chance to prove that I've always been your friend," she goes on to say. I glance at Seth and then look back at Macy. I nod my head and with Seth by my side go back into the house. This time though, we end up in the living room. I sit on a loveseat with Seth, Macy and Nicky opposite us on their own and Neil and Angie in a couch in between us all.

"Macy never told you she was still married because of how it would look," Nicky finally breaks the silence. "I mean; she's married but has a boyfriend who she lives with? Most people wouldn't take that very well," he goes on to say. I guess that's why he never told his family, they'd approve of her even less. "I'm surprised she even told you anything about her past". I have been questioning whether what she told me was real and to what degree.

"Then how did Isabel know all about it?" I question him in curiosity. How could she possibly know about any of it?

"I don't know," says Macy, shrugging her shoulders. "The only people I've ever mentioned it to was Nicky, you, Rose and Angie on that shopping trip. I've never spoken about it to others," she goes on to say. So what, Isabel was eavesdropping? I doubt, even she could do something like that considering the places Macy revealed her past at.

"Which shopping trip?" asks Seth from besides me and I look at him. Why does he need to know that?

"Oh, the day when you and Iris had that fight about her not going on the road with you," explains Angie. It seems so stupid now since I can barely manage a day without him. "It was actually quite funny because Isabel wanted to come with us and me and Macy made sure she didn't," she says, all of us smiling at that memory. I did find it funny.

"Wait a second, she didn't meet up with you guys at all?" asks Seth and both girls shake their heads.

"What is it?" I ask him, sensing something is wrong. Where's he going with this?

"Oh my gosh, I didn't see this before," says Seth, running a hand through his hair. "You remember when you and Macy were talking about not coming on the road with me?" he asks, looking at me. I nod my head in response. "That wasn't the first time I heard it," he reveals to us all and I sit up straighter than I was before.

"What do you mean?" questions Angie, all of us looking at Seth now.

"I…Isabel rang me earlier," starts Seth. "She told me how Iris was planning on keeping Evan away from me and getting a job where she lives," he explains. That bitch did what? I have never felt like killing someone more in my entire life!

"So even if I hadn't said a thing you knew anyway?" asks Macy and Seth nods his head. She looks relieved at that and I find myself feeling the same. That's one thing we can't blame Macy for. "See? I didn't do it on purpose," she says. That still doesn't prove anything though, it's one thing. There's a whole lot of other stuff to get through.

"The biggest thing we knew about this situation was that this Elizabeth chick is probably involved," says Angie. "We've tried to find her, but she's disappeared without a trace," she says, not making any sense.

"What do you mean she's disappeared?" Seth asks her, both of us glancing at each other.

"I mean, she's literally disappeared," answers Angie, looking worried. "We went to the office and no one has seen her since she took her sick leave. We somehow managed to get a hold of her address but its empty. You can't even tell someone was living there by the looks of it. That's where we've hit a dead end," she goes on to say. They've been investigating it this whole time?

"So you think someone's made her disappear?" I question, my heart sticking to this as if it's life depends on it. I guess it just doesn't want another person to have betrayed me.

"No, we know who's done it," says Macy, looking angry. "Isabel," she states. "I know for a fact that the number I was using on my phone was to call Elizabeth. Isabel must have somehow got the calls diverted from her phone to Elizabeth's," she goes on to explain. That is a likely explanation but isn't it farfetched?

"It's true, I've heard Macy talking about the papers a few times on the phone," reveals Nicky and I let out a huge sigh.

"Why didn't you say that the other day?" I ask him, kind of mad now for a whole other reason.

"I was shocked I guess, everything happened to quickly I didn't even realize till afterwards," says Nicky and I can see the honestly spilling from his eyes. He's not lying which means…Isabel was lying. Which means, Macy wasn't and isn't lying. I look at Seth who looks at me.

"Um…" I say, trying to think of what to do. I realize everyone's staring at me with hopeful looks. "What's the next part of the plan?" I ask them all, finally happy with what I hear. I've heard enough to have my mind open to the fact that this could be a set up. I smile at Macy who gives me a huge grin as Nicky puts his arm around her and kisses the side of her head.

"We need to see what else we can do to show that it was Isabel who did everything," says Neil but I have a feeling she won't make it so easy for us.

"Is that wise? I mean…I believe you," I say, my eyes on Macy and her eyes start to water. I never wanted to believe otherwise.

"Thanks Iris, you have no idea how much that means to me," says Macy. She gets up and I do too, before I know it I'm enveloped into a great big hug from her. My eyes water at having my friend back but also because I was stupid enough to actually believe Isabel's lies in the first place.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to Macy. I should have just gone with my heart and trusted her.

"No, just you believing me now means a lot to me," says Macy in a soft tone. "Besides, I already said I would have done the same in your situation," she then goes on to say. We pull back and grin at each other, taking our seats next to our respective partners.

"We need to find this Elizabeth if we're ever going to find out everything, obviously Isabel won't tell the truth," says Seth, keeping his hand on mine and letting me know he's with me.

"Me and Neil have tried everything but there's no sign of her, whoever wanted to make her disappear off the face of the planet did a pretty good job," explains Angie. It seems like we're going to have to work a little bit harder.

"What about you Macy?" I ask her, an idea in my head as I point to her.

"What about me?" she asks, looking at me.

"How well did you know her? Did she ever reveal anything to you that'll help us track her?" I question. "Maybe family or even a friend?" I go on to suggest. There has to be something.

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it I guess," answers Macy with a big sigh.

"Was it only Elizabeth you talked to when calling the office about the burnt papers?" Seth asks which is smart because then maybe we could find someone else to corroborate Macy's story.

"Yes, I believe so," says Macy, looking down at the floor. "Pretty stupid right?" It might not have been the smartest idea.

"Not really, you don't think someone's going to set you up when they call you from the office," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I'm so, so glad she's innocent. I have my friend back.

"Thanks," says Macy and I send her a smile. I didn't think anything I hear here could convince me of her innocence but there's enough doubts that have changed my mind.

"None of this still solves our problems," states Nicky, being the one to rain on our parade.

"Well do you have any bright ideas?" asks Angie, sitting back with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. Nicky shakes his head and she says, "That's what I thought".

"You know guys there is one other person that can tell us what is going on," Neil comments and we all look at him. "Isabel," he states but I shake my head, that isn't going to work. That bitch would never admit to anything. Heck, when she got caught she pinned it all on Macy.

"And how are you planning on getting that canary to sing?" questions Macy. It evident on her face that she doesn't think this will work either.

"Well…there is one way," says Angie, looking hesitant to share her thought with us. "Seth could sweet talk her," she says in a small voice and my eyebrows rise. Did she really just say that?

"What? No way!" says Seth instantly as I feel relief wash over me. I don't even know why I thought he would consider it. It's just me being stupid I guess.

"But it'd be perfect, she'd totally tell you everything!" exclaims Neil. I can't believe he just agreed with it.

"Are you guys even listening to yourself?" asks Seth. "You know she'll just try to come on to me and there is no way in hell I am coming even close to cheating on Iris for some stupid plan that might not even work!" he says and gets up, leaving the room.

"Well done guys," says Macy, shaking her head. "There are other ways to get things out of Isabel rather than using Seth," she then says, speaking like a true friend. All this time me and her have tried to keep Isabel away from Seth and she's still doing that, even though it means she's marked as guilty forever.

"Yeah right (!)" says Neil. "Isabel doesn't trust anyone. She trusted Angie but I don't think that's going to happen again and Seth is the only person that can get her to spill," he goes on to say. He's right. Macy wouldn't trust any one of us.

"Well we're going to have to find another way because we are not using Seth," states Macy firmly. I look around the room and see the dejected faces. On one hand it's wrong to use Seth but on the other, it's not right that everyone still sees Macy as a villain. I hate the fact that Isabel was getting close to Seth, I still do but I can't be selfish. Macy's just finally gotten along with everyone in the family and she'll still be here after I leave. I can't leave any of it like this. Plus, with someone trying to ruin our lives me and Seth need to finish it once and for all.

"it's the only way," I then say in a monotone voice. "Macy, I appreciate everything you're trying to do but these guys are right. Seth's our only chance," I say but she shakes her head.

"We'll find another way Iris, I'm not having anything happen to your and Seth's relationship otherwise that bitch gets what she wants," argues Macy. Not if we don't let her. Me and Seth are pretty strong, I know he would never willingly do anything that would destroy us both.

"And if you don't she'll still get what she wants," I say, referring to Macy being excluded from our family. "I'm going to go talk to Seth," I then say, getting up and walking down the hallway. I see him pacing the kitchen and walk in till I'm in front of him.

"Can you believe them?!" says Seth, pointing to the door. "I am not doing something like that," he says in a determined manner. God I love him. It's because I love him that I trust him enough to do this.

"Seth, you're acting like it's the end of the world," I say in a soft voice. "No one's telling you to sleep with her. All we're saying is to get close enough to her so that she'll tell us everything," I explain to him. I'm sure he can get Isabel to spill the beans without bedding her.

"We?" asks Seth and I nod my head. "Not you too?" he says for which I have no answer. "Iris, I refuse to even touch Isabel let alone get close to her," he says, speaking like a true boyfriend.

"Seth, if you don't then Macy will have to live with something for the rest of her life that isn't true," I try to explain. "Do you want Nicky to be away from your whole family? Because that is what's going to happen". If we tell them what we've just been told, they might not believe us.

"There has to be another way," says Seth, sounding just like Macy. I shake my head and step close to him, putting my arms around his torso and hugging him.

"There isn't for now," I tell him. I trust Seth with everything in me. "Seth I love you and after what happened with Isabel, I trust you even more. I'm not going to blame you if anything does happen because I know you love me," I say what I think he probably needs to hear.

"I really don't want to do this Iris," says Seth, running a hand up and down my back.

"I don't think we have a choice Mister Rollins," I say, closing my eyes. I have no idea what Isabel is like so if Seth does start acting nice to her, I have a feeling she will try and get close to him physically. But I know Seth and he wouldn't intentionally hurt me in that way. If things get too close, I know he'll break it off. But we can at least try for now, can't we?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

With my laptop in one hand and a towel in the other I make my entrance to where the pool is. I let out a chuckle when I see Roman and Dean play-fighting in the pool. Honestly, even Roman sometimes gets winded up into messing around with Dean. And he's supposed to be the mature one. I take a seat at the side of the pool, dangling my legs into the water. I lean back on my hands and Roman sends me a wave, causing Dean to look in my direction. I send Roman a wave back and send a kiss to Dean.

"Let's see who wins Ambrose, game on," I say to myself and try not to laugh when I see Dean look frustrated. The reason for that being is that I'm wearing his favourite bikini. He actually gifted it to me. It's black and looks, as Dean always puts it, 'beyond sexy' on me.

"You know, if you're going to come out and play you should actually be in the pool and not doing whatever it is you're doing on there," I hear Dean say and look to see him in the water, standing not too far away. Damn it. He's so hot.

"Well I haven't come to play, the girls have, but I have work to do," I say, deliberately putting my laptop down and stretching my arms, smirking when I see Dean's mouth open slightly. He moves forward and places a hand on the back of my head, smashing his lips to mine.

"I hate it when you tease me like this," says Dean. He probably hates it more because there's not a damn thing he can do about it. I think maybe one more day then I'll give in.

"Then stop playing games," I say, my lips hovering over his. "You know it's difficult for me to maintain my self-control when you're walking around in just your trunks," I remind him, something he found out when we took our on little holiday near a beach.

"And you know it's difficult for me to maintain my self-control with your boobs looking like they do," says Dean, making me laugh. "So, what do we do?" he then asks me. I actually cannot wait to marry him. As long as every day is filled with fun which is always seems to be right now.

"You maintain your resolve till tomorrow night," I say before moving back and pushing him away from me, laughing when he slips and nearly falls into the water fully. I put the towel over my laptop and decide to let off some steam. I jump into the water and shout, "Unless you can catch me!" resulting in Dean swimming around after me the entire time. Till I get to Roman of course and hide behind that big wall, Dean cursing at us both.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Look at them, they're like a bunch of kids," I comment as we both sit by the pool, watching Ariana and Dean or are splashing water on each other.

"Just because you don't like having any fun," comments Paige resulting in me pulling her hair and her frowning at me for it. "You know, keep doing that and I'll think you like me," she teases, letting out a laugh.

"Well it's a good thing I don't like you but love you," I let slip, biting down on my tongue when I realise what I've just said. Paige's smile falters and she stares at me, with a look in her eye that I can't read.

"You love me?" asks Paige, looking at me in disbelief. Damn it, I was supposed to tell her by taking her out for a nice dinner. I was actually going to tell her the other day when we were celebrating our two-month anniversary but I bottled it thinking it was too soon.

"Is it too late to say that I'm drunk?" I ask and I can tell she does not appreciate that. "Yeah, I love you," I tell her straight and I don't know if it's me but I feel like we're leaning in closer to each other.

"Good, because I love you too," says Paige, a grin overcoming her face. I think I sit there for a minute at least in disbelief that she actually just told me that she loves me.

"You don't think it's too soon?" I then ask her. I'm pretty sure Dean was Ariana's boyfriend for 4 months till he finally told her he loved her.

"Who gives a fuck, we love each other!" exclaims Paige, putting her arms around my neck and leaning up to kiss my lips. Yep, I definitely do love this woman. I always keep thinking we have nothing in common and then little things pop up, showing me we are right for each other. In the middle of all that, I somehow fell in love with her without even realising it.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	46. Crazy Plans

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Back with the next chapter! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Another potential! Lol. Thanks! Xx :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: Yeah, I totally agree. Haha! Yep! All the couples are on track again! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 46:**

 **SETH POV**

They're all talking crazy but now that Iris has said it, I realize I don't have a choice. Iris desperately wants Macy back and by proving Macy innocent she'll get her back fully. And I'll get my brother back. I don't like this idea with Isabel, she's too cunning. More than I realized before. She'll try and sleep with me the first chance she gets and as soon as I deny her, she'll know I'm faking it. I pull away from Iris and place both my hands on the side of her face, looking into her eyes.

"I promise, nothing is going to happen between me and Isabel," I state clearly. I refuse to cheat on Iris in any way, shape or form. Whether it's pretend or anything else. Not after last time.

"I know you'll try your hardest," Iris tells me. Why isn't she upset? "Plus, I know how much of a charmer you are, you'll have her melt at your feet with only words". She hugs me once more before we get back to everyone and formulate some sort of a plan. Which may or may not work, all of it depends too much on me.

"Listen Seth, I'm sorry for the other day," apologizes Nicky as we stand to one side. The girls and Neil are discussing something. "I shouldn't have said all those things, it was wrong of me and I totally deserved that hit," he says, looking remorseful. At least the jackass looks sorry.

"Yes you did and it's not me who you should be apologizing to," I tell him. He can say all sorts of things to me, he's my brother. I can take it. But when it comes to Iris and Evan? He has no right.

"I know and I already did," he says. He then holds out his hand and says, "Friends?" I chuckle and knock his hand away.

"Brothers," I say, patting his shoulder and giving him a half hug. He laughs and nods his head. I know just how stupid I've been when I get angry, especially when it involves Iris. That's what I can just accept Nicky's apology and be done with it all.

"And I'm really sorry you're having to do this for me and Macy," Nicky then says. He has it all wrong. I don't think I would do this for even him who's my brother.

"I'm not," I say, shaking my head. "I'm doing it for her," I say, gesturing towards my very beautiful girlfriend. I'd do anything for Iris and our little family. "Macy matters to Iris and Iris matters to me. So I can't deny her anything she wants". I do think if maybe I wasn't in this position, I'd be trying to convince whoever is in my position to do the same. We can't take the chance that they could try anything more to ruin us.

"And they all say you're lucky to have Iris (!)" comments Nicky, making me laugh. We're lucky to have each other. It's a good thing we're both understanding when it comes to the other person.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Are you sure you'll be able to do this?" asks Macy with concern in her eyes. I don't blame her; it is asking for a lot. "It's a big ask, not to mention we're feeding Seth to the succubus," she then says which makes me laugh. I have to say I have missed having Macy around.

"I'll try my best not to mess up and we'll get this sorted, alright?" I say to her and she nods her head. I move forward and put my arms around her, giving her one final hug before we leave. Seth takes the keys off of me and drives instead. I say goodbye to everyone before we leave. Whilst he's driving I notice the speed is higher than usual. "You alright?" I'm not going to force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. That's not fair.

"Not really and you know why," states Seth, keeping his eyes on the road. I can't even begin to describe how lucky I am to have Seth in my life.

"It'll be over soon and then we can get back to our life in the world of wrestling," I tell him. I lean my head on his shoulder, hoping and praying everything goes right. Or that something comes up which can end this whole ordeal quickly and painlessly. "Hey Seth, do you think I'm an idiot for believing Macy's innocent even though we haven't got much proof?" I go on to ask him, just needing to hear his views. After keeping on being burned by people, I don't want to make another mistake. But my heart never could believe Macy would do something like that.

"If you're an idiot then I am too," answers Seth, putting a small smile on my face. "Look, I know Nicky won't lie. If he heard her talking about the papers, then he did. I don't know how Isabel knew everything she told me but that incident was a genuine accident on Macy's part, that much is clear. Then there's Isabel's threatening Angie to make her take the fall for everything. You don't need to hear much else for doubts to start swarming around your head," he explains to me which is true.

"But what about when she told me to go to the garage?" I ask Seth. There has to be an explanation as to why she told me to go there.

"You know Iris, despite everything that's happened, there is such a thing as a coincidence," states Seth, something I have started to believe less in.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. It probably is just a coincidence. Then why are doubts still playing on my mind? I could just call Macy and ask her. She sent me there and I'll ask why. Other than that, everything else makes sense.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"This is a really nice place," I say, looking around with my menu in front of me. We decided to have dinner instead of lunch, mainly because the twins kept complaining that they were busy and didn't want us to have fun without them. So here we are. Me, the twins, Paige, Natalya and AJ. AJ joining us for once now that she's free from Dolph's grip. Honestly, they're absolutely glued together since getting together.

"It's ok," says Nikki and me and Natalya both send each other a smile. Nikki is definitely controlling most of the time. I'm glad she's not my twin.

"And it's nice to see AJ for once, her face and not her hair," teases Paige, making the rest of us laugh resulting in AJ swatting Paige.

"Come on, you know it's true. I greeted you guys before and that still didn't stop the PDA, I swear it's taking an X-rated turn," I comment, AJ looking like she's going red. Considering the amount of teasing I got when I first started to date Dean, I think this is fair.

"I was going to greet you but I got distracted," defends AJ and I wait for one of them to make the remark.

"By his lips?" asks Natalya, all of us laughing once more. AJ's muttering something. I think she's cursing us but who cares? She danced around Dolph for so long we didn't think it was ever going to happen.

"Like that's never happened to Ariana," says AJ, turning the whole conversation around. God, why me? But she's not turning this around on me, no way.

"At least I had the decency to stop what I was doing if I saw you guys coming, this one here is trying to get to fourth base," I say, pointing to AJ who sends me a pointed glare. She shouldn't dish it out if she can't take it.

"Can we please talk about something else?" huffs AJ, obviously hating the attention on her. "Like why Brie's ordered water and not alcohol? You're not pregnant are you?" she goes on to say, successfully doing what was intended as we all stare at Brie.

"I am not pregnant," says Brie, shaking her head. "I just felt like having water. Since when was that a crime?" she goes on to ask, taking a sip of her water and rolling her eyes as we all continue to stare at her. Obviously she's not pregnant otherwise she wouldn't be wrestling.

"Believe me guys, she isn't pregnant. I would know," says Nikki, nodding her head surely.

"How would you know?" asks Paige, tilting her head to the side. I'd laugh if Nikki's answer is that Brie would tell her when she's planning on getting pregnant.

"We're connected as twins, I'd feel it," says Nikki. Me, Paige and AJ sending each other looks of disbelief. I think Natalya's neutral, she always is. I guess that's a good thing though because then it means she doesn't get involved with things like that's about to happen next.

"Are you serious?" I ask her, trying not to laugh at the answer. And I thought Dean could make me laugh beyond belief.

"Totally, I'd feel her being pregnant," says Nikki, doing nothing to help herself out of the current situation.

"Why? Would you magically be pregnant too?" asks AJ, eliciting laughs from me and Paige. I notice Brie drinking her water again, trying not to burst out laughing at the stupidity of the whole thing.

"You can make as much fun as you want but it's true," says Nikki stubbornly, drinking her wine with a scowl on her face. Me, AJ and Paige continue to laugh. I can't believe Nikki honestly believes that.

"Well twins can apparently feel things like when the other is in trouble or such, maybe this is another thing like that," says Natalya, sending Nikki a smile. Yeah, I think it's a lot of bullshit but it's another way for Nikki to make it seem because they're twins, they're special. But she should realise that everyone's special in their own way.

"Well we'll find out for sure one Nikki gets pregnant, because then we can ask Brie," I offer a simple solution, that being the end of that conversation. Thank god too because I couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," says Naomi, joining us at our table. Natalya told us Naomi was running late but she never said why. It's probably that damn husband that wouldn't let her go.

"No problem, we were just getting ready to order," says Brie and the conversation then turns to food. All of us quickly decide what we want and place the orders. I hope the food comes fast. I am starved. I could eat anything and everything right now.

"Why were you late anyway? You're always on time," AJ points out to Naomi which is true. The girl isn't ever late for a single damn thing so the fact she is today can make a person suspicious.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened," says Naomi and by the look on her face I can just tell that this will be interesting. Or shocking. "I can't believe I was witnessing it," she says, shaking her head.

"There better be fighting in this story," says Paige and I shake my head. She sounds just like Dean right there. According to Dean, without a good fight, there's never a great story.

"Believe me girl, it was getting there," says Naomi, shaking her head. Now I'm even more curious as to what she has to say. "It involved Kane," she announces, that instantly getting my attention. since Roman and him got into that fight, we hadn't really heard a peep from him. That doesn't sit well with me because I just get a very eerie feeling involving him.

"What about Kane?" I ask, trying to keep my eagerness in check. "

"Him and Randy were having this huge argument inside the ring whilst they were practising," Naomi tells us. Randy? Why would they be arguing? I thought they were friends.

"Aren't they like great friends?" asks Nikki, voicing my own thoughts.

"That's what I thought, but seriously guys, they were full on screaming at each other," Naomi informs us, my curiosity increasing the more I hear about this. "What I got from the conversation was that Kane's doing something which Randy found out about and wasn't happy with. It all happened so fast," she says, taking a sip from her glass of water.

"So, Kane is up to something," I mutter to myself. What could he possibly be doing? "Is that all you got?" I then go on to ask her and she nods her head, disappointing me.

"What are you thinking Ari?" asks Natalya, looking at me closely. No. Kane can't do anything whilst Iris is in Davenport. But what if...what if he's planning on doing something when she gets back? What if he's in the middle of having things set up for her return?

"Just that none of this better involve Iris, that's all," I say, shrugging it off in front of them but my mind buzzing on the inside.

"I don't think he'll be that stupid," says AJ, which is true. That's the problem though. Kane isn't stupid. He knows if he tries anything, he'll have to do it discreetly.

"Yeah, besides if he even goes anywhere near Iris then Hunter and Stephanie will throw his ass out of here," says Brie, the girls managing to reassure me at the moment. I'll need to speak with Dean and Roman. We'll need to figure out what we should do next. We can't leave things like this. I have a very bad feeling. I look at Paige and she nods her head at me.

"So, is Dolph a good kisser then?" asks Paige, changing the topic as AJ rolls her eyes. It's best that I don't think about this too much at the moment. It's not like I can go and demand Kane to tell me what's going on. Plus, there's a chance it has nothing to do with Iris and I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I stand in front of Isabel's house door. I sigh to myself before knocking twice on the door and waiting for her to open it. Now I have to pretend to be all nice to her. Eugh. All I really want to do is strangle her for making such a mess out of everything. The door opens and I can tell Isabel's more than shocked to see me.

"Seth?" says Isabel in disbelief. And she should be shocked. After the disgusting things she's done I'm surprised she didn't move away. I'm not even going to try and understand her situation because she could have cost me my family.

"Hi Isabel," I say to her with a forced smile on my face. Since we've not seen each other for year she won't be able to tell the difference between a fake smile and a real one. Well I hope not.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" she asks me immediately, obviously very eager to know why I've ended up on her doorstep.

"I thought we could talk," I say to her and she nods her head before stepping to the side and allowing me inside. I walk in and go to the living room, taking a seat on the couch. If she honestly believes the bullshit that's about to come out of my mouth, then she's even more stupid then I realised.

"Uh…what did you…want to talk about?" she asks me as I stand at the window, looking out of it. I feel sick already and I haven't even done anything yet.

"How's your Mum?" I ask instead of answering her question which I'm sure throws her off. I'm going to do this in a way that'll make it as believable as possible.

"Fine," answers Isabel and I can hear the suspiciousness in it. I actually do care about Rita, she always looked after me if my parents weren't around.

"Look, I don't forgive you for what you did," I say, turning around. I have to do this for Iris and Evan, that's the thought that'll keep me going. "It was stupid, cruel and risky. But, I love my Ma too and I don't know what I would have done without her. I'm not saying I forgive you but that I…understand," I say. I hope that sounded believable. To her at least. If I did this with any of my friends they'd see right through it.

"What? Really Seth?" she asks me, looking hopeful. Of course she does. She just wants to dig her claws into me.

"If the situation was reversed, then maybe I'd do what you did. I don't know," I say, shrugging my shoulders, looking unsure of it. I wouldn't do what she did. How can she even look at her own Mother after doing everything she did? "The main thing is I'm still with Iris and you're not the cruel bitch I thought you were," I go on to say, keeping the hatred for her at bay. Although my feelings are the complete opposite. She's a total bitch. I know Iris thinks so too. I can tell just by looking at her.

"T-thanks I guess," says Isabel with a small smile.

"I have to go, Iris will be wondering where I've gotten to," I say quickly and then move past her to leave. I feel her hand on my arm and intake a sharp breath. Please don't try anything. I might just end up punching her as a reflex which wouldn't be good.

"Thank you Seth, that really means a lot," says Isabel. I turn my head and give her a nod before getting out of her grip and leaving her there in the living room. Once I leave the house I let out a sigh of relief and go back to my own house. I would have actually been sick if I stayed there any longer. The things I do for love and family.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I smile after Seth leaves. Even after finding out about everything I did, he still understands me. He hasn't forgiven me but we'll definitely get there. He's so amazing, Iris really is lucky to have him right now. And by right now, I mean presently. Because she can't hold onto him. He's going to have to cheat on her. By hook or by crook. I pick up my phone and dial the number.

"You'll never guess what?" I say and hear a groan on the other side of the phone. "Seth came over and told me he understood everything I did and why. I think he's going to forgive me," I say, happy to finally be giving some good news. All I've heard in the last few calls are taunts.

 _"Are you sure?"_ asks the voice on the other end. I know it seems suspicious but I couldn't find a hint that he was lying or faking it. He did look uncomfortable though but that's to be expected.

"Yep, he said he understands why I did what I did and that he would probably do the same if he was in my situation," I state and hear a happy sound on the other end of the phone.

 _"After all the bad news you've given me, this is the greatest,"_ says the voice, making my smile falter slightly. We just need to get things done and dusted. _"Now that Seth is leaning towards you once again, we can try this whole debacle without anyone interrupting us. You remember what to do right?"_ I get asked. How can I even forget, it's been my sole mission the whole time they've been here.

"Yes, break them up by hook or by crook," I reply. That's all I have to do. That's what I need to do.

 _"Exactly,"_ says the voice and hangs up. I put the phone down and run a hand through my hair. It wasn't working so well last time so I don't even know how well it's going to work this time. I need to do something to get Seth to lean towards me. But first, I need to make sure he forgives me and becomes my friend again.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey," I smile up at Seth as I continue to change Evan's nappy on the bathroom floor. "What's wrong?" I ask him, noticing him look kind of sad. We discussed everything surrounding Isabel, he shouldn't be too unhappy.

"She took the bait," answers Seth, leaning against the doorframe. I nod my head and get back to changing Evan's nappy. None of us are going to like the next bit. But, the only person Isabel will let get close to her is Seth. He's the only one that can find out what the hell is going on.

"Stop worrying, it'll be over before you know it," I tell him without looking up at him. Normally I'm the one worrying. But Seth's a great actor, he's been doing it for a long time.

"How can you say that? What if something goes wrong? What if she knows I'm messing with her?" questions Seth, obviously overthinking it. It's kind of funny because he sounds like me at the moment. Normally he's so sure of himself.

"I thought getting dramatic was my job?" I ask him, glancing up at him. I throw away the dirty nappy and wash my hands before picking Evan up. I walk out with Seth back into our room. I put Evan in his playpen and then stand opposite Seth. Putting both my hands on the side of his face. "Seth, we'll get her. I promise you, nothing will go wrong. With this plan or with us," I assure him. His phone buzzes and he lets out a big sigh. "What's wrong now?" I ask him. It's always one thing or another.

"Isabel," says Seth, taking his phone out of his pocket and showing me the screen. "She's messaging me stuff like 'I hope we can work this out', 'I'm glad you're seeing things my way' and other stupid things," he goes on to say which makes me giggle. "It's not funny!" he says, obviously getting annoyed by everything.

"It kinda is," I say and then take his phone off of him. Well if we're going to do this then we might as well do it together.

"What are you doing?" asks Seth, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, since you have to meet her in person I'll bear the brunt of the messages," I tell him with a smile. This was we're 50/50 on everything. "You won't get a headache and maybe it'll help me feel better about this whole thing too," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I trust Seth I do, but I don't trust Isabel. But then I'm being stupid because that's the turn the situation needs to take.

"You know I only have eyes for you," Seth reminds me. I think, despite everything, me and Seth are more sure about each other's feelings. By sticking with each other, we've shown how much faith and trust we have in the other person.

"Obviously," I say, making us both laugh. "You just leave the messaging thing to me and concentrate on making her look like a fool," I say and he nods his head, hugging me. Things are going to be just fine. Once we find out who wants to separate us so bad.

* * *

"Why are you laughing to yourself?" asks Seth, sitting down next to me on the grass in the garden. Its nice weather today so the girls are running around and I'm sitting with Evan who's in his basket on the grass.

"Nothing," I say quickly but I know Seth doesn't believe me.

"What did you do?" asks Seth, looking at me suspiciously.

"Fine," I say and hand him the phone. I've been messaging Isabel back and forth and see Seth laugh as he reads through the messages. I was having a good time, even though it is at the expense of Isabel. Any other person, I'd feel sorry for. But she's just a straight down bitch who deserves what's coming to her.

"You told her that you're my world and that's why it's hard to forgive her?" he asks me and I bite down on my lip. I couldn't resist it. I had to do it, the temptation was just too strong.

"Why? Am I not?" I ask with a pout on my face.

"Of course you are Cutie Pie, I just didn't expect you to do something like this," says Seth, gesturing to his phone. He then gives me a different kind of look.

"What now?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"You're turning back into your old self," comments Seth and I realize he's right. My confidence was broken completely after me and Seth were over, this is the first time I've displayed that along with a cocky attitude. "Hey, I think it's great," he says, putting an arm around me.

"But you didn't love the old me," I tell him with concern. The old me got on his nerves and annoyed him so much he'd end up yelling at times.

"Because I was an idiot," says Seth, reassuring me. "It's no secret I fell in love with you whilst you were pregnant with Evan but I also look back on our relationship. It may not have been real to me at that time, but I love thinking back to it. How playful you'd get or how much we'd laugh together," he explains to me. He had fun when we were together?

"Really?" I ask him and he nods his head.

"Yeah. And it wasn't all not real, when we first got together I actually did like you. So whenever old Iris wants to make a return I welcome it," says Seth, pecking my lips, surprising me. "This toned down version of you can be a bummer sometimes," he says after which I start swatting him with my hands. "What? It's true, remember that time I woke up to a blowjob?" he asks me, my face getting red. I liked being playful at the time and Seth would just invoke things in me that I'd never felt before.

"Mister Rollins!" I exclaim, hitting him even more. "There are kids around!" I go on and then hit him more as we both begin to laugh. "I understand your feelings but if you would have done the same then you can't sit there and judge me so harshly," I read out Isabel's latest message to Seth. I roll my eyes at the message making Seth chuckle. Like as if she's one that can tell people who can judge what.

"Seth, it's not nice to laugh when Iris is sharing her feelings," Rose reprimands him, coming out and standing over us. I look at Seth in relief that she thinks I said that. Oh boy, if they all knew what we were up to.

"Right," says Seth, playing along. "Sorry Iris," he then says, giving me an apologetic look. Hmm, I think we can have a little fun here.

"Are you really sorry?" I question him, feeling like doing some theatre today. "You obviously don't take our relationship as seriously as me," I accuse him and hold in my laughter at the dumbfounded expression on his face. Seth isn't the only person that can act around here.

"You tell him Iris, guys can be such idiots sometimes," Rose comments. I love having Rose around, she always takes my side whenever it comes to Seth. It's too funny.

"Wha…but I didn't even do anything!" exclaims Seth.

"And that's why I'll be doing the dumping. Excuse me," I say and then get up and dust off my dress. "Humph!" I say, giving Seth a dirt before going over to the girls and joining in on their tag game. I have a feeling he'll pay me back for that later. However, that does nothing but excite me.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"You need to be nicer to that girl Seth," Rose tells me off and I resist rolling my eyes at that remark. Iris just couldn't help herself, she had to get all dramatic. But I have missed that about her. Although, it would be nice if she wouldn't act like this in front of my family because then they'll think I'm the bad guy.

"Ok, I hear you," I tell her, watching Iris play with the girls as they run around playing tag. It's nice to see her laughing so much after all those episodes of crying.

"Good," states Rose, sitting down on the grass next to me, where Iris was sat which was on the other side of the basket Evan is in. "Now, when are you going to marry her?" she asks. Great, another person with the same question. Or maybe I misheard.

"What?" I ask, not knowing if I heard right.

"When are you going to marry her?" Rose asks again, so I'm not hallucinating. She actually did say that. "Oh come on Seth, you have a baby, you love each other and you're moving in together. You're practically already married," she points out to me.

"Then why would there be a point in getting married?" I question, finding myself sounding like Dean. He acted like that at one point. It must have been something about Ariana though that got him to propose. "I know things are good between me and Iris but we've decided to take our time with everything. We only just got back together and neither of us want to ruin it. How we are right now works for us," I explain to her. Even if we're already moving in together.

"What about Iris? Don't you think she wants to marry you?" Rose asks me as we both look at her. I've always known that answer to that. She at one point dropped so many hints I thought I was going to explode. Now if that happened though, I'd feel excited.

"Of course she does, she once sent me a drunk text saying we'll get married, have three kids and live together forever," I say which makes us both laugh. "But it's not for us right now and we have time". Iris isn't going anywhere and neither am I. Things are just right for us at the moment.

"You may have time but who knows what could happen, if I was you I'd snatch her up right now," says Rose, nudging my shoulder. I'm not worried about anyone snatching Iris up.

"I already have," I say with a smile, looking at my sister. "Iris doesn't look at anyone the way she looks at me. No matter what's happened…she's…she's always loved me and I can't be more thankful for that. As long as I keep her happy, her love for me will grow as does mine each and every day," I say. She won't ever leave me and it's not me being cocky.

"Look at my brother, the little sap," comments Rose and I swat her hands away as she pinches my cheeks. Great, another person who's going to tease me about that. I need to keep things in my head rather than actually saying them.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Aunt Iris, I can't run anymore," complains Lacey which makes me laugh. I thought kids were supposed to have unlimited amounts of energy.

"Ok, how about we go fix some snacks for you girls?" I suggest which has them both nodding their heads. Lacey grabs my hand and Lily runs over grabbing my other one. "Ooh, maybe we could watch a movie too," I then suggest. If I get them settled, then they'll be quiet or maybe even fall asleep.

"Yes, I want to watch frozen!" exclaims Lily with Lacey nodding her head in agreement.

"Frozen it is!" I say, smiling as we get to Seth and Rose. "Me and the girls are going to fix something to eat and watch Frozen, it's girl time!" I say, making them all laugh.

"I'll come with you," says Rose, getting up. "I am starving!" she then says. The girl keeps eating more and more every day. It's like she's eating for five. Although I'm not going to tell her that.

"What about me?" asks Seth, feeling left out. He should be glad he's not a girl otherwise there would be no Evan.

"You're not a girl silly," says Lacey, shaking her head at Seth.

"Mommy said you are smart, not!" shouts Lily, sticking her tongue out at Seth who looks on mortified at what his niece is doing.

"Lily, I don't want to see that tongue again. Do you hear me?" says Rose with a stern look. I really hope I won't have to do that much with Evan. I know it'll be my role because we all know Seth will not yell at his son.

"Yes Mommy," says Lily, looking down with a sad face. At least she's showing remorse for her actions.

"Let's go girls, before your uncle gets you into trouble again," I say, trying to brighten their mood, throwing a wink in Seth's direction. I start swinging my hands as I walk with them in an attempt to cheer Lily back up. Once inside I fix them all a quick snack whilst Rose just attacks everything and anything in the fridge. I put the movie on with both the girls sitting at either of my side. I didn't know they had a set of lungs till today when I heard them singing 'Let it go' with all their might. Rose just sits there with a smirk on her face because she of course knew it was coming. I think I'll need a new set of eardrums by the time this movie is over and done with.

* * *

 **Reviews would be lovely! :)**


	47. Interrupting Isabel

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Back with the next chapter! :)**

* * *

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you my love1 :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! I was wondering when that would happen. Thank you so much, means a lot1 :)**

 **Ayesha: There you are! Thought you died or something, lol. It's nice to know what you've been up to. It's good you're enjoying yourself. Don't be sorry, I understand how life can get in the way. No Seth Rollins I get. But dude, Dean Ambrose was still putting on a great show! Haha! I totally understand the obsession over Harry Potter, been there done that :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Thank you so much! I hope I don't disappoint :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 47:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Wow, you are amazing," comments Rose just after the movie ends. That's a weird thing for her to just come out with. I give her a confused look and she says, "They're sleeping for some reason".

"Oh," I say and look down to both the girls. Lily's head in my lap and Lacey's head leaning against my shoulder. "They're such angels," I comment. I can't wait for Evan to grow older and have him running around with me and Seth trying to catch him. I can easily picture it right now.

"Right now they are, wait till this little holiday is over and I take them back to where we live, endless tantrums," says Rose at which we both laugh quietly. Kids are a lot of hard work but it's worth it.

"My girls are sleeping," states Damien, coming into the living room. "How on earth did you manage that?" he asks me but I just shrug my shoulders. I didn't even intent on making them go to sleep, it just happened somehow. "Ok, I guess they're napping this afternoon," he says, still looking like he's in a daze.

"I think we should move Lacey, her neck will start to hurt," I say and Damien nods his head. He moves forward and picks up Lacey, laying her down. I gently pick up Lily's head and then set it down. Damien then turns Lily around so Lacey's feet don't end up kicking her leg. Later that day I go into the bedroom and see Seth sitting up, looking through his phone. "Have you given our son away?" I question, standing at the doorframe.

"Maybe," says Seth, not looking up and I shake my head. "While you were with Ma and Aunt Annette, Rose took him. She said something about returning a favour?" he goes on to say. Evan gets passed around like a 'pass the parcel' game.

"Hmm, makes sense," I say. I make her kids go to sleep so she does the same for me. How nice. Although I can say confidently that Evan is nowhere near as much trouble as those girls. Not yet anyway. "Gives us some time to talk," I then say and move forward. I sit next to Seth on the bed. "Isabel saying anything?"

"She's just messaged me saying how much I mean to her because I'm the one person that's stood by her throughout these years," answers Seth, putting his phone down and placing his head on my shoulder. "If that were true she wouldn't even have thought about doing this". Not to mention they haven't even seen each other for years. Now she's just making stuff up.

"I'm sorry," I say, running a hand through his hair. I feel bad for making him do this when he's clearly hating every second of it.

"What for?" asks Seth, looking up at me.

"I kind of feel like you'd still have her as a good friend if I hadn't come here," I tell him. Maybe if only Seth came then he wouldn't lose someone he's known for years. But then she'd still be trying to get into his pants and I wouldn't be around to stop it.

"No, we weren't talking for a long time," says Seth with a sigh, putting an arm around my waist so we're sitting closer together. "After I left to pursue wrestling I made sure I had no distractions. So I didn't talk to her again". She's clearly had a big impact on his life. I mean, he couldn't even stay in the same place as her.

"Seth, were you how you were when I first met you…because of her?" I ask hesitantly. He wasn't very serious like or committing. But I think he liked the idea of having someone constantly pining for him, which is what I did. Something he wasn't used to considering he was always after Isabel.

"Maybe," he answers, shrugging his shoulders. "I loved her for a long time and then forced myself to move on. Eventually, I stopped feeling and caring. I never thought I'd have those feelings again and then you came back into my life," he explains, looking up at me, butterflies going around my stomach.

"Really?" I ask, looking down at him.

"I didn't realize it when we were together but when we crossed paths again, something changed," Seth says and then sits up properly as we look at each other. "It was like, I did have feelings for you and I only realized that when I saw you again". That's all I've ever wanted since I met Seth. For him to feel for me as much as I do for him.

"I'm glad you did," I tell him with a smile on my face. "Seth I…I don't think I could have lived any longer with you," I say in a soft voice, meaning every word. I was a mess after our break up, I never thought I could recover. "I don't think I can love anyone like I love you," I admit to him. I tried to with Rick but it just never seemed to work. I couldn't ever see another guy like I did Seth.

"I thought I could but I can't," says Seth with a smile of his own. "With Isabel, I thought that was love. And maybe it was but what I feel for you is so much stronger. It's so difficult to put into words how I feel about you but hopefully I'm showing you every single day," he says, taking my hand in his.

"You are," I say, moving forward and kissing his lips. He wastes no time in responding and I move so that I'm straddling his hips. Seth deepens the kiss which I'm all for. He keeps his hands on my waist as I keep mine on his shoulders, exploring each other's mouths.

"You're so beautiful," says Seth, making me giggle. My hands move to the nape of his neck as we continue our make out session. "Iris, we have to stop before-" I cut him off with another kiss. I know what he's going to say.

"Let's do it," I say, looking into his eyes with excitement. I was sort of hesitant before but now I'm just so sure that we're ready for this.

"What?" asks Seth and I chuckle because I know he probably thinks he's hearing things. I guess I was scared. I don't know why but the thought of being so close to him scared me. Maybe because I didn't want to give him everything and have the past repeated. I don't know. But now, things are different. It just feels right to go that way.

"Lets. Have. Sex," I whisper in his ear and move back to see his eyes mirroring the excitement that are in my own right now.

"Y-you sure?" asks Seth and I nod my head. I don't think I'm more sure of anything else right now.

"I want to be even more close to your right now," I say, kissing his lips again. Sex with Seth has always been special for me. But the fact that now it'll be special for him, it makes me feel even more excited.

"What about everyone else?" asks Seth and it seems like we've switched roles now. Normally I'm the one worrying about the others and Seth's being careless about it.

"Just keep your mouth on mine so I don't scream," I answer with a giggle. That is the only problem I can think of when it comes to my plan on having him right now. It was always a problem last time.

"That I can do," says Seth and pulls my lips in for a kiss again. I moan as I feel him against me, completely ready for this. Seth pulls away and starts placing kisses on my neck. I arch my back giving him better access as he continues his attack. "You really want this?" he asks me, being a gentleman but instead turning me on even more.

"More than anything," I say, looking into his eyes once again. I sit up straight again and Seth keeps eye contact as he pulls the zip down at the back of my dress. I blush as he continues to stare at me. I look away and he rests his forehead against my own.

"I love you," says Seth and I grin at him. I never get tired of hearing that. When he says, something in the way he says it gives me Goosebumps.

"I love you too," I say, tilting my head to the side. I see a flash of something and then look back at Seth. Using the hair I have as a cover, I realize someone's watching us. And from that house it can only be Isabel. I grit my teeth trying to contain my anger at her interrupting something so intimate that I'm experiencing with Seth. Seth moves to kiss me again but I place a hand on his lips. "We can't do this," I say with a sigh, using my head to shield both our faces.

"What? Why not?" asks Seth and I can see the complete and utter disappointment on his face. After all, I just agreed to doing it. And as usual, Isabel's ruining things for us.

"Don't panic or even react when I tell you this," I instruct him first and he nods his head. "Isabel's watching," I tell him and see him restrain himself from looking. "I want you Seth but we're not doing this in front of anybody except for each other," I state adamantly. She isn't getting a show of me and Seth showing our love for each other.

"Couldn't agree more," he says, pecking my lips. "We can't just suddenly break though; she'll know". He's right in saying that. But what do we do know? Think Iris, think.

"I know," I say with a sigh, needing to think of something that would give us an excuse to break up our extremely heated make out session. "Damn that bitch for ruining this," I comment angrily.

"Great, thanks for making me see you as even more hot now (!)" comments Seth, making me giggle once more.

"Sorry," I say apologetically. I didn't realise me acting like that would turn him on. Although, I will keep it as a future reference. "Ok, pick me up and flip me over so you're on top," I instruct him and he does so, making me chuckle in the process. "We are so doing that for real when we get our chance to finish this," I then say. Although who knows when we will get that chance.

"Ok, what now?" he asks me, giving me an Eskimo kiss. Damn it Seth! He knows I love it when he does that.

"I want a kiss," I say, putting my arms around his neck. Seth wastes no time in doing what I've asked of him. Just as he deepens the kiss I pull back and give him a confused look.

"What?" asks Seth, looking confused himself. Well at least he's convinced. Then again, great actress.

"Play along as confused," I tell him and push my hands against his chest as I begin to sit up.

"No problem there, what are you doing?" he asks me as I move off the bed. I zip up my dress and walk over to the bathroom, taking a couple of steps in and looking at Seth. At least she doesn't have a window that she can look through in here.

"Don't look at me, go to your phone because I'm sure she's messaged you," I say, standing there with my hands behind my back. I'm sure the little witch must be messaging him to divert Seth's attention away from me. Seth checks his phone and glances in my direction.

"Are you psychic?" asks Seth lowly and without making too much movement of his lips.

"Dunno, I've been told I am," I tell Seth. In actual fact, desperate girls are just too predictable.

"By who?" he asks me, keeping his eyes on the phone.

"My psychic," I answer in a joke and see him trying hard not to laugh. "I'm going to come out now so act like you're questioning me," I instruct and walk back out the bathroom with a sad look on my face. I have to think like my puppy died. If I had a puppy. Hmm, maybe me and Seth should get one. Where are my thoughts going? Focus Iris.

"Iris, what's the matter?" says Seth, immediately coming up to me, placing a hand on my arm.

"I'm acting," I say in a low murmur, he actually looks worried for me. Maybe I should have given him a heads up or something.

"Oh, I knew that," says Seth with a nervous chuckle. If he thinks he can pretend with me then he has another thing coming.

"Right," I say, shaking my head. I walk over to the cupboard and take out a packet of tampons.

"Aw man!" says Seth with a disappointed look on his face. He does know I'm acting right? Maybe I should remind him. Not that it matters, I doubt we'll have another chance whilst we're here to do it anyway.

"I was in your line of vision when I was in the bathroom genius," I remind him as I walk back into the bathroom. I place the tampons on the counter and shake my head as I let out a laugh.

"Oh ha ha," says Seth and sits down on the end of the bed. "Seth, I really need to talk to you," he reads aloud. "Hmm, wonder what she could want," he says. Isn't it obvious to him? Then again, guys are oblivious.

"To make sure we don't get too close," I answer him easily. "I'm coming out and this time quickly put your phone away, alright?" I say. I don't wait for a response and when I come out I smile as he realise he's done what I asked him to do. "Don't worry, we'll be able to do it," I say, wrapping my arms around his torso.

"When?" asks Seth with a sad face. The fact that I told him I was ready and now we don't get to do it is probably the worst thing that could have happened.

"Soon," I answer, standing on my tiptoes and pecking his lips. "Till then, I'll pretend to leave and you look at your phone with a serious thought face thingy," I say and then proceed to leave the room.

"Hello?" I hear Seth's

voice as I stand outside the room, listening in. What? It's not like I left the room willingly. It's because of that stupid Isabel I had to. Every single time she messages I get more and more angry with her. "Look, just because I've been a little nice to you doesn't mean we're automatically going to be friends again," he says. Good. That's believable.

 _"_ _We could try though, right?"_ asks Isabel and I smile at Seth having put his phone on loudspeaker for me. So he knows I'm here. _"You could come over today and we could try and…sort things out,"_ she says. As if! The only reason she wants him round anywhere is because she wants to have him. Too bad she repulses him,

"I'd like to spend the day with my girlfriend if you don't mind," says Seth and I nod my head in approval. He's not being too nice so she's suspicious but he's not being too cold so she stops trying. I have to say I'm impressed.

 _"_ _Just come over for five minutes, please,"_ begs Isabel and I hear a loud sigh from Seth. _"It'll be a quick chat, please Seth? Angie, Rose, Nicky, no one's talking to me and you guys are the only friends I have ever had,"_ she goes on, sounding tearful and that's Seth's cue. To make it seem like he's taking the bait.

"Alright, fine. Five minutes not a second longer," says Seth and then hangs up. He leaves the room and closes the door behind him, standing next to me. "We make a great team huh?" he asks me. I hold up my hand for a high five and he hits it.

"Totally," I say, pecking his lips and seeing things ending quickly now. We just have to make sure we can get it to that point where she'll tell Seth everything. Its quick work considering we only started today. Isabel's too gullible when it comes to Seth. But I understand that. No one can get that more than me. I would believe him blindly when we were together before.

"Guys!" says Angie, quickly walking up to us. "You'll never believe what just happened!" she exclaims, looking happy. Unless she's going to tell me Isabel's fell in a ditch, I don't want to hear it.

"Isabel got hit by a meteor?" asks Seth with a big grin and I slap his arm for that. "Really? Like you weren't thinking it," he says but he's right. That would be good news. More than good news actually.

"We've tracked Elizabeth!" exclaims Angie in excitement. Seriously? How the hell did they manage to do that?

"What? Where is she?" I ask eagerly, that being the most important thing right now.

"Some apartment," answers Angie, waving a hand in the air. "In a really bad area of the neighbourhood. Neil hired this guy to track her GPS on her phone and he's given us an address, we have to go!" she then says. We can't waste any time. We have to take this opportunity whilst we still have it.

"But…Seth has to go meet Isabel," I say hesitantly, glancing at my boyfriend.

"Oh shit, really?" asks Angie and Seth nods his head. "Quick work little bro, I like it," she compliments him. "Ok, me and Iris then," she says, the look on Seth's face letting me know he's against the idea.

"What? There's no way you're going to a 'bad area' and taking Iris with you," Seth puts his foot down, getting all protective again. But damn it, it makes me so hot for him right now.

"Don't worry, Neil's meeting us on the way," states Angie. Does she really think Neil is better than a professional wrestler?

"Nope, I'm coming with you," Seth insists, shaking his head. I don't think he'd like the idea of anyone getting near me or Angie.

"But you're seeing Isabel remember?" Angie reminds him.

"But if we got Elizabeth, what do we need Isabel for?" questions Seth, making a very good point. Unfortunately, I have to be the bad guy here.

"But what if we don't got her?" I then point out. "We don't know for sure if she's there. Unless we can be certain, you have to keep playing Isabel. Plus, something could go wrong, you never know. We might not get what we need. So you're going to have to go see Isabel. As a backup," I explain to him., rubbing my hand up and down his arm.

"And that's why you're the smart one out of the two of you," Angie, says, pointing to me. She grabs my hand and drags me downstairs with Seth following behind us, still not happy about any of it.

"You can't do this," says Seth, clearly not happy with the decision.

"Seth, you're seeing Isabel and we're going with Neil to get this checked out," I state, looking at him. "And hello, I'm a female wrestler so there's no way on this earth I am not safe," I say and then leave with Angie, not giving him a chance to say anything further. Plus, I have a good right hook. He can ask the girl that was hitting on him months back.

"Wow, you're growing some pretty impressive balls," compliments Angie as we get into her car. We stop off at Neil's house who gets in the back and Angie drives us there.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Well, what is it?" asks Dean, getting impatient as I pace the room, trying to think of a way to tell them this. We were all getting ready our show tonight but then I told them I needed to tell them something. I was trying to figure out how to tell them what I found out yesterday, about Kane.

"First I need you to promise you won't let your imagination go wild," I say, looking at my fiancé who acts as if he's so innocent.

"Don't even think about denying it," says Roman, sitting back in his chair. "Ari, is everything alright?" he asks me but I once again look at Dean. He nods his head and I let out a big sigh, standing in the middle of the room.

"It's about Kane," I tell them both, both of them looking as alert as ever. "Naomi said she saw him getting into an argument with Randy. Something about Kane doing something he shouldn't be," I explain to them. I realise it's something very brief but it could mean something later on.

"You think he's got something going on?" asks Roman and I nod my head. Everything is finally fit into place for all of us, we can't have anything jeopardising that.

"But it could be, literally, about anything," says Dean, me and Roman giving him confused looks. He's the one that's always jumping to conclusions and now he's decided to be rational all of a sudden? "What?" he then asks, both of us staring at him for a long time.

"I'm hallucinating," I say, taking a seat adjacent to Roman.

"You made me promise to stay logical," says Dean and I nod my head. I did tell him that by asking him not to let his imagination run wild. "We all know fighting with Kane isn't going to help anyone. Neither us nor Iris. What we need to do is just keep an eye out, right?" he then goes on to ask, giving out a good idea.

"Are you sure you're Dean? You've not been kidnapped by aliens?" asks Roman, fully turning to look at Dean who just lets out a chuckle.

"I'm just happy because I get laid tonight!" says Dean, sitting back with a smirk on his face.

"I don't need to know every single time you get laid," says Roman with a look of disgust on his face. He so better not go on to tell Roman that he's been deprived of it for some nights now.

"Yeah but this is special," comments Dean, me sending him a pointed glare. The night won't be so special if he continues to keep up that attitude.

"Is that why you're not freaking out? Because it'll mess up your plans of getting laid?" I question him, leaning forward in my seat. I look at him closely, trying to get a picture of what's going on in his mind which is anyone's guess.

"That and because for like the fiftieth time, I ain't stupid. If I go do anything to try and get anything out of him, I'll get suspended. Then of course I could go and see Hot Mama and Tidbit so there are silver linings. I'm going to have to think about it again," explains Dean, sitting back and actually looking like he's weighing up the options of being normal or getting suspended.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I ask, shaking my head. "If you even think about getting suspended, no chocolate cake at the wedding," I threaten and he lets out the biggest gasp I could ever hear from him.

"You're kidding right?" asks Dean but I just narrow my eyes at him. "She's kidding right?" he then turns to Roman and asks him.

"She never kids about chocolate cake," states Roman, sending me a wink when Dean's not looking.

"Alright fine, no suspension," says Dean begrudgingly. "Question, if Kane is planning on doing something and your suspicions are correct, how do we stop that?" he then goes on to ask me.

"By doing what you said, keeping an eye out. And maybe telling our friends the same," I answer. I'm sure I can ask the girls to do that much for me, or Iris rather. Dean and Roman could talk to some of the guys. Dolph would definitely be one of them.

"Hmm, I know a couple of guys," says Dean, looking deep on thought. "I can get a tail on him, easy," he then says at which I shake my head. That's the last thing we need right now.

"Kane's not stupid, he'll figure it out and then come hunting for our asses," comments Roman, voicing his thoughts as well as my own. "All we need to do is look out for anything unusual. No tailing twenty-four seven," he instructs, the last part being aimed at Dean who relents with a big sigh. If Kane is planning something, he isn't going to see it through. We'll make sure of that.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"How are we going to confront her?" asks Neil, his head between me and Angie as she drives the car. I don't suppose she's just going to tell us everything, right?

"Kick the door down and put a knife to the bitch's throat," answers Angie almost immediately causing me and Neil to gasp. "Relax, it was a joke," she then says with a chuckle. "You guys are too easy," she comments, turning a corner. That is total an answer I would expect Ariana to say.

"Excuse me if I don't want my girlfriend getting jailed!" exclaims Neil, something about that sentence sticking out for me.

"Girlfriend?" I ask, turning to him excitedly. "You're his girlfriend?" I question, glancing at Angie who looks like she's trying to be indifferent.

"Well…kinda…yeah," says Angie, trying not to make a big deal out of it but it totally is. Have her cheeks gone pink? I think so.

"You didn't tell anyone?" asks Neil, looking upset. "Oh, the betrayal. I feel like a little dirty secret. Just getting used all the time," he says, sitting back. He's only teasing of course.

"Cut the dramatics," Angie tells him off which makes me giggle. Their bickering reminds me of Ariana and Dean. I wonder how they're doing? I hope things are going well. Ariana messaged me last night saying she's finishing off the guest list.

"Dramatics?" asks Neil, looking at her. "I've been shouting from the highest hilltop that you're my girlfriend and you're keeping it a secret?" he goes on to ask her. I can't believe he hasn't figured it out yet. He's been her best friend for years and can't see what's right in front of his eyes.

"I know why," I pitch in with my hand in the air.

"Please, do tell," says Neil, looking at me now instead. He genuinely doesn't seem to know.

"Please, don't," says Angie in a monotone voice, not really seeming to care. I bet she doesn't think I could deduce the real reason.

"It's because she's shy," I explain simply at which both Angie and Neil burst out into laughter.

"Nice one Iris (!)" says Neil, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, continuing to laugh like a maniac. He ends up falling back in his seat from not being able to contain his amusement.

"What? It's true," I say. "Neil, if she tells someone then she'll go red. It's Angie. How can she just walk up to someone and say you're her boyfriend with a smile and it goes without any teasing by anyone she knows?" I go on to explain. "Rose would give her everything she's got as well as Seth so she's waiting till something bigger comes along before giving her news," I add on. If they don't want to believe me then fine. Bu it's true.

"Wow, that makes a lot of sense," says Neil, looking like he's thinking about it. At least it sounds plausible at the moment.

"Plus, she's blushing right now," I say in a whisper but loud enough for Angie to hear it. This should be fun.

"What? I am not!" denies Angie but you can totally tell by the redness in her cheeks. If she denies it again then her nose will start to grow long.

"You totally are!" exclaims Neil and I high five him. "You are good Iris," he compliments me and I nod my head thanking him. If there's anything I'm good at, it's this. Whatever category this is.

"Guys, we're here," says Angie and stops the car on the side of the road. She wasn't kidding when she said it was in a bad area. This place looks terrible. As soon as we get out we stick out like a sore thumb. Well compared to a gang of guys who are standing next to a wall, staring at us. One of them looks me up and down which makes me feel sick. I don't even want to know what's going on through his mind right now.

"Stay close girls," says Neil, sounding like he's going into protective mode. I don't like this area, there's trash everywhere and it's so dull. I try not looking at the hookers on the end of the road, talking to people in cars which have tinted windows. We go inside a building and go up to the third floor. "What door number was it again?" Neil asks Angie.

"23," answers Angie and as soon as we get to the end of the hallway, there's the door. Ok, we're here. I hope things go well. We need this for Macy.

"What's the plan?" I ask in a whisper. Angie looks at both Neil and me before using her fist and banging on the door. I just go along with it and the door opens to reveal a young brunette.

"Can I help you?" asks the girl in a sweet voice with a small smile. Wow. No wonder Macy wouldn't have ever been suspicious of her.

"Elizabeth?" asks Angie with her head tilted to the side. The look of horror on the girl's face tells us everything we need to know. She tries closing the door but Angie's quicker and puts her foot in front. "We need to talk," states Angie with a glare. Wow, she is good.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	48. Elizabeth

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! You might not realise this but exactly a year ago today I posted up my first every story, Getting Over you. It's amazing how a year flies by and I just want to thank everyone who's reading the sequel because you guys have been the best! Here's the next chapter :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! It shows since you're making up characters now. Thanks as always lovely! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Then I hope you like this next one :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Totally! :)**

 **Calwitch: Haha, I know! Maybe she has a radar now or something. Well you'll find out a lot more in this next chapter. People only disappear into seedy places when they've done wrong :)**

 **Ayesha: Cupcake? Lol! I love it! Is that my new nickname? You actually just reminded me of Paige since she used to call AJ that! My days are going fine! I am melting in the heat in Britain for once :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Yeah, hopefully. Isabel is being way too creepy right? :)**

 **Paisley2: Haha! Interesting theory. Uh, no idea where you can get one, Lol. I think we all need one :)**

 **iamkhushbu333: I'll answer that in the next chaper. The site wasn't showing all my reviews and I don't know if you'll see this since you've already reviewed again :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 48:**

 **IRIS POV**

"I'm sorry but I don't know who it is that you're looking for," says Elizabeth quickly, avoiding eye contact and keeping her gaze on the floor. "I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave," she then says. Oh look, we got a liar. If you're going to lie you have to act like you're telling the truth at least. Everybody knows that.

"Not till I find out why you've been fucking with our lives," says a voice and I look at both Angie and Neil who look on at me shocked. So, that was me. Ok yeah, I want that answering.

"Excuse me? You can't come here and talk to me like that!" says Elizabeth unhappily. Hmm, that's a trigger. We can make her snap.

"Oh no? Watch us," says Angie, moving forward and forcing her way in as Elizabeth tells her to stop. I follow in quickly behind Angie and see her apartment is well…its…basically a shithole. What? There's no other word you can use to describe it. It's dirty everywhere and there's a mess everywhere not to mention an undeniable stink. Smells like something died in here. Holy shit, did she kill someone?

"Ok lady, tell us what we want to know," states Neil, getting straight down to business. Lady? Really? You can tell this is his first time doing something like this. Not my first but that's a story for another day.

"Look, I don't know who you are and what you want but I am not Elizabeth, nor do I know her," says Elizabeth, shaking her head. "Now will you please leave?" she says, pointing to the door. Because that was supposed to be convincing right?

"One last chance to tell us who you really are," says Angie, surprisingly calm, keeping her gaze on Elizabeth.

"I am telling you I am not this girl you're looking for," she states, arms cross over her chest. I doubt this girl can beat Angie in a staring contest. She'll be squirming within seconds.

"Really? Because you look a lot like this girl," says Angie, reaching into her pocket and taking out a picture, showing it to the girl whose eyes widen in horror. "With Macy. Who gave me this picture so that I can recognize you, so obviously you want to start this whole thing with a lie". When did she get that? For the first time I can say she's awesome.

"How did you get that?" asks Elizabeth, staring at the picture as if she's seen a ghost. Let me think, she was supposed to get rid of everything?

"Neat huh?" asks Angie, a smirk on her face. So that's why she was calm. "Macy found it at the back of a draw in your office. Now, either tell us what we want to know or I swear to god I'll lose my patience," she says to her. I don't blame he either, at this rate I'll lose mine. And I have quite high tolerance levels.

"Fine," says the girl, rubbing a hand on her forehead, looking as if she's trying to think of all her other options. "I am Elizabeth," she admits after all the back and forth arguing.

"Finally, the truth!" Angie claps mockingly, sounding unimpressed. If this wasn't a serious confrontation, then I would totally laugh.

"Why did you do this? Why did you cause problems for Macy?" questions Neil, taking the reins. Ok, I guess Angie isn't the only one doing the questioning. Are they going to play good cop, bad cop? Who am I then? Switzerland?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," says Elizabeth, walking over to the kitchen area and beginning to wash dishes. Is she hoping we'll just leave? Because there's no way in hell we are going till we get some real answers.

"Yes you do, you told Macy that a particular set of papers got burnt and Isabel rerouted her calls to you so that charade could be kept up," I explain to her, looking at her closely which I can tell is unnerving her. "Why on earth did you go along with it? Did you have some grudge against Macy? Was she mean to you? Did she get something you wanted?" I go on to question. I can't believe she can stand here and pretend she did nothing when clearly she has.

"H-how is…Macy?" asks Elizabeth, turning off the tap and drying her hands, looking at the three of us. Did she really just ask that? What would she expect considering what she's done?

"Not very well, no thanks to you," says Angie, a glare on her face.

"We want to know who asked you to do this," I then say, getting to the bottom of it. We don't need any more chit chat to waste time. "Was it Isabel, or someone else as well?" I ask and look closely at her as she turns around.

"I have no idea what you guys are on about, there was a fire in the office," says Elizabeth, putting some plates in a cupboard. Is she fucking serious?

"Really? Because Al thinks differently when we called him up," says Angie, tilting her head to the side. "You know what? Macy gave me her bosses number, let's ask him shall we?" she says, getting out her phone. She's calling a bluff; we just have to see whether Elizabeth will do something. Unless this isn't a bluff and Angie actually has done that. She could have too considering I had no idea about the picture.

"Wait," says Elizabeth all too quickly, now that spells guilty. "Fine, there was no fire, alright? I was just messing with Macy, that's all. I didn't realize it would go so far," she explains, fiddling with a ring on her finger.

"And she's still coming up with more lies," comments Neil, standing in one place, shaking his head. It's exhausting to keep going this and she's going to make us go round in circles. This isn't good enough.

"That's it, in the next few minutes you are going to tell us why you did this, how you did this and who's behind it all otherwise no one here can stop me from kicking the shit out of you!" I threaten her, keeping to a character. I'm part actress after all. Plus, I actually am mad. She's ruining Macy's life for no reason.

"And I'm certainly not going to stop her," comments Angie, taking a step back as well.

"You're going to hit me?" asks Elizabeth and then starts laughing. "Fine, I did set Macy up which you already know. I did it with Isabel which you already know too and we all know you won't do anything to me because you're not that kind of a person Iris," she says my name and then smirks as I seem fazed. "That's right, I know who you are. Isabel told me all about you, you're sickeningly sweet right? I doubt you've ever murdered a fly," she then says. Well it seems like she never saw me back in the good old days.

"Maybe not and maybe I am in your words 'sickeningly sweet'," I say with a nod of my head. "But when it comes to me and Seth, I don't let anybody take me for a ride. For my family and Macy, I'm willing to go the extra mile and if I hesitate then Angie will get the job done. But I advise you not to underestimate me," I say, not blinking as I say my piece. Why do people think I can't hurt them? I choose not to, there's a difference. I'm more than capable of beating the shit out of a person just like the next girl.

"Whatever, you're not going to get anything out of me," says Elizabeth, shaking her head. Damn it! We should have recorded her confession and then showed it to everyone, including the police. Hmm, wait a second. I just had an idea.

"Ok," I say with a nod of my head, placing my hands on my hips. "Angie, dial the police. Let's see what they'll have to say when they find the thief who stole the 50,000 dollars from the company Macy works at," I say and Angie being quick enough plays along, nodding her head. Thank god.

"You sure that's not too harsh?" asks Neil, weighing in too. I guess he's good cop right now.

"Nope, I've been too nice for way too long," I reply. It's working. I can already see the curiosity on her face along with worry.

"Thief? 50,000 dollars? What are you talking about now?" questions Elizabeth, looking panicked.

"Oh, you didn't know?" I ask her, playing with the locket around my neck. "After you disappeared, there's been a whole scandal about someone running off with 50,000 bucks. They've investigated all employees, except for you because they couldn't find you. They think you've done it but can't find you, they'll be thrilled to know we did," I say with a chuckle. "Maybe we'll get a reward for handing her in too," I add on, looking at Neil and Angie. Does Angie look impressed?

"You're lying," states Elizabeth, shaking her head. I wonder if she wants to take the gamble and actually call my bluff.

"Let's see if the police agree with that, shall we?" asks Neil. Angie smirks and dials the number, putting the phone on speaker. It rings a couple of times before someone answers it.

 _"Hello, Iowa Police Station, how may I help?"_ asks a male voice on the other end. Whoa, Angie's actually believing our bluff isn't she?

"Ok, ok, I'll tell you!" Elizabeth quickly hisses after which Angie cuts off the call, a smirk appearing on all our faces. "Ok, I was in my office one day when I got a phone call. It was off a woman," she starts the story. This better not be something stupid because I am not in the right frame of mind to deal with it.

* * *

*FLASHBACK*

 _ELIZABETH POV_

 ** _"Is this Elizabeth Denton?"_** _asks a female voice on the other end of the phone. I wonder who this could be. I'm not expecting any specific person to call for me who I won't know._

 _"Yes it is, how may I help you?" I ask in a customer friendly voice. As long as it's someone who's respectful on the other end, I'll be fine. If not, then I will hang up. I've done it many times too._

 ** _"You can help me with Macy Brandon,"_** _says the female voice on the other end. Macy? If she wanted something regarding Macy then she should have called her, not me. Am I supposed to give her Macy's number now?_ _ **"I need to make sure she loses…everything,"**_ _she then goes on to say as I sit there in disbelief._

 _"Excuse me?" I ask with a frown. "Who is this and why are you calling?" I ask her but she doesn't answer my questions. "Macy is a good friend of mine and I will be part of no such thing!" I say. Why the hell would someone ring and say something like that?_

 ** _"My name is Isabel and if you change your mind, give me a call on this number,"_** _says Isabel and tells me her number which I note down, I don't know why, after which she hangs up. I shake my head; I should give this number in to the police. I should also let Macy know about it, what if she's in some sort of danger? I get up to go do that when Al pops his head into my office._

 _"We get cake today!" exclaims Al which makes me laugh at his antics. I wonder why we get cake. I'm sure it's not anyone's birthday today._

 _"Why? What's the special occasion?" I ask him, standing up and picking up the piece of paper that has the number on it._

 _"Macy got the special promotion!" exclaims Al as I keep a smile on my face. The special promotion? The one I'd worked so hard to try and get for the past few months? The one that I deserved for all my hard work? Macy gets that instead? Al leaves and I sit back down in my chair with a sigh. I look at the number in my hand before dialling it. I want that promotion._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

"You decided to ruin Macy's life because of a stupid promotion?" I ask her in anger, stepping forward. "How could you? Macy is a great friend to have and you were willing to lose that because she got something you wanted? Oh, now someone better hold me back," I say, my hands balling into fists and ready to knock the fuck out of her!

"You know what it's like? To work so hard for months to reach a goal and ultimately not get it?" asks Elizabeth, clearly not remorseful for what happened. "To work overtime and through various nights. To not see your family for weeks on end, to get dumped because you're letting it take over your life. To lose nearly everything and then not get that one thing you wanted? No! So don't come here and start judging me till you know how I must have felt!" she all but shouts. She can't justify this in any way, shape or form. It's absolutely disgusting!

"People lose things all the time but they don't turn psychotic!" I retort, feeling weird that I'm saying such things. "Oh and by the way you should have called our bluff because no money went missing," I add on just to piss her off and it works because she starts to look mad.

"Who else told you to do this shit?" asks Angie, crossing her arms over her chest. "There is no way you two freaks are smart enough to think of all this on your own. There has to be a third person involved," she says, her gaze stuck on Elizabeth.

"No one, I swear!" exclaims Elizabeth and at this point I don't feel like I can believe a word that comes out of her mouth. "All my instructions came from Isabel," she explains to us. Isabel. I don't know what that bitch has to go around ruining everyone's lives. We were all perfectly happy.

"Hmm, now why don't I believe you?" says Angie, narrowing her eyes at Elizabeth.

"Because she was lying before," I answer the question, both of us glaring at her now. "We know someone else is involved so spit their name out," I say, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"I am telling you, believe me, there is no one else involved," Elizabeth states, her hands up in the air. It's clear she's not going to tell us anything more. Especially since I gave away our bluff so we can't use that against her. It was worth it though. Seeing the look on her face.

"Come on girls, let's get out of here," says Neil and with one final glare at Elizabeth we all leave her apartment. Although, she's quick on her feet to go and lock the door. It's a good thing she has, I'm tempted to go back in and punch her at least once.

"You think she's telling the truth?" I ask Angie, walking besides her. I think Angie's good at deducing if someone's lying.

"Not a chance in hell, you?" she then asks me, looking in my direction. Great minds think alike it seems.

"Nope," I say, shaking my head. Considering all the lies, I doubt she could manage to tell the truth for once. "I couldn't sense the genuineness," I comment as we walk down the stairs. "How are we going to find out who's concocting with Isabel?" I then ask. If we find this out, then we can stop them both and expose them.

"Well, I know one thing for sure, she's calling that person right now," says Angie as me and Neil send her questioning looks. "She's lying obviously so she'll call to warn them that we're onto them. And she'll call Isabel for sure too meaning Isabel will now know that you've believed Macy," she points out.

"That's not going to be a problem," I say, waving a hand in the air. Seth has that covered and he's a great actor, he can act like he doesn't know anything. And who knows, if her attention is on me then maybe she'll slip.

"So, phone records?" asks Neil, looking down at Angie as we stand there and plan what we should do next.

"Read my mind," says Angie after which Neil leans down and pecks her lips. I stare at them both and Angie asks, "What?" She didn't snap or anything. Which I suspect she will do if her brothers ever tease her about it.

"Going to have to get used to that," I say with raised eyebrows. It'll be easier for me than everyone else because I haven't known them both for that long. "So, phone records and continue to play Isabel?" I ask them both, my hands on my hips.

"Gonna have to be," says Neil as there's no other option. "If this girl won't let up then it'll take a whole lot of persuading to get Isabel to come out with it," he says in all seriousness, making my smile fall. Seth's going to have to work harder and by that, do a lot of things that'll make Isabel trust him blindly.

"Don't worry, we'll get it out of her soon," reassures Angie but the thought of that woman being anywhere besides Seth just makes me feel angry. But at the same time, Macy being ousted like she has makes me angry too.

"What are we going to do about Elizabeth?" I question, diverting my mind. None of us know what she's capable of. She could just end up being a dark horse.

"We'll leave her here for now, but we need someone to keep an eye on her," says Angie with her hands on her hips. "Just in case we need her again and she decides to pack up and run or she ends up doing something else," she explains which would be useful.

"Don't we have her on GPS though?" I question, tilting my head to the side.

"It's off again," answers Neil with a sigh, putting his phone away. "She used her phone for one call and then switched it off and currently hasn't got it back on. So maybe she isn't going to call Isabel or the other person," he suggests. Or maybe she's waiting for the right time.

"She definitely will," says Angie, seemingly sure of it. "She might have a house phone in there somewhere. Back to the matter at hand, we need someone to keep an eye on her," she states. I think I can help with that.

"Hmm, I think I might have someone," I say, surprising myself as well as them. Then again, it is kind of predictable. I'm sure this person will be able to do it.

"Really? Who would you know around here?" asks Neil in surprise and I shake my head. They know the people around here, I don't. I only know people somewhere else.

"Not around here," I say, getting out my phone and dialling the number. "Hi!" I say happily after it's answered.

 _"Hey, what's up Hot Mama?"_ Dean asks me on the other end of the phone. He sounds normal for once. As if there aren't any issues going on.

"I need a tail," I tell him and then hear a long sigh on the other end of the phone. Well that's one way of complaining isn't it? But he's going to do this whether he likes it or not.

 _"Whenever you people get a chance to call me, you always want something off of me,"_ states Dean, making me smile as always. _"Where's the love?"_ he goes on to questions, getting a chuckle out of me. I'll have to make a mental note to call him generally when I can so he can't complain.

"You'll get my love when you do me this favour," I put forth a condition. Besides, Dean likes a good challenge. "Can you do it or not?" I then ask him directly. I need to know now because obviously, it's urgent to keep an eye on Elizabeth so she can't get up to no good.

 _"Of course I can, this is Dean Ambrose you're talking to,"_ he says, making me smile once more. I knew I could count on him. _"What's the name and address of this person?"_ he then asks me and I hear shuffling around. He's probably trying to find a pen and paper. I should make life easier for him.

"Her name is Elizabeth Denton, I'll message you her current address," I tell him, glad he can do this for me. "And listen, this is important so there's no room for any mistakes. Got it?" I say to him in the most serious voice I've got because that's the only one using which he can understand my level of seriousness.

 _"Got it, got it,"_ says Dean, shrugging it off as if he does this all the time. _"Hey, since you're on the phone and all, how do I get Ariana to talk to me if I've basically told the girls she was going out with to fuck off?"_ he questions, making me laugh out loud. I can't believe he did that to the girls. And he says I use him, what is he exactly doing right now?

"I'll message you that too, bye," I say and then hang up, rolling my eyes. "Ok, we got our tail," I tell the others happily. We walk back to our car with Neil and Angie discussing things, I just keep my head down and try to drown everything out. I can't wait to be back in that car, that guy from before is looking over at me again, giving me the most eerie feeling ever. Not as bad as Kane but slowly getting there.

"Shit, I think I dropped the keys," says Angie, patting her pockets as she searches them. She can't have lost them! How would we get back?

"You sure they're not on you?" I ask her, my arms folded across my chest. She's wearing a jacket, pants, it could be in any one of them pockets.

"Sure," says Angie with a sigh. "I might have dropped them," she says, looking back from where we came. "I'll be right back," she then says, about to leave. The best thing to always do is follow the trail back.

"I'll come with," speaks Neil, about to go with her. He's such a sweet and caring boyfriend. Reminds me of a few other guys that I know.

"No, you guys stay," says Angie, her hands out. "I'll go find them, they have to be on the stairs somewhere," she insists. She hates asking for help on the littlest things. But it's not a weakness.

"Or in that witch's apartment," says Neil, reminding us of where we've just been. "And there's no way you're going there alone, come on," he says, walking off with her. "We'll be two minutes," he then says to me. He's probably made a good decision. Again, who knows what Elizabeth is capable of? And if she gets Angie on her own? I know Angie can take care of herself but if someone attacks you with a knife out of nowhere, what the hell are you going to do? Even if that is farfetched.

"Sure," I say, nodding my head. "I'll be at the car," I say and walk down to where the car is. Ignoring the looks off that gang. Something doesn't feel right to me. Still, I keep my head down and once I get to the car I stand there waiting for them. I wonder how Seth's doing with Isabel. I bet she can't keep her grimy paws off of him. I need to distract myself from that. After all, I'm the one that convinced him to do it. It's like a constant battle in my head, Seth versus Macy.

"Hey beautiful, how about we go for a ride?" shouts the guy that was staring at me earlier. I just ignore him and keep waiting. It's not like Seth ever gave Isabel any inclination that he could ever love her again, especially since he made it clear to her that I'm the only girl in his life. Yet, she stooped so low. It just…it doesn't sound like the girl they grew up with.

"Hey Harry, maybe she's into more buff guys!" suggests one of the other guys. I look up and see he has a bit more muscle. But like before I ignore them, that's the best thing I can do right now.

"Is that right?" says the Harry guy. I don't hear them anymore and thank god for that. Come on Angie and Neil, where have you guys disappeared to? "Do I look more buff now?" I hear a voice which makes me jump out of my skin and I end up on the floor. I see him laugh as he towers over me. "What's wrong sweetheart?" he asks with a laugh.

"Nothing," I answer, sitting up and getting to my feet. He really took me by surprise then.

"Need any help?" he asks me, holding out his hand. Like as if I would want his grimy paws on me.

"No," I answer rudely and get to my feet by myself. I straighten out my cardigan and keep alert. Remember your moves Iris, remember your wrestling moves. Only problem is I haven't done any of them since before my pregnancy making it at least a year ago. But I can still throw a mean punch. You don't need to practice those.

"You break my heart little lady," says Harry at which I roll my eyes. "So, wanna go for that ride? It'll have you lost for words," he propositions me which makes me feel sick.

"Eugh, no!" I say immediately with a look of disgust on my face. His friends start laughing really loudly at him being turned down like that and I think that's why he's looking mad right now. Show no fear Iris, show no fear. He then grabs my upper arm and pulls me close.

"Nobody says no to Harry," he says with a glare in his eyes. If he thinks that's a glare, then he should see Ariana's glares because they're much scarier and frightening.

"I believe I just did," I tell him standing my ground. "Now let me go," I say, struggling to get my arm free against his strength. He just chuckles and I say, "Let me go, now!" once more. Why can't a girl ever grab a hold of me? I'd have her down in two seconds I reckon.

"Or what?" asks Harry cockily and then laughs again. I don't know what's worse, the grip he has on my arm or that stinky breath that could knock out just about anything.

"Get off me!" I say, hitting him using my other arm but that just seems to make him madder.

"She said, let her go," says a voice. Harry turns his head which gives me access to see Seth standing right behind him, the glare on his face looking almost murderous.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Who was that on the phone Dean?" I ask him, having heard him talk to someone whilst I was in the shower. Since I know Roman is out with Paige, he had to have been on the phone.

"Just Iris, she wanted a favour," says Dean, dismissing it. A favour? What kind of a favour could Iris want? "Don't even bother asking what it is, she told me not to tell you," he comments. Now why would Iris do that? Unless Dean's lying. Or unless Iris wants to hide something. What could that be though? It can't be anything serious if she's told Dean and not me. Besides, it's not the first time she's done this so I don't need to worry. "Sorry about yelling at the girls," he then says in a low voice. They came by first thing this morning to take me for breakfast and Dean decided to yell at the instead. I've not talked to him since, waiting for an apology from him.

"Thank you," I say, I never thought he'd end up apologising. I would have thought it was the first thing he'd do after realising he was being unreasonable. But he's apologised now, in the afternoon. Which is weird but who cares? "Shall we go and grab a bite to eat? I'm hungry," I say, lying myself down on the couch. We've got nothing else to do.

"Or we could go crazy and snack out till its dinner?" suggests Dean, looking at me with an excited smile on his face. I get up into a sitting position, mirroring his smile.

"Let's do it!" I exclaim, both of us getting up at the same time. We do this whenever we can. We just walk around to different shops, buy things that look nice to eat and munch on them. We do that till we feel like we can't eat anymore and then sit around, waiting for it all to digest. Well I sit quietly, Dean burps every two seconds. I'm sure he does it on purpose though, just to irritate me.

"I can honestly say I can't eat anymore," comments Dean which is a serious statement since he never stops eating.

"What about dinner?" I ask, turning my head to look at him and he lets out a laugh.

"Maybe a little bit of dinner," answers Dean, which is totally predictable of him. "Then we need to get doing some exercise to burn off the calories," he suggests, sending me a suggestive wink. I use my hand to move his head away from mine as we sit side by side on the couch. "What? You fell through on your promise last night," he comments which is true. After dinner with the girls they wanted to go out to a club, I got back really late and Dean ended up sleeping as he waited for me. I have to say I did feel kind of bad when I walked into the suite and saw him lying on the couch. But it's hard to say no to those girls when they all start ganging up on you. But it's probably why Dean was cranky in the morning when they came by to take me for breakfast, it's the only reason I've let it go so easily as well.

"I told you, it wasn't my fault," I say to him, rolling my eyes. He needs to let it go before I punch him. "And I can't even move right now so it's out of the question," I add on, hearing another sigh coming out of Dean. He's been doing that a lot lately and it's actually getting irritating. Like I will punch the living daylights out of him.

"You don't even need to move, I'll do everything," jokes Dean, making the both of us laugh. We continue sitting there and put on the TV. Dean places his arm around me and I lean in to him. Moments like this are nice. Till they're interrupted by my phone making a beep noise. I grab it and look to see Dean's eyes closed. I place a hand over my mouth and try not to laugh. He looks so cute sleeping as well.

"Hello?" I say into the phone, not having checked the caller ID. It's probably just Roman or Iris wanting something.

 _"Hey,"_ says the voice on the other end and I freeze momentarily. Why the hell is he calling? I look at Dean with panic filled inside of me. I am so fucking dead.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Roman, stop it!" giggles Paige, slapping my hands away as continue tickling her for her last comment about my hair. She does love teasing me. Once she settles down I put an arm around her. "What do you think Dean and Ariana are doing right now?" she then asks me an odd question.

"Probably the same thing we are," I say, looking at her. She looks so sexy lying here next to me, naked. If we could, I'd want to stay like this all day.

"I think it's nice you have friends you're so close with," says Paige and it makes me wonder if she has something like that. I mean, I know all the girls are friends anyway.

"Who are your close buddies?" I decide to ask her. If she hesitates, I'll know she doesn't really have someone. If she doesn't then she does and her mind just makes comments without being troubled about anything.

"AJ," answers Paige straight away. It might just be the one but it's only one person you need. "I think we get on well because we're a lot alike. I mean, we're different but that's what makes us similar. The others girls I get on well with but with AJ, it's a party dude," she explains, making me chuckle. "I still can't believe I'm lying here with you," she comments out of nowhere.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, smiles still on both of our faces. "Was I some unreachable god?" I ask, deciding to tease her and earning a few hits from her instead.

"No, when I first got the job I promised myself no flings with co-workers," answers Paige, surprising me. She really is work orientated isn't she?

"I'm a fling? That hurts," I tell her but she just grabs my face and plans a kiss on my lips.

"You're much more than a fling Roman," states Paige, an unknown look in her eye. "I just thought it'd be easier. If you go around having relationships with the guys it would make for a really awkward workplace. But then you don't really get to see many other people anyway so finding someone is extra hard," she explains which is true. Many people wouldn't be open to the idea of a long distance relationship. It makes things hard too.

"So, what was it about me that you liked?" I ask Paige and see a tint of red on her cheeks. I like how because of the colour of her skin I can see clearly if she's even blushing a little.

"I liked a lot of things big boy," answers Paige, not giving me a straight answer which I'm used to by now. "I guess I didn't even see it coming till it happened. I got drunk, took you out to dinner to thank you and I didn't even realise that I liked you as more than just a friend," she goes on to say. I feel the same way. I think that dinner definitely opened up both our eyes. "And now I love you," she says in a low soft voice.

"And I love you," I say, leaning in and closing the distance between our lips. I have never felt this way about a woman before. I can't get enough of her. Which means I can't make the mistake of letting her go.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	49. Past Wounds

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I have to say I am so glad Dean retained his belt on Sunday! I thought for sure with the brand split it'd be taken off of him. But he deserves it! Anyway, on with the next chapter :)**

* * *

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks love :)**

 **Iamkhushbu333: Hmm. Interesting. I say that because I have been thinking about it for a while myself but I just wasn't sure about it. We shall see but thank you for letting me know you'd like to read one :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I swear you're so giddy whenever you review! I might have to start coming to you if I ever need a plot line ;) XX**

 **Paisley2: Thank you so much! Still can't believe it's been a year! Oh I know you'd gladly take up Seth any time of the day! Haha! Don't apologise, it's fine. It's not for everyone but a lot of my readers really like Dean and Ariana as a couple and so I'm basically just showing their day-to-day life. I never planned to have them in there but then I put them in last minute, initially the plan was to just have Iris and Seth's story mainly running. So Dean and Ariana's side isn't as planned as Seth and Iris's has been if that makes sense :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 49:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Seth," I say in relief as I see him standing there. Harry looks at me and then back at Seth. It's always a relief to see Seth anywhere but especially more so in this situation.

"I'm not going to tell you twice," says Seth. Harry's grip on me tightens and I make a pained noise. I see Seth's eyes darken and I know he's even more mad hearing that out of me now. Harry then let's go of me just as Angie and Neil come into view, walking down. They rush over quicker once they see us though.

"Whatever man," scoffs Harry and then goes back to his friends, acting as if it's no big deal. Seth could easily take him though.

"You alright?" asks Seth and I nod my head, moving forward and hugging him. He wraps his arms around me, making me feel safe once again. Seth always turns up everywhere at the right time. Always before anyone else. I like to think it's because we're connected.

"What the hell was that?" asks Angie as I pull out of the hug but Seth keeps his arms around me protectively.

"Nothing, let's just go home," I say, shaking my head and not wanting to make a huge issue out of it, it'll only make Seth madder. Everyone agrees and we get into our cars. Seth walks me down to where his is and we get in. I realize he's mad again because he's driving fast, again. So I decide to distract him by telling him everything that happened with Elizabeth. That seems to do the trick for now. "Are you ok?" I ask Seth once we get back to the house, grabbing a hold of his wrist, stopping him walking further down the hallway.

"Fine," answers Seth but I can tell what happened is bothering him. "Actually, It's not. I told you guys I should have come with you," he snaps, my hand automatically dropping off of his. He did.

"Seth I-" I try to explain but he cuts me off.

"You like giving me heart attacks?" he questions me and then lets out a loud sigh. "Iris," he says my name, taking my hands in his. "You have absolutely no idea just how much you mean to me," Seth tells me, looking into my eyes. Sometimes I honestly don't think I do. "I don't want anything happening to you, if it did I would never forgive myself," he says, leaning his forehead against mine.

"Nothing will," I assure him. As long as I have Seth, things will be fine. He nods his head and I move my arms to hug him, wincing as I do.

"What-what happened?" Seth asks me, looking highly alert. I try to move my arm around but it kind of hurts.

"I-I don't know," I say, my arm feeling sore. Realizing that Harry guy must have done more damage than I thought I quickly say, "It's probably nothing". But Seth gives me a disbelieving look. I have a pretty good idea what it could be now.

"Probably isn't certainly," he says Seth. Seth takes my hand in his and begins to roll up my sleeve. Oh great, not this again. But just like last time, he'll find something he doesn't like.

"Seth, that's really not necessary," I say, trying to resist, but he just looks at me and says nothing, continuing what he's doing. His looks shut me up right away.

"Bastard," I hear from him once my sleeve is all the way up. I look down at my arm, although I'm scared to do so. It's all red and no doubt I'll get some sort of a bruise later on. I look up at Seth and before I can say anything he walks off.

"Just great (!)" I say to myself and roll down my sleeves. I decide to leave him for a while to cool down. I smile when I see the girls playing with Evan, Rose and Damien watching over them. I wonder how long he'll need. Or how long he'll last till he blows up. Damn it, I should have been more careful. And less mouthy. Definitely less mouthy.

"Hey," I hear behind me and turn my head, smiling at Angie. "Where's Seth?" she asks me. it's probably because you never see one of us without the other.

"Drowning in his sorrows," I joke, making us both laugh. "He's, uh, he's not happy," I tell her, shaking my head. She probably wants to know what's going on in more detail.

"He'll get over it," she tells me, shrugging her shoulders and surprising me.

"I don't think he will," I say, shaking my head once more. "You should have seen him when…" I stop myself, not wanting to bring it up again. That chapter is closed and gone from my life now. Kane's gone. He can't hurt me anymore. No point digging up old wounds.

"When what?" Angie asks me, bringing me out of my thoughts. Nope, not going there again.

"Nothing," I say, shaking my head. It's best to not even talk about it. It's not healthy to dwell on the negatives.

"Why don't you just wave your wand and put a smile on his face?" she suggests to me, making me laugh. That's what they all seem to think I do. But I don't. Some things just fall into place easily.

"You sound like Ariana," I complain, making her laugh. "What's the plan now?" I change the topic.

"We break Isabel," answers Angie with a smirk. I like that plan but I'm starting to question everything. Especially after having seen Elizabeth just now.

"Do we even need to do this?" I question, rethinking it all. "Elizabeth confessed, we don't need any evidence. I'm sure Nick, Anne and everyone else will believe us when we tell them Macy's innocent," I explain. We don't need to put ourselves into a situation where we end up experiencing even more drama.

"Yeah but Isabel can't just get away with what she's done," argues Angie, glancing over at Rose and Damien. "Not to mention someone else is involved and I bet you a million bucks they won't leave you alone till you're separated from Seth," she explains, something which I can't disagree with. They might use some other means which we won't be able to detect to try and ruin us in some way.

"What's the guarantee that they'll stop trying once they're found out though?" I leave that question hanging in the air, Angie not able to answer it. I go over and join in with the girls. I don't know who this person could be or why they want to separate me from Seth but I won't let it happen. And Seth won't let it happen either.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What do you want Randy?" I ask him through clenched teeth. How the fuck did he even get my number? Nobody who has my number would dare give it to this bastard after everything he pulled with me and Dean.

 _"I just want to talk to you,"_ answers Randy but I just let out a scoff. He never just wants to talk. He says he wants to talk and then tries putting the moves on you just in time for your boyfriend to see who then blows a gasket. I look over at Dean who's still sleeping on the couch. After realising Randy's on the phone I moved away from him slowly and came out onto the balcony.

"And why would I want to talk to a low-life scum like you?" I question, being completely serious right now.

 _"Because I know something you need to know,"_ says Randy, actually being straightforward for once but at the same time not being straightforward.

"If it's the fact that you're an asshole with a stick shoved up you then believe me, I already know," I say, smirking when I hear a grunt on the other end. He didn't like that? Well I didn't like it when he tried to make Dean think something was going on between the two of us.

 _"This is serious Ariana,"_ says Randy and I feel sick at the sound of his voice saying my name. _"There's something you need to know, something that's going on that you have no idea about,"_ he then goes on to say, confusing the hell out of me.

"Oh and what is this catastrophic something?" I ask, sarcasm dripping from every sound of my voice.

 _"I can't tell you over the phone, we're going to have to meet,"_ says Randy at which I let out a scoff. It sounds like all the usual bullshit I dealt with last time but was stupid enough to believe.

"You know what Randy, I wouldn't come and meet you again on my own if my life depended on it," I let him know. If he thinks I'm stupid enough to believe his lies, then he has another thing coming.

 _"Not even if I said it was about Iris?"_ asks Randy, that getting my attention. Iris?

"What the fuck has this got to do with Iris?" I ask him quickly. He is friends with Kane after all. Could it be my inkling was right and he and Kane were arguing about something involving Iris?

 _"Meet me and you'll find out,"_ says Randy, hanging up before I can even say anything further. He has information about something to do with Iris? I can't even say he's lying after Naomi told us what she saw. What if this is a ploy on behalf of Kane? I can't think straight. I have to wake up Dean and tell him. He'll know what we should do.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Iris dear, can you go call Seth for dinner please?" asks Anne and I nod my head. I hand the rest of the plates for the table to Angie and walk off, going to find Seth. I find him on the balcony and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his torso from behind.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I say, resting my chin on his back and looking at the beautiful sky. At least he is taking the time to cool off. Not mouthing off or anything.

"I love you," says Seth, turning his head slightly so he could look at me. Well, that was unexpected. I didn't think that's the first thing he would say to me.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what you were thinking," I tell him with a small smile, tilting my head to the side. I know him a lot more than he thinks sometimes.

"It was when I heard your voice," he says, making me chuckle. I don't know what I would do without my smooth talker.

"Dinner's ready," I inform him. I know he's probably hungry. All this running around has made me tired so he must be even worse off.

"I'm not hungry," Seth immediately says and I definitely saw that coming. When you're not in a good mood, you don't feel like eating. Lucky for Seth, I know how to put him back into that good mood.

"Seth, I know what happened today made you mad but that doesn't mean you take your anger out on the food," I reprimand him. I let go of him and he turns to the side as do I so we're facing each other.

"No, I genuinely don't feel hungry," he tells me but I don't believe him for one second. None of the guys are ever 'not hungry'. It's impossible. It's like people trying to convince you the world is flat again.

"Fine," I say with a nod of my head. "If you're not eating then neither am I," I say, crossing my arms across my chest and looking off to the side. He might be able to control his actions but he can't control mine.

"Iris, don't be stubborn," Seth tells me but I don't say anything and stay as I am. "Just go eat, I'll meet up with you afterwards," he says at which I let out a scoff.

"Seth, we promised that we'd always tell each other how we felt but you're not doing that right now," I say, completely ignoring his last remark. "What happened is obviously bothering you but you're not sharing it with me. Look, I know it's difficult but it would make me feel a lot better if I knew what's going through that brain of yours. How else are we ever going to move forward?" I go on to say. I know it's difficult for him to say and for me to hear but it's necessary, no matter what.

"Well what do you want me to say Iris? I'm pissed off that another guy put his hands on you! What else is there to say?" he says, in a tone which I don't particularly like. But it's upsetting him so I understand.

"Seth, I can sense there's something else," I tell him, continuing to look at him. "Nothing happened to me, yeah maybe I'll get a little bit of a bruise but I'm fine," I explain to him and move forward, placing my hands on the sides of his cheeks. "I'm right here, with you where I should be. Seth, you're always able to talk about anything with me, why not this time?" I question him.

"Fine, you wanna know the truth?" asks Seth and I nod my head despite fearing the answer. "He touched you…made a mark on you…in the exact same place Kane did," he tells me and it dawns on me that he's right. It's the same arm, I didn't even realise. "And just like last time I couldn't protect you," he says, gently pulling my hands down. "Some boyfriend I am," he comments, walking over to face the view, leaning his hands on the wall.

"You can't think like that," I tell him, staying where I am. Shit, what do I say to him to make him feel better? I can't exactly say it's stupid that he thinks he's failed me in any way now can I?

"Why not? It's true," he says, making me frown. "I came too late then and I came too late this time," he says, hitting the stone in front with his hand. He cannot think like that and I refuse to let him.

"Seth, you got to me on time. On both occasions you stopped anything further from happening to me," I tell him, walking over and standing right next to him, feeling sad as I see no trace of a smile on his face.

"Yeah and what happened later on do you remember?" questions Seth, referring to the whole catastrophe that was Kane.

"I'd rather not think about it," I say, looking down at my hands instead. It was a difficult time.

"Well I do, quite a lot," reveals Seth as I look up at him in surprise. "I remember it all Iris. The nightmares, constantly being scared, acting like everything's ok when it wasn't. If I did what you guys said and didn't come, who knows what would have happened," he says and I don't say anything because I finally understand fully how he's feeling. "That time was crappy for you but it was also a shit time for me. I couldn't see you like that…I…I still can't. I hate myself for thinking about it and bringing it up but whenever you're in trouble, my mind goes back to that time. And how I wasn't there for you," he goes on to say. He is silly if he continues on with this. If it wasn't for him then I would never be safe.

"That wasn't your fault Seth, you guys didn't think he'd be there so stop blaming yourself," I say, shaking my head, referring to when Kane attacked me on RAW, the guys thinking he was off. "I agree; we should have let you come. It was stupid on our part and it was even more stupid on my part that I let myself get into a situation like that. But it's over and done with so let's just get back to our life please?" I request him but the look on his face tells me he doesn't like what he's hearing.

"Over and done with isn't the conclusion here Iris. That arm is going to look horrible tomorrow and it'll be a constant reminder that I didn't do my job," he says and this time I actually do roll my eyes.

"Look here Mister Rollins," I say, using my hand to turn him around and getting him to look into my eyes. "You have done an amazing job protecting both me and Evan, don't even doubt that for a single second. But the truth is, you can't always be there to protect me. That's a reality which you need to accept. You can only do your best Seth and that's what you do," I explain. He's doing a good job of being a boyfriend and a Father. "I love you, I really do. And the thing that gets me past all the horrible experiences in my life is you. Being in your arms, talking to you. That's all I need from you," I say and he wraps his arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. I know he's not fully convinced but I know I've made him feel a little bit better.

"I love you Cutie Pie," he says and I close my eyes, resting my head on his chest.

"I love you too, you're a great boyfriend and a great father, don't ever doubt that," I tell him, I don't know if my words have much of an effect but I hope they do. If not, I'll keep repeating them till they do and he gets it through that thick skull of his that he's doing his best. It needs to be said. Although, I think I should help him out by making sure I don't end up in these kinds of situations. Next time, I'm listening to Seth. "Now, are you feeling hungry?" I ask, pulling my head back but staying in his arms.

"Uh…a little," admits Seth sheepishly, making me chuckle. I definitely knew it.

"Well come on then, Anne's made your favourite," I say, grabbing a hold of his hand and dragging him downstairs. Once we get to the table we see everyone's already eating and join in with them. I might not have made Seth smile but being with everyone definitely did that. I watch him as he laughs with Lacey and Lily about something and can't help but continuously stare. He's such an amazing guy and I happen to be the lucky woman who gets him.

"Are you sleepy little man?" I smile as I straighten the pillows on our bed and Seth walks around the room with Evan, bouncing him up and down. I'm always amazed at watching them two together. Seth couldn't be more of a great father if he tried.

"He looks more and more like you every day," I comment. I mean, first it was just the eyes that made you realise he's Seth's. But the more he's growing, you can see Seth's features mirroring him.

"That only means all the compliments he gets for being cute are for me," says Seth and I shake my head. I pull back the covers on the bed and then go to the dressing table, running a comb through my hair.

"Is he asleep yet?" I ask Seth, looking at them both through the mirror. I am still always so surprised at how quickly Seth picked everything up. Then again, I wasn't there when he was struggling, if he ever did.

"Almost," answers Seth and I give him a smile through the mirror. "He's getting big quick," he comments, something which I agree with. He'll be crawling soon, that'll be interesting.

"Before we know it he'll be moving out and bringing home girls," I then say. It's amazing how I can already picture it, even though Evan's still just a baby.

"Yeah, he'll be a real heartbreaker," says Seth, obviously referring to himself at the same time. Heartbreaker indeed. Then again, no woman will be able to resist Evan if he ends up with an ass like his Father.

"Well, he won't have much luck if Ariana and Dean's son is in the room," I then say, feeling like teasing him this time of the night.

"What do you mean?" asks Seth, looking at me, a small frown on his face.

"Just that their little boy will be one hell of a looker," I reply, shrugging my shoulders casually. "No offence Seth but Dean's fan girl base is way bigger than yours. And of course it would be, I mean have you seen him? He's a looker alright," I say, trying not to laugh. I put down the comb and then go over to the bed. I yelp when I feel Seth grab me.

"Wanna say that again?" I feel his lips next to my ear. I turn around in his arms and shake my head, giving him an innocent look.

"Evan sleeping?" I ask, placing my arms around his neck and moving my lips dangerously close to his.

"Maybe," says Seth, a smirk dancing on his face. "Why do you like teasing me?" he questions, seeing right through me.

"Because It's fun and I get bored," I answer with an amused look. "Don't worry Seth, I think you're a looker too. I wouldn't have had your kid or be with you right now if you weren't," I go on to say, packing a peck on his lips.

"Iris, how can you be so shallow?" jokes Seth, looking horrified.

"Quite easily actually," I say with a laugh. Seth places a kiss on my lips and then we get into bed, snuggling close to each other. "I forgot to ask, what happened with Isabel today? Is she believing your bullshit?" I ask him, feeling his chest vibrate after I do.

"Totally," answers Seth and then goes on to tell me what happened. At least we know that plan is going well for now. I just want things to be over and done with.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 ** _SETH POV_**

 _I knock on Isabel's front door and put my hands in my pockets as I wait for her to come out. I have to prepare myself, I've known from past experiences that she can have one face one second and another one the next. It was just my stupidity for actually believing her last time. I just thought it was hypocritical of me to sit there and judge her when I did the exact same things once upon a time._

 _"Seth," Isabel says my name with a grin on her face. "Uh, come in!" she says, happily moving to the side and allowing me to come in. "Just go on straight into the kitchen, we'll talk there," she says and I do as she says. I take a seat at the kitchen table and she stays standing. "Want something to drink?" she asks me._

 _"No," I answer and she nods her head. She makes a cup of coffee for herself and then sits down in front of me, her hands wrapped around the mug. "You wanted to talk?" I question her._

 _"Yeah, I want to apologize Seth," starts Isabel, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as I sit there surprised at what she's just said. "I am so sorry for the trouble I caused you and your family. You were right, I should have just come to you guys as soon as I got blackmailed but it was too hard. Seth, I was just too scared," she explains and looks up at me. Why does she look so genuine? She might have fooled me before but never again. "You know I've never been the confronting type, I thought if I did what he asked of me then everything would be alright," she admits, something sticking out for me._

 _"Wait a second, he?" I question her and I can tell she's messed up._

 _"I said she," Isabel says. "She as in Macy. I shouldn't have let her do this to me, to you and everyone else. How is Iris coping with everything?" she then asks me. Isabel definitely said he, meaning there is for sure another person involved in all this. Does this mean someone is actually blackmailing her? Is it possible she is telling the truth for once but lying about Macy's part in it all?_

 _"She's alright," I tell her, not giving away anything. "I just want to get her out of here, it seems we'll get out of trouble that way," I say, testing the waters and can see the panic in her eyes at my words._

 _"Seth, please don't leave because of me," she says. "I am really very sorry. I would hate to lose a friend like you because I did something stupid and made the wrong choice," she says, placing her hand on mine. I glance at our hands and then look back at her._

 _"Me too," I say and she smiles at me. I don't smile at her because I need to keep this realistic but I let her hand stay on mine. As much as I wish to take it off and leave right now, I can't. I have to do this for Iris and Evan. I have to stop these people messing with us every again. Thinking of Iris, she's gone off with Angie. I still don't feel right about that. "I, uh, I have to go," I say abruptly, getting up to leave. I can't jeopardize Iris's safety for anything._

 _"What? Why?" she asks me, standing up as well._

 _"Iris will be wondering where I've gotten to," I simply explain and Isabel nods her head, looking disappointed. "See ya around," I say and then leave from there. I glance back to see her smiling which means this is working. Now I need to get to Iris before something awful happens, I have a gut feeling it will._

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Where did you go?" asks Dean as soon as I step foot inside. He seems to be rubbing his eyes which lets me know he only just got up. "I say we order some pizza and watch some junk," he says, making me chuckle. He's barely been awake two seconds and is already talking about food.

"Pizza sounds great," I say with a nod of my head. It won't be such a bad idea to hide Randy's call from Dean. I mean, he likes to hide a bunch of stuff from me. I am so tempted to give him a taste of his own medicine. But I learnt a long time ago that keeping secrets just destroys things. I kept them when Randy was trying it on with me, just so Dean doesn't go off on one at work. But that just made things worse. I learnt my lesson. I don't want Dean to be keeping secrets from me because other people, like Randy, will prey on that to cause problems.

"You order, I am going to take a little walk to wake up," says Dean which isn't unusual for him if he takes naps. I make the order and he leaves me with my thoughts. I have to tell him. But his reaction is not going to be the best kind of one though is it? This is what stopped me last time but it's not going to now. I dial the number Randy rang off and wait for him to pick up.

 _"I didn't think you'd want to hear what I have to say,"_ is the first thing Randy says to me as soon as he answers the phone. He's right. But Iris is involved and when she's involved then I am open to other things.

"Look, if you have something to say then I'm willing to meet with you," I tell him, deciding to be smart about this.

 _"Good. Shall we meet around 10? There's a room at the back of the hotel, full of old crap. We can discuss things there,"_ says Randy and that just spells disaster. Me, him, alone and in an empty room. Why does he insult me by even thinking I'd consider this?

"Fine but I have one condition," I state. If it's just the two of us, then no way are we meeting in that room. However, I don't plan on it being just the two of us. "Dean is coming too," I then go on to say. I know this might mean Randy won't tell me anything but it's necessary. I don't trust him one bit and it would be foolish of me to go there by myself.

 _"What? No!"_ says Randy instantly, heightening my suspicions. _"You do know if he finds me within a foot of you then he'll have my head?"_ he questions which is true in a way. Dean has threatened him with that before.

"Are you scared of my Lunatic Mister Viper?" I ask Randy, not being able to take away the pride in my voice at how intimidating Dean has been to Randy.

 _"Scared of him? I don't think so. I'd just rather not be jumped by him when I come to see you_ ," says Randy but if he knows anything then he knows I can ensure Dean doesn't do that.

"I don't care how you feel about him or anyone else Randy," I say, putting my foot down. We're not going to get anywhere by arguing back and forth. "Dean's coming. If not, then I'm not coming either. Since you obviously are having trouble dealing with this, sleep on it," I say before hanging up on him. He's messing with the wrong girl. But now I have to find a way of telling Dean everything without him blowing up at me or trying to go after Randy already.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	50. Guessing Game

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you like the next chapter :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: That makes me very happy, obviously. Haha! You're going to have to wait to find out who it is :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: The scary thing is in real life people actually do go that far for little things. Interesting theory. You're going to have to keep thinking though because I can't confirm, deny or give anything at all. Sorry :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: They are, aren't they? I love writing them! Hmm, that is definitely for the future :)**

 **Paisley2: You're going to hate me I think. What? You know I like keeping you all out of the loop! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 50:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Wow, she really is falling for it isn't she?" I ask Seth, our hands intertwined and resting on his abs. At least this will help end things a whole lot quicker. I wonder how long it will be till she finally does slip up or Seth finds something to incriminate her with.

"I just hope she tells me everything soon," wishes Seth and I look up to see his eyes closed. I've been wishing the same thing since this whole thing started.

"Me too, but she let it slip. Which means another person is involved for sure and it's a guy," I conclude from what we know and what we've been told. We just need her to slip up again so we know for sure who it is. "Who do you think it could be?" I question.

"As long as it's not another person in my family I don't really care," says Seth and I look up at him. He looks down at me and let's go of my hand, wrapping both his arms around me securely. I don't blame him for feeling that way, in fact I'd prefer that too. "It doesn't matter who this person is, they're not going to separate us, come what may". He's right, they're not going to be able to. Me and Seth are the real deal now and it'll take more than two tricks to hit us hard.

"No, they won't," I agree with him, closing my eyes to go to sleep. They won't even be able to touch us. After everything we've been through, me and Seth have come out strong and on top. No doubt we will after all this blows over. I just hope it's all over soon. Because the sooner it goes away, the sooner I can get back to living my life with my boyfriend and our son.

* * *

"Isn't Kane that wrestler?" asks Angie, leaning over and looking down at the writing pad. I decided the best way to start to find out who this guy is, is by writing a list of potential people who he could be, taking into account mine and Seth's history. I'm doing this with Angie because I don't want Seth to get all worked up.

"Yeah," I answer her with a sigh. Kane is the only guy that I can think of that would try and do this. He's always been against the idea of me and Seth and couldn't care less about what happens to other people. Because the person doing all this has no remorse whatsoever.

"Why would he be behind all this?" she asks me and I tell her the story of what happened with him, feeling like I can. I just give her a shortened, brief version because I cannot go into that detail all over again.

"I never thought I'd see him again but what if he's behind this?" I question, looking at her. We're in the living room and everyone's outside in the garden listening to Mason's not so funny jokes. Kane is the most logical possibility right now.

"He's trying to break up you and Seth just so Seth joins him again?" questions Angie and I shrug my shoulders. I don't know what to think anymore. "I don't know, it seems too far-fetched," she says. She may think that but Kane can do just about anything. I don't trust him.

"He's the only one to hate us so much," I explain to her, racking my brain for other people, guys specifically. "I don't know of any other guy who could want this for us except…" I pause there as I think of him too. No, he wouldn't do this. He wouldn't dare do this. Every one of my friends would have his head.

"Except who?" asks Angie and I shake my head. "Iris, I promise you I am on your side. And if this helps us to get the person who it might be then tell me," she says, placing a hand on my shoulder. It wouldn't hurt to at least tell one person.

"Randy," I say, looking into her eyes. I've tried not to think about him since we got here but it seems like the situation calls for it.

"As in Randy Orton?" she asks me and I nod my head. "Why would he break you guys up?" she asks me. Would it be right to tell her? I got nothing to lose and it would be nice to tell another person about this.

"I'll tell you but you have to promise not to tell Seth a word," I say, giving her a serious look. She nods her head and I begin to tell her. "After I had Evan and finally got out of the dastardly coma, I went back to work. Me and Seth were showing Evan to everyone. I needed to feed Evan so Stephanie let me use her office and he walked in on me," I start to explain. I still feel disgusted thinking back to it. Come to think of it, I think I feel bile coming up my throat.

"Ok," says Angie, nodding her head and listening intently. "Why would he then want to break you guys up?" she asks me.

"He was hitting on me, getting all flirty," I say to her, even though I'd rather none of this be true. "He told me I was a fine piece of ass but I told him to leave. Instead he sat down and waited for Stephanie to get back. So I told him I'll leave and then he tried to stop me from doing so, insinuating that I wanted him…sexually. Which I didn't," I quickly say the last part. I've never even seen Randy that way. "After that Seth came in and he left, but it was just his presence. It wasn't right and I felt something was off. Then we saw him at breakfast another day and he kept staring at us. It's like I was his new obsession or something," I finish explaining to her.

"What do you mean 'New' obsession?" she then asks me curiously.

"It wouldn't be the first time he's tried to break a couple up," I reveal to her. Although, it's a good thing Dean and Ariana were as solid as a brick. Near enough anyway. "He used to be after Ariana all the time before, he even tried breaking her and Dean up too but it didn't work because Ari never liked him like that. And me and the guys, well we had their backs and made sure Randy couldn't destroy their relationship," I explain to her. Funny how just after saving their relationship, Seth tried to destroy it but that's a thing of the past.

"So you think he could be doing this because he wants you?" Angie asks me for clarification. If he does have those feelings for me, I have no idea why, then he would do.

"It wouldn't be the first time now would it?" I answer her with a question of my own. "I guess it'd make perfect sense then cause Kane's not the type to plot these things. Unless they're miraculously working together," I say without thinking as realization sinks it. "Oh my gosh what if they are?!" I ask, horrified. They probably are because they're great friends.

"Iris, calm the heck down," Angie tells me, patting my back. "I doubt they'd work together, from the sounds of it Kane wants you in your grave and Randy wants you in his bed. Now, I doubt they'd come to a consensus and have you dead in Randy's bed," she says which does the trick and makes me chuckle. "But it'd be worth checking them out, wouldn't it?" she then says.

"Yes, it would," I say to her. There only being one problem with this whole thing. "But no one knows about Randy so I can't just ask someone I know to check him out," I remind her. I doubt anyone would think Randy would want to break up me and Seth.

"Iris, you need to tell Seth," Angie advises me. That's the last thing I want to do. It was only one encounter; I don't think Seth needs to know. But he does need to know if Randy is involved in this crap.

"No way, he'll flip out!" I then say and feel guilty. No more secrets just isn't working is it? "I'll only tell him if it turns out to be Randy, if he's clear then there's no need alright?" I say and she nods her head. "You won't tell him will you?" I then ask her. The last thing I need is for Seth to hear it from someone else.

"Of course not," Angie reassures me and I nod my head giving her a smile. Seth doesn't need any more on his plate and neither do I. If it's not Randy, then I don't need to worry about him. "They the only two people to wreak havoc in your lives?" she asks me. So far. Maybe someone else will pop up later, who knows?

"Yes, the only guys for sure," I say, my mind not able to conjure up anyone else. "Isabel should know by now about us visiting Elizabeth. What do you think she'll do?" I ask Angie in concern.

"Don't know, but as long as we let it play out that Seth doesn't know a thing, we're fine," says Angie and I nod my head. Hopefully what we've thought of will work.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"I don't know, Seth has been messaging me like normal," I say into the phone, a frown on my face. I cannot believe them nimrods found Elizabeth. "He hasn't given me any reason to suspect him which means Iris and Angie must be keeping it a secret till they've got solid proof," I then say, that being the only explanation.

 _"_ _How can you be so sure Seth doesn't know?"_ snaps the voice, making me flinch. If Seth knew, there'd be anger evident in his eyes.

"Because I can read Seth like a book, don't worry about it," I lie. Truth is I don't really know Seth anymore but he doesn't know that. I thought I did know him, better than Iris but that's being proven wrong right now.

 _"_ _We have to make sure that they don't open their mouths,"_ he says to me. I can't go and duct tape her mouth now can I? Although, I don't think Seth could hide something that big from me. He's never been able to.

"I don't think Iris will tell him, that'd be a stupid move despite the fact that Seth probably will believe her," I then explain. He'll believe anything she says, it's sickening. "I mean, if Seth knew the truth then he would have been with them when they saw Elizabeth," I go on to say. It's only logical for Seth to want to go with his girlfriend instead of letting her go with Angie of all people.

 _"_ _You do have a point,"_ he says and I smile. It seems like I won't be getting yelled at today. _"Continue with messaging Seth and get him to feel sorry for you. It won't be long then when you make your move and we can finally break them up. It's time to finish this, I want results by the end of today!"_ he says and I nod my head.

"Don't worry, by the end of today Seth will be in my arms and out of Iris's life for good," I say after which I hang up. This is going to end today before Iris has a chance to let Seth know that I lied about Macy being involved in any of this. Because once he finds out, its game over for good. But how do I get him to come to me, to do something which I've failed to do with time on my hands?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Ok, so I didn't tell Dean a word about Randy last night. How could I? He came back and we got the pizza and he starts cracking his usual jokes, I just couldn't do it. But I'm going to have to now, aren't I? Or is it even necessary? I mean, Randy hasn't contacted me again which means he must not want to see me with Dean which means there's no point to anything. Nope, I can't do that. Why do I feel so guilty about hiding little things from Dean but he can go around doing it without that feeling? It's not bloody fair.

"Are you ok? You seem distracted," AJ points out during our five-minute break. We were training in the ring and decided to have a breather so I sat down on the edge with my legs hanging down.

"Yeah, fine. It's nothing," I say, shaking my head and trying to get rid of my thoughts.

"Are you sure?" asks AJ in concern and I nod my head. I probably wouldn't even be getting this much attention if Dolph was about so it's a good thing he's off doing an interview somewhere.

"Nothing anyone can help me with anyway," I comment, which is true. This is my decisions, my choice and I already know what I'm going to do. Tell Dean obviously. It's just a matter of containing his anger towards Randy.

"How's the wedding planning coming along?" asks AJ instead, changing the topic. Oh but what a topic to change it to.

"Cake, venue and date are sorted. I'm working on the guest list and Iris is doing the rest because she has the time despite having Evan to look after and because she loves planning crap like this," I explain, eliciting a laugh from AJ.

"Crap? You make it sound as if you're forced to have a nice wedding," says AJ but I shake my head.

"Not forced but it's just if I knew there was all this stuff to sort out I would have told Dean not to even think about proposing," I joke, both of us laughing. I never actually honestly thought Dean would propose. It was just as much of a surprise to me as anyone else even though I know him very well.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"I swear if she sends me another text telling me how sorry she is then I'll kill myself," says Seth, making me laugh as I hand him a glass of juice. We're in the kitchen because Seth wanted to talk.

"Don't worry, I'll save you," I tell him jokingly as he stays seated on the counter. I know how frustrating this is for him but he also knows that all of us appreciate it.

"Iris, I really don't want to go back to that witch's lair," he tells me with a pout on his face as I stand between his legs. I don't want to send him to the witch's lair either. But she can't cast a spell on him, he'll be fine.

"I know but we're doing this for us," I remind him. "Plus, I know you love me and not her. I trust you in this," I assure him and he nods his head, moving forward and placing a kiss on my forehead.

"I can't believe Angie convinced everyone to go to our other house till tomorrow morning," he says. It's a good thing she did convince them because now we can set about planning how we're going to do.

"Well that gives us the time we need to sort things out," I then remind him. "We need to get this episode over and done with today because I'm not having someone follow us around wherever we go to try and break us up because it ain't ever going to happen," I state with a determined attitude, something Seth notices too.

"Ooh, I like this Iris," says Seth, placing his glass on the other side of him and using his hands to pull me even closer to him.

"Good because she likes you too," I state, placing my arms around his shoulders. We both lean in and our lips meet in a soft kiss. "I will never ever get tired of that," I say when I open my eyes.

"Neither will I," says Seth, smiling down at me. Could you die of happiness? Is that possible? Because that's how happy I am with Seth and Evan. It still sometimes feels like a dream.

"Have you talked to Dean?" I ask him, wanting to know what Miss Elizabeth is up to. I made sure to let Seth know I got Dean to put a tail on Elizabeth. We're not taking any chances.

"Yes and he told me that she's been hidden away like a good little girl," answers Seth, making me smile. At least she's not up to anything at the moment. "She switched her phone back on for a little while and made two phone calls. One guess to who one of those were to," he says, grabbing his glass and drinking more of his juice.

"Isabel," I state without even needing time to think about it. Since Isabel was the one that offered to ruin Macy then of course she's going to call her, to get her next set of orders.

"Bingo!" says Seth, pointing in my direction. It wasn't that hard, it was obvious and predictable.

"Wait a second, who was the other one?" I then ask in confusion, tilting my head to the side.

"No idea," replies Seth, shrugging his shoulders. "He couldn't trace it back to anyone and when he tried ringing it himself it was coming up as unavailable," he explains to me as I listen to him. "My guess is that's the mystery person that's doing all this," he adds on. Whoever this dude is, he's smart. Well he has to be considering Isabel and Elizabeth are dimwits.

"Meaning she lied when she said only Isabel had spoken to that guy," I say, knowing for sure after what Seth told me that the person is male. "Typical," I comment. Why would she tell the truth though? There are people in this world that don't even know the meaning of the world moral, Isabel and Elizabeth included.

"Could you really trust someone who tried messing it all up for Macy?" questions Seth. I guess he has a good point. You can't trust someone just because they told you some part of the truth. Especially when you had to lie yourself to get it out of them.

"Not really," I say in agreement with him. "Has anyone told Macy about all of this?" I then ask. I bet she'll be thrilled and not thrilled at the same time. Thrilled because it's another proof of her innocence and not thrilled because someone she considered a friend sold her out for a petty promotion.

"Well Angie was saying she was going to call Nicky and tell him about it so my guess is he'll tell her," he says. Good. Nicky should be the one to tell her and handle her afterwards. He knows her the most out of all of us.

"I have no idea what she must be feeling right now, she trusted Elizabeth and in return she got this crap," I say, shaking my head and keeping my hands on Seth's thighs. I know a thing or two about trusting people and then bam! They show you their true colours.

"I'm sure she'll get through it though, she has Nicky doesn't she?" he says and I nod my head. Having Seth makes it easier to get through everything.

"Most definitely," I then say, feeling playful and pecking his chin quickly.

"What was that for?" asks Seth, looking on in surprise. He has absolutely no idea just how much he does by being himself.

"I…" I pause as I walk back with my hands behind my back. "Felt playful," I finish and see his eyes go wide. He recovers quick though and a smirk graces his face. A playful smirk.

"How playful?" asks Seth and I stand there, pretending to contemplate it. All the while aware that he's hopped off the counter and is now coming towards me.

"Very!" I shout as soon as he reaches me and duck under his arms. I run out of the kitchen and turn back, sticking my tongue out at him. He wastes no time in running after me and I turn back around, going to the living room.

"You can't just leave a guy hanging!" argues Seth as I stand on one end of the couch and he on the other. I haven't played this game with him in forever. This will be fun!

"Watch me," I say and pick up a cushion, throwing it in his direction. He catches it though and I run out of the living room and into the garden. More open space.

"Wait a second, wait a second," says Seth, coming out too, walking slowly. Is he trying to play mind games? Trying to look slow so that he can let me get my guard down only for him to quickly grab me? "What prize do I get if I catch you?" he asks me instead, looking at me closely.

"Hmmm," I say, facing him with my hands on my hips. "Second base!" I suggest. That's as far as we can go at the moment considering things.

"I like that," he then says with a nod of his head. I bet he does.

"And if you don't, well then you can watch second base but you can't take part in it," I then say with an innocent look on my face and his eyes go wide once again.

"Yeah…not going to happen," says Seth and without warning starts running in my direction. I immediately take off and go in and out of the statues as well as running around the swing and the plants. I can tell Seth is getting annoyed because each time he's about to grab me I go in a different direction and he ends up falling on the floor.

"What are you lovebirds up to?" I hear Angie and both of us look at her as she stands at the doors with Evan in her arms. He's all smiley today no matter what.

"Playing tag," I answer with a grin, both of us staying where we are.

"Aren't you a little old for tag?" she asks with a confused look. Oh, so she's one of those people. I still like playing 'pin the tail on the donkey'. It was a lot of fun at my baby shower.

"Never too old for tag," says Seth and Angie continues to look at us as if we're aliens. "Especially not when you can get a prize going," he says winking in my direction. He better not be thinking about telling her what it is.

"And what prize are you guys playing for today?" she then asks quizzically, looking the least bit interested.

"Second base," answers Seth proudly but Angie's face turns to one of disgust. I send him a small glare for actually telling her the answer to that question. I swear men have no filters.

"I'm sorry I asked," she mutters, making me chuckle. "Come on Evan, let's go see something less dirty," she says to him and walks off back inside, Seth looking at me once more causing me to run off with him trying to catch me.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

After finishing training with AJ I go to the girl's locker room and take a shower. I then get dressed and message Dean to meet me at the park nearby. I need to go for a walk and calm my thoughts before I tell him. Also, I heard Summer cackling about Randy taking her to lunch at the restaurant there which means if I keep Dean in the park then he's less likely to kill Randy. After about half an hour, Dean shows up, just walking up to me as if he knew where I was. Well there's hardly anybody else here I guess. And according to Iris I don't walk, I stomp.

"I was catching up with Roman," is the first thing Dean says to me, after making me wait half an hour. He messaged me ages back saying he was ready to leave when I was.

"You practically live with him," I state, folding my arms over my chest. We both do. We're travelling together, stay in the same hotel rooms etcetera. Yet somehow he thinks he needs to catch up with Roman. "What were you really talking about?" I go on to question him, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You really want to know?" asks Dean and I nod my head. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. "It's guy talk," he then says in a singsong voice, an automatic frown appearing on my face. The last time these guys had one of those, it was about who's dick had taken more hits in that ring compared to the others.

"Ok, maybe not," I say, shaking my head and walking alongside Dean.

"What's wrong now?" asks Dean and I send him a confused look. "I know your 'there's a problem' look just like you've nailed my 'I've done something wrong' look," he explains, a smile appearing on my face. I think we know each other too well now. It could be dangerous.

"Fine, but as usual you're not going to like it," I warn him beforehand. It's not like that ever does any good anyway but I still always warn him.

"Wedding still on?" asks Dean and I nod my head. "Still love me?" he asks and I nod my head, trying not to laugh at his ridiculous questions. I find them ridiculous because to me that stuff can never change. Although I suppose it is important for him since he wants to make sure. He's too cute sometimes. "We're still going to have sex tonight?" he asks me and I nod my head. We didn't get round to it last night either. Roman came back early and without knowing kept us talking with him. "Then what the fuck is wrong?" he then asks me as I take a deep breath.

"Randy called me last night," I finally say what I need to, Dean clearly not getting it since he doesn't look angry at all. "Randy Orton," I say begrudgingly, Dean's eyes narrowing. Here comes the anger.

"Why the fuck did he call you?" Dean shouts. I don't blame him though, when Randy's involved he doesn't even realise he's acting like this. He's just protective over me. And it's not like his anger is directed at me, it's towards Randy. "You know what, never mind. He obviously didn't take me seriously when I told him not to even breathe on you," he goes on to say, about to charge off but I grab his arm.

"Listen to me first," I say in a stern voice, knowing that'll get him to listen. "He said he needed to tell me something," I start and Dean lets out a scoff. "I thought the same thing, bullshit. He kept saying something's going on that I need to know about, something bad. Then he mentioned Iris," I go on to explain.

"What about Iris?" asks Dean, that same point peaking his curiosity as it did mine.

"He wouldn't say, he wanted to meet me then and there. It was whilst you were out for your walk," I answer his question, shrugging my shoulders. "He told me to meet him in an empty room towards the back of the hotel. I told him I'm not stupid and that if he wanted to see me then he'd have to see you too. I told him to ring me back when he's made a decision," I finish explaining to Dean, being able to see his brain working.

"Has he called you back?" asks Dean and I shake my head. I swear I can tell he looks impressed with what I've done. "If he thinks you're stupid enough to listen to him and meet him somewhere alone like last time then the guy is a total idiot," he goes on to say, voicing my thoughts exactly.

"He's been spending too much time with Summer," I comment, getting Dean to let out a chuckle.

"You think he's serious about having information about something to do with Iris?" asks Dean but I just shrug my shoulders. I have no idea. Not one. Dean has come a long way in our relationship. Before he never used to listen to reason and even if he did he still used to go off to find Randy to beat the shit out of him. He's changed now. I think that's my bad influence.

"It would make sense there is something considering his argument with Kane," I point out, reminding Dean why this is interesting to us both.

"If he calls back and doesn't want me with you, tell him you'll still meet him," says Dean as I stand there with my mouth open, feeling as if I've had the wind knocked out of me.

"What the fuck did you just say?" I ask Dean, not giving me any signs that he regrets it or that I've misheard. "That asshole tried it on with me last time we were alone together," I say, hitting Dean on every syllable. "And you want me to do it again?" I nearly shout myself. What the fuck is he thinking?

"I never said you were going to be alone," says Dean, a smirk on his face as I stand there waiting to be enlightened by him. This better be good otherwise my fiancé will get a definite ass kicking from me without any remorse.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I watch Seth and Iris run around the garden like little kids and roll my eyes. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to call Seth over and talk with him and tonight definitely we are going to do the deed. Once that's done, all this will be over. Iris won't ever be able to look at Seth again.

"Hello?" I say, answering his call. He always calls when I'm busy in my own thoughts.

 _"_ _Are you all ready for tonight?"_ he asks me and I let out a sigh. If I disappoint him...I don't even want to think about what will happen.

"I guess," I say. I know if I disappoint again, he'll actually come down here and strangle me. He should try doing this because it is not as easy as he makes it sound.

 _"_ _You guess?!"_ he yells and I close my eyes for a second. Damn it, wrong choice of words. _"Let me make one thing clear, we can't have any guesswork, ok? You have to be sure about this because I will not have tonight go down the drain either!"_ he shouts and I nod my head. Like as if all those other times were my fault.

"Ok, fine, I'm sure," I say, not really caring. I'm so sick and tired of having to keep doing this. I never could have pegged how deep Iris and Seth's connection is, I thought breaking them up would be easy.

 _"_ _Good. We need to do this before Angie and Iris let Seth know about Elizabeth and he gets another reason to blow off at you. My guy will be at your place in around half an hour to give you what you need,"_ he explains to me. He better do, without it I know I can never get it done. _"Oh and Isabel? No mistakes this time because I am no longer in a forgiving mood,"_ he warns me. I knew that without him even needing to tell me.

"Yes sir," I say.

 _"_ _Good, let me know when it's done,"_ he says and hangs up. I hang up too and stare at my phone. I look at Seth and Iris one more time before going inside and starting to prepare for tonight. It all ends tonight. Tonight Seth will be mine and he and Iris will no longer be together.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Had enough yet?" I ask with a smirk, perched on the end of the swing, watching Seth place his hands on his knees and take deep breaths. For a wrestler, his stamina isn't up to par. Although, running with Rose has definitely helped me to increase mine.

"N-no," answers Seth, breathing heavily as I try not to laugh. He hasn't been going to the gym since we got here. Which is actually working in my favour right now.

"For a wrestler, you're not that fit are you?" I ponder out loud, deciding to tease him for this. He looks up at me from his position, breathing hard.

"Is that my looks or the fact that I can't keep up with you?" he then asks me a trick question. Hmm, what answer should I give him? I think I already know.

"Uh, both?" I say teasingly at which Seth shakes his head.

"I still have," Seth pauses and looks at the watch on his wrist. "Five minutes," he says. He couldn't catch me in the last hour and thinks he can in five measly minutes? I like his confidence. "And remember, second base," he reminds me, pointing towards me.

"Hmm," I say and smile. I get off the swing and stand up, knowing what I'm going to do next.

"I'm going to catch you," Seth states with a determined look on his face, pointing at me once more. Is that so Mister Rollins?

"Ok," I say and then move forward, stopping right in front of him. "Catch me?" I say, offering myself up willingly, trying not to look amused at the confusion written over Seth's face.

"Just like that?" asks Seth and I nod my head. "Wait really?" he then asks me and I again nod my head. "What's the catch?" he now asks. He needs to trust me a little more. Then again, I have just shot off like a dart before.

"No catch," I say and move forward so my lips are below his ears. "Maybe I don't like getting to second base on my own," I whisper and bite down on my lip as I pull back and see pure desire in Seth's eyes. All of a sudden Seth grabs a hold of my waist, pressing me up against him. He looks about to lean in and kiss me when…

"Seth, your kid needs a diaper change!" we hear Angie's voice shout from inside. Seth groans, his head going to rest in my shoulder.

"Don't worry Mister Rollins, we have all the time in the word. You're not planning on going anywhere are you?" I ask him and he lifts his head up to look at me.

"Definitely not," answers Seth and places a peck on my lips before going inside. I laugh to myself and then go inside too. He's the only guy that I have ever needed.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	51. It Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Back with the next chapter! I am so bloody excited today! I finished my placement and after submitting my work tomorrow I will start the process of becoming a registered nurse! Whoo! Exciting times :D**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I like that you're thinking but this is one theory I don't mind letting you know is wrong. I would never have my Dean do something like that. Imagine the backlash from all my reviewers! Haha! Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Yes, hopefully. Let's see shall we? ;)**

 **Calwitch: The only reason he took it well was because Iris is involved and he needs to be smart when it comes to her. Otherwise he was all for going to kick Randy's ass. Definitely smart when needed, haha! Hmm, interesting thoughts. Although, definitely right on the drastic times and drastic measures. You're going to have to keep reading to find out :)**

 **KillerstyleBlvd: First of all, cool name. Haha! Wow, 3am? That's commitment alright. Yay! Not being able to put your laptop down is a big compliment for me so thanks. Thank you so much for the review. Obviously you're going to have to keep reading to find out where we're going next :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 51:**

 **ISABEL POV**

"Hey Seth," I say in a tearful voice after he answers his phone. I couldn't even make myself sound like this. Right now I'm pinching myself really hard. I need it to sound believable and I'm not that great at acting that I can fake crying.

 _"Isabel, are you ok?"_ Seth asks me right away, sounding concerned. If it wasn't for Iris, me and Seth might have actually stood a chance at being together. I wouldn't have to do all this shit either because they wouldn't be together and causing a problem for _him_.

"I just…I don't think I can keep doing this," I explain to him, making sure to be cryptic so he gets all curious. "I'm in trouble Seth, big trouble and I need someone's help. Someone that I can rely on. You," I use a soft tone, emphasising just how much I need him.

 _"Mine? What for?"_ he goes on to ask and I roll my eyes. Why does he have to ask so many questions? Why can't he just offer to come over and talk about the problems I have? I bet if it was Iris she wouldn't even need to say anything

"It's not something I can tell you over the phone," I go on to say. "Is there any chance you could come over? Right now?" I ask after which there's a long pause.

 _"Uh, I don't know,"_ starts Seth. I have to act quick! I have to sound more desperate. As if my life depends on it. Well, it actually kind of does.

"Please!" I practically beg him. "No one but you can help me with this. You said that I should have asked for help before and now that I am, you're going to refuse it to me?" I use his own words against him, knowing that he can't hit back at that.

 _"You know what, you're right,"_ he finally says as relief washes over me. I can't afford to let _him_ down. _"I'll be over as soon as I can. Just…don't tell anyone,"_ he adds on. Don't tell anyone? That's interesting. I guess that means a certain someone else he loves probably doesn't know either.

"Of course I won't, not like as if anyone's talking to me," I say with a dry chuckle, getting him to feel sorry for me. That's another way that I can play him. I don't enjoy doing this to Seth but I need to do it.

 _"Isabel I-"_ he starts but I cut him off.

"It's fine Seth, I dug that grave all by myself," I tell him. It is the truth as well, no one's talking to me because of everything I've done. I hope they don't find out anything else because then something much worse will happen to me. "So…are you coming? I could really use your help," I press the matter on.

 _"I guess so, yeah,"_ he answers and a smile appears on my face. _"Iris won't be happy about this at all, neither will Angie so it might take a while for me to slip away,"_ he explains. So he is hiding it from Iris? Looks like I'm more important right now than her. I can't deny that I like that.

"Take all the time you need," I let him know, that's the only way he'll believe my genuineness. "Just as long as you're going to get here and help me sort things out," I say and then end the call. Looks like this will be easier than I thought. I didn't think it would be after everything. Hmm, should I be suspicious? I can but Seth isn't acting shifty. What he says and does is realistic. Besides, what possible reason could he have to play me?

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"That was too easy," laughs Angie with a smirk as all of us stand in the middle of the living room. Seth had his phone on loudspeaker when Isabel rang, me and Angie keeping quiet as he talked to her. I bet she's really happy thinking Seth's hiding this from me.

"Only because she's so desperate," I comment, crossing my arms over my chest. If she even thinks about doing anything with Seth that's beyond talking, then I will be happy to go and kick her ass. Maybe throw her in the oven while I'm at it.

"See, I told you she was possessive over me," comments Seth to Angie, both of them chuckling as I shake my head. He gets so proud when I get all jealous.

"Ok, so how are we going to do this?" I question them both, moving my hands to my hips. "You go over there, charm her and she spills everything?" That could work or it may not. He'll need to distract her to make her slip up. The only distraction that could work are his lips. Even I forget what I'm supposed to be doing when he uses them. But he's not going to use them in this case so we need something else.

"Either that or if it doesn't look like she will anytime soon I can always snoop around her house and look through her phone to give me some clue as to who is doing all this," he suggests which is not a bad idea. People always leave evidence lying around.

"No, you can't chance snooping around because once she's caught you, you're done for," states Angie, making sense. We can't risk everything going down the drain, even if it could potentially be beneficial to us in some way.

"How else are we going to find out everything if she decides not to talk to me?" he then asks us. He's looking at me like I have an idea when actually at this point I am clueless.

"Easy," says Angie with a look on her face as if she's had some sort of an epiphany. "Iris," she states, not making any sense whatsoever. Then again, when does she ever?

"Me?" I ask confusedly, pointing to myself.

"Yeah," answers Angie with a smile. I wonder what's cooking in her mind right now. "He can distract her and you can snoop around," she gives us an idea. "It's perfect," she then states but I shake my head. I can't do that whist Seth's doing what he's doing. There's no way that I can.

"Why can't you do it?" I ask her, not feeling like this will work at all. Angie will know what she's doing and can probably get the job done ten times faster than me. Even if I have done this before. Except Seth was in Isabel's place and I was snooping through his stuff. He doesn't even know. Or maybe he does. But that's a story for another day.

"Someone needs to take care of Evan," she points out as if nobody thought of that. I can take care of my son and Angie can take care of Isabel's crap.

"Iris can do that," comments Seth and I send a smile in his direction. He obviously doesn't want me going in there either. Who the hell knows what I'll find.

"Yes but what about the little thing called discretion?" Angie reminds us both, me still looking confused. "To snoop around you need quiet feet and according to you, Ma and everyone else in our family, pigs will fly before my stomps get gentle," she goes on to explain. Why can't she and Ariana walk like normal human beings? This is the same exact problem I had last time.

"She has a point," says Seth, turning to me. He can't possibly be suggesting that I go through with this?

"I honestly don't think I can do this," I say, shaking my head and starting to feel a bit sick really. "What if I mess up and get caught? All of Seth's hard work will be for nothing!" We can't risk having everything get ruined because of me.

"Don't worry, you won't mess up," Seth assures me and steps forward, placing his hands on my shoulders. Easy for him to say, the guy calculates everything to the last second to make sure it all runs smoothly. "I have every faith in you Iris. Remember how you keep telling me that we're doing this for us?" he questions and I nod my head. "Well, it's your turn to do that now," he says and I reluctantly nod my head in agreement. I hate it when he uses my own crap against me. They start planning how to get me in there but I barely hear a word. I have to go snoop around Isabel's house whilst she tries it on with my boyfriend and he lets her to get some information out of her. This is going to be just great (!)

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

 _"Wait a second, you don't mind meeting me on your own? Without Dean?"_ asks Randy, sounding as if he's hearing something impossible. Well he might as well have. I have always been so adamant on everything that I do or say it's hard to believe I'll actually change my decision for anyone.

"Look, I did a lot of thinking, alright?" I say into the phone, trying to ignore the feeling of Dean's lips on the crook of my neck. We came back to the hotel and Dean told me to call Randy, tell him that I've changed my mind. The only problem is that whilst I'm lying down on the couch, Dean is right on top of me, kissing and sucking on my neck. "Iris means a lot to me and if that means meeting you on your own then fine. Iris was my friend before Dean became my anything so she will always be a priority," I go on to explain to him, making up some bullshit of an excuse.

 _"Really?"_ asks Randy, still sounding kind of suspicious. I mouth a 'sorry' to Dean who'd stopped his attack on my neck at what he heard leave from my mouth. _"Don't get me wrong, that's a good idea but that was a quick turnaround,"_ he mentions and I roll my eyes. He's so suspicious as fuck!

"Yeah, well chicks before dicks right?" I say into the phone, trying not to laugh at the dumbfounded expression on Dean's face. "If you still want to meet, then fine. If not, then I have several other things I need to get on with doing," I say, trying not to laugh once more when Dean points to himself. I place my hand on the receiver and say, "Quit it!" before taking my hand back off.

 _"Ok, we'll meet tonight, alright?"_ says Randy and I give Dean a thumbs up who pumps a fist in the air. Why can't he ever do anything that doesn't make me want to burst out laughing? It makes it hard to have a serious conversation.

"When and where?" I ask directly. I know he'll ask me to come to some isolated area. If he and Kane are planning a surprise, then it'll be them who end up with the surprise.

 _"Same room, around 7,"_ answers Randy before hanging up on the phone. That same back room? Yeah, they're planning something and the only way to find out what, is to actually go there and let things play out. There's no way they're fucking around with my best friend. Or anybody else I love.

"He bought it," I say to Dean as soon as I hang up and put the phone down on the coffee table that's not too far away. "What next?" I ask. Dean only told me to do this, saying he'll tell me the next part when I've done this part. I was this close to punching him but then he wasn't backing away.

"Next we meet him, well you do," says Dean and I move to get up into a sitting position, forcing Dean to do the same. "And I'll be hearing absolutely everything," he adds on, explaining to me exactly what's going to be going on.

"You know, you're a lot smarter than you look," I comment, Dean smiling at first but then once he realises what I said he quickly tackles me down onto the couch, pinning my arms behind my head.

"Don't mess with me woman," says Dean and I bite down on my tongue to stop myself from laughing. "You know I hear more than half the comments you make but do nothing?" he informs me and I allow a smile to take over my face.

"I know," I say, tilting my head to the side. He lets me get away with a lot of things. I like to think that it's because I'm more special than anybody else who can't get away with even the little things. Like when Seth made fun of Dean's nose.

"Taking advantage?" asks Dean, moving his lips dangerously close to mine.

"I don't think I'm in the position to be doing that at the moment," I say, Dean pressing his lips to mine in a soft kiss. I let out a moan when his tongue slides into my mouth, my hands still being kept above my head.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this," says Dean, moving away as I give him a confusing look. He's been wanting it for so long after I deprived him of it and now he says we don't have time?

"We're seeing Randy in the evening, what the fuck could you possibly need to do now?" I ask Dean, getting up alongside him, the both of us standing up.

"It's because I'm too fucking smart," says Dean, mainly talking to himself rather than me. I really do wonder what it's like inside his head sometimes but then I don't want to open that can of worms.

"Hey, Dean!" I say, placing my hand in front of his face and snapping my fingers. "You know, for the normal person in this relationship, can you please talk in English?" I ask of him, moving to stand in front of him.

"We don't have time to get jiggy," says Dean and I let out a chuckle. He never uses that term. "Because we're going to go snoop around Kane's locker room," he then explains, moving past me to grab his jumper from the other couch.

"What the fuck did you just say?" I ask, following him into our bedroom. He wants us to go around snooping after Kane? Is he mad? I don't know why I ask; the guy is sometimes psychotic. After a few seconds though, my curiosity gets the best of me. What exactly are we going to be looking for?

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"You sure this is the stuff?" I ask the man at the door. _He_ sent him but I can't afford anything to go wrong today. That's why I have to make sure what I ordered is the right thing and will work. After all, no other chances.

"No offense but I do this on a daily basis, what makes you think I'll give you the wrong stuff?" he asks me with a bit of an attitude on him if you ask me. I'm this close to actually asking him who the hell he thinks he is talking to me like this.

"Alright fine, if it doesn't work then it'll be your ass he'll kill," I then state, deciding not to argue today because I can't stand there any longer. I mean, what if Seth comes? Then what?

"Isabel?" I look to see Seth standing at the gate, looking on suspiciously. I spoke too soon didn't I? I quickly put my hand behind my back, hiding what I'd just been given.

"Seth, hey," I say with a smile on my face. "That's your queue to leave," I say in a low voice to the guy. He nods his head and moves away, walking past Seth and getting out of here. As he should. I have a plan to move forward with.

"Who was that?" asks Seth, walking past the gate and up to the porch, looking both suspicious and curious. I guess he would be as well since he knows everyone I know.

"Uh, no one," I say quickly, not wanting him to stay fixated on the subject. "Just some guy trying to sell insurance. You know how they can be right?" I say, trying to distract him as I wave a hand in the air. "Come on in," I then gesture and he nods his head, walking past me. "I'll be right there," I then say and go to the kitchen, hiding it in one of the cupboards. I take a deep breath and then go to the living room.

"So, what was up?" he asks me, getting straight to the point which is just like Seth. I suppose he should be since he's sneaked his way over here. It makes me feel giddy that he did that. He snuck away for me.

"I…remember how I said I was being blackmailed?" I ask him, taking a seat right next to him. He nods his head and I say, "The threats have started back up again". This fake story better work because I've been working on it for a while now.

"What do you mean?" he asks me, a frown appearing on his face.

"I mean, Macy is sending me threats," I say, looking up at him with watery eyes. "She might be away from here but she's trying to blackmail me again. I know everything I did was wrong but I'm telling you now, please help me. I can't lose my Mom, she's my everything," I plead, my hands together in the air.

"Hey, shush now," says Seth, putting his hands in mine. It's feels so nice when are hands are intertwined. "Nothing will happen to Rita, I'll make sure of that," he promises and I nod my head. I then bury my face in his chest and pretend to sob. I can feel he's hesitant at first but eventually settles by placing his arm around me. The only way I can get him is by using our past, the fact that we've known each other for years.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"I really don't think I can do this," I say to Angie through my Bluetooth. We decided I needed to have her talking to me through this whole thing, just in case something happened or anything. Even though it's unlikely. And also for some form of encouragement because believe me when I say I will freak out in two seconds

 _"Iris, stop being such a wuss and just do it,"_ complains Angie. Well maybe she should come out here and do it instead of forcing me to. _"All you're doing is opening the back door with the key I gave you but being quiet as you do it. Is that so hard?"_ she goes on to ask. The guys have a key for the front and back, for emergencies. Angie actually nicked it from her parents' room.

"If it's me that's doing it then yes," I let her know and can just sense her rolling her eyes. "Fine, here I go," I say, taking a deep breath and unlocking the door quietly, all the whilst silently praying I don't get caught. Once I get in I gently close the door behind me and place the key in my bra. What? I can't risk losing it or dropping it and making a sound. I walk forward quietly and make my way to the stairs. I stop when I get to the living room and see that witch crying into Seth's chest. What a total fake ass! Seth looks up and his eyes widen as he sees me and the glare that I'm wearing. He mouths 'no' but I just roll my eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asks in a loud voice to Isabel but I know it's directed at me. I know it's not his fault and I know he's not cheating on me. But this girl is really getting on my nerves and putting me in a bad mood.

"Whatever," I mouth as I wave a hand in the air. I quietly move to go upstairs, giving Seth a final glare as I walk up them. If Isabel had it her way then she and Seth would be doing a lot worse so I guess I can't complain about one measly hug, now can I?

 _"Are you in her room?"_ asks Angie as I get to the top of the stairs. Isabel's room. The first door on the right, I remember from last time.

"I am now," I whisper just as I get to the door. I walk in and instantly spot Angie in mine and Seth's room with Evan through the window.

 _"We're giving you some moral support,"_ says Angie, using Evan's hands to get him to wave at me which makes me smile. He's such a cute little baby.

"Appreciate it," I whisper and then begin to look around, unsure of what I'm searching for. I start looking through the wardrobe and shake my head at the some of the ghastly colours she owns. Eugh! "You'd think she'd have something nice to wear amongst all this junk," I comment. Why would you buy something that's muddy brown?

 _"Ouch, you really hate her now don't you?"_ asks Angie and I can tell that she's trying to hold in a laugh.

"Of course," I say, managing to keep my tone low. "The witch is trying to steal my guy!" I complain. No woman in her right mind would even tolerate someone who's trying it on with her boyfriend.

 _"Is that your way of saying bitch but not actually saying it?"_ Angie tries to clarify. I am trying to keep my anger in check. Plus, Evan needs one person in his life that isn't constantly swearing. And believe me, as soon as you do it once the others just roll out.

"Maybe, probably," I reply, not giving a straight answer. I close the wardrobe and go over to her dresser, sitting down in the seat as I go through her things. "This is probably where she plots everything," I comment, getting curious when I see a notebook. Common morale can go out the window, I don't even care that I'm going through her things. No remorse.

 _"I love seeing this side to you Iris, we can finally connect on a whole other level,"_ says Angie, making me smile. I open the notebook and I shouldn't have because I just end up getting angry again when I'm trying to keep myself calm. All of a sudden I hear music downstairs. _"Is that music in the background?"_ Angie asks me. What the hell is he doing?

"Seth is probably making sure she doesn't catch me in the act," I comment. That makes me wonder if I'm making actual noise. Maybe I need to quieten down. "Although I have half a mind to go and pull the hair from that bitch's head after seeing this," I say, everything just going out the window now.

 _"Why? What's in it?"_ she asks me curiously.

"Isabel Rollins," I say through gritted teeth. If she thinks she can even get anywhere near Seth then she's stupid as fuck, forget marrying him I'll make sure she never gets to see him ever again. "I swear to god for the first time in my life someone is testing my patience". I don't think I've ever hated a girl so much in my entire life. Well, there was the girl at the bar that was trying it on with Seth. At least Isabel hasn't been whacked yet. That's only because I'm a Mom now otherwise I'd put her in a headlock.

 _"Don't worry Iris, right Evan?"_ says Angie and I glance to see her looking down at him. _"Your Mommy is going to have Rollins at the end of her name, not the evil witch lady,"_ she says, making me chuckle. Damn right. If anyone's going to be his wife it will be me, not Isabel. I don't care if I'm going too far, we all know it's true.

"Thanks," I say, appreciating that from her. "Ok, on with this search," I say and put the notebook back. The only place where Isabel will have Rollins at the end of her name will be in her dreams. It'll be great to see the look on her face the day I introduce myself as Seth's wife. Ok, dreaming too much now Iris.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean, what are we going to be looking for in Kane's locker room?" I ask him, following him around our bedroom as he looks for god knows what. "If he finds us, we're fucking dead!" I exclaim, liking my life right now and not wanting to die.

"I don't know," answers Dean, looking at me for a second before going back to looking for whatever it is that he needs to find. Well that's just fucking great (!)

"Seriously? You know we've been instructed to stay away from Kane and if our bosses find us near him or his things, we could get fired!" I point out to him, clearly my fiancé never thinks anything through. It gives me a fucking headache.

"Don't you think I know all that?" asks Dean and I give him a look that tells him I honestly think he hasn't. "All we know is that both Kane and Randy are behaving weirdly. They're arguing about Kane doing something bad and Randy says he needs to tell you something about Iris, something important," he tells me everything that I already know.

"And?" I ask him, wanting him to get on with the rest of the story already.

"Obviously something is going on that's linked to Iris," explains Dean and I nod my head, I don't disagree with him there. "Don't you want to be two steps ahead and find anything we can get our hands on to stop whatever the fuck it is they're planning?" he asks me, making perfect sense. So that's what he wants to do? Find out what they're doing before they even have a chance to do it.

"That's not a bad idea," I say to Dean who nods his head. "But what if we do get caught? Kane, Stephanie and Hunter will have our heads and I can tell you right now it won't be pretty," I say. I love Iris, I do. She's a sister to me. But we can't jeopardise absolutely everything in case things don't work out. Call it the non-risky side to me.

"Then we'll make sure we don't get caught," says Dean, walking forward and grabbing my hands. "We need to make sure Iris and Evan stay safe. Kane has never let that happen. We can't risk anything like last time. Yeah, ok Evan ended up fine even though Kane threw Iris. But this time, Evan isn't inside his Mom to get protected. I don't trust either of them, they could think of the most twisted thing and do it without remorse. Can we really risk that?" he goes on to say, silence following soon after.

"No, we can't," I say with a frown. They could easily harm Evan if they wanted to. I'm not saying Seth and Iris can't protect them but everyone's heard stories where kids have suffered through no fault of their or their parents. We can't have Seth or Iris go through that. Especially not Iris. "What are we waiting for then?" I ask, turning around to get out of there. I put my phone on silent and make sure Dean's is too before heading out of our suite. I want to find something so we stop them but at the same time I hope I don't find anything and this is an exaggeration of our imagination. Although that's highly unlikely.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I sit there with my hand around Isabel, wanting to be doing anything but this right now. This is the last thing I want to be doing. I wonder if Iris has managed to break in yet. I'll be surprised if she manages to do it without getting caught. I look up and see Iris standing outside the living room with a glare on her face. Why does she look so angry? It then dawns on me that I have another woman in my arms, yep that's probably it. My eyes widen and I shake my head as gently as I can. I mouth 'no' but that doesn't seem to do the trick because she just rolls her eyes.

"Are you ok?" I ask in a loud voice, my question aimed at Iris without it arousing suspicion from Isabel. Iris mouths 'Whatever' and then walks off. I see her give me a final glare from the stairs before she disappears upstairs. I am so done for when we get back.

"I'm fine thanks Seth," says Isabel tearfully which makes me roll my eyes. Why couldn't she just stay out of our lives? Then I wouldn't be here wishing to be killed at this very moment. "Thank you," she then says, looking up at me. I hear faint talking and realize I can hear Iris upstairs. Shit, I need to do something before Isabel catches on.

"Are you sure?" I ask loudly, covering for my girlfriend.

"Yes," answers Isabel, pulling herself away from me and wiping her face. "And I'm not deaf so let's tone it down," she says, chuckling to herself and I give her a smile. "But then again, you always started acting weird in odd situations. Tell me Seth, am I making you nervous?" she then asks, batting her eyelashes at me as she bites down on her lip. Repulsive? Yes. Nervous? Only in your dreams.

"What? N-no," I say instantly, shaking my head. "It's just…yes I find it very weird. One minute you're plotting to tear apart my relationship and the next you're crying your eyes out because you've been blackmailed. It is very…weird," I explain to her and by the looks of it she's eating it all up.

"I guess that's one way of putting it but I have apologized and I'll do whatever it takes to gain your trust again," says Isabel, taking a hold of my hand. If only that were true. But it's not. It's far from it and I'm more disappointed in this moment that I even realised I could be.

"Yeah, mmhmm," I say nodding my head and looking away. Oh god, what do I do?

"Stop feeling so nervous Seth, it's not like you're cheating on Iris," says Isabel, shuffling closer to me. Oh, if only she knew the reason I was so damn nervous right now. "I know she doesn't know about you coming here but that's only so she doesn't get the wrong idea," she explains. Why is she saying things are that pretty much self-explanatory?

"That's exactly why I haven't told her," I state. What can I do to get her to tell me everything?

"Ok, good," says Isabel, her tears seemingly having disappeared quickly. I wonder what she's planning on doing, she did call me over after all. I hear another noise and Isabel looks out the room.

"How about some music?" I quickly suggest, putting a smile on my face. "I wonder if you still have your old collection," I say aloud, knowing bringing up the past is the only way I'll get around it. She'll easily get distracted by it.

"It was a good collection thank you very much," says Isabel before going over to her stereo and putting on some music. I knew that would work. "Hmm, good for the atmosphere," she then says. "How about a drink?" she asks me, turning around.

"Yeah sure, what you got?" I ask her, glad that I definitely couldn't here noises from upstairs anymore. I hope she can find something quickly before this down here escalates any further. I know the only way I get anything out of Isabel is if I do the deed with her, something I definitely do not want to do. The only person I want to do that with is Iris. Iris. Man she's so hot. And cute. And funny.

"I have wine, beer or if you feel like having something fancy, champagne," she lists me my options, bringing me out of my thoughts. The one person I want I can't have and the last person I want I get offered on a silver plate. My life definitely sucks right now.

"Let's just stick to wine," I say, aware that I need to be alert for anything that happens. I can't tell with Isabel; she could literally try anything. Maybe she's trying to get me drunk for it, who knows.

"I'm surprised Mister Rollins, since when do you choose anything over beer?" asks Isabel with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. Since I decided I don't want you to get me drunk and make me do things I'll definitely regret. I only like it when Iris calls me 'Mister Rollins'. It slips off her tongue. Isabel just sounds stupid when she says it. "Seth, everything ok?" she asks, waving a hand in front of my face. "You spaced out," she states.

"Yeah, sorry," I say, shaking my head. "It's just if I go home drunk then Iris will have my head so just the wine please," I tell her and she nods her head with a smile.

"Hmm, saying no to beer for a girl? What happened to you?" she questions and I know she's joking but I give her a serious answer.

"I fell in love," I simply state with a small smile on my face. Maybe I won't have to get cosy with her and because I'm so nice she'll blurt everything out. But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. It is a nice thought though. Isabel goes to get the drinks and I let out a loud sigh. This is going to be one long evening. My girlfriend is upstairs and the girl that's trying to seduce me is downstairs. With me. Yeah, this is one heck of an evening.

* * *

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	52. Unknown Admittance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing great :)**

* * *

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 **Pinayprincesa: Have you ended up right back at chapter 1? I'm kind of confused :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 52:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"I cannot believe I have been roped into this," I say, me and Dean walking down the hallway, hand in hand. He looks ahead and I look behind. I try to open the door but realise it's locked. "Ouch!" I say all of a sudden when I feel Dean pull on my hair. He smiles and holds up the bobby pin that was in my hair.

"Thank you," says Dean, moving me to the side and kneeling on the floor. He is a man of many talents. He actually showed me how to do it once, something about wanting me to always be safe. I suppose I'd need it if someone ever decides to kidnap me and lock me in a room but nobody has that kind of a death wish.

"I'll get you back for that Ambrose," I say, rubbing the part of my head that he hurt whilst taking that thing out of my hair.

"Later," says Dean, successfully opening the door like the pro he is and grabbing me to get me in there, following behind. "Ok, where do we look?" he asks, folding his arms across his chest and looking at me.

"How the fuck should I know? This was your idea!" I remind him, my arms on my hips. He continues looking at me and I say, "Just start anywhere!" we both start looking around. I unzip a bag and look through it. "Wouldn't it have made more sense to raid his hotel room? I mean, only his gross wrestling clothes will be here," I say as I root through the clothes.

"But why would he keep certain...evidence in his hotel room? People go in there to clean and anyone could easily sneak in," explains Dean which does make sense I guess. I still can't believe I've been roped into this.

"But we've easily snuck in here," I point out as I think about all of it.

"Only because no one else would dare to even come near the door," says Dean, making another great point. I'm off my game and he's on it, ain't no other explanation. "If he's doing anything, it's going to be in here," he states and I nod my head, beginning to go through the second bag there. "Do I gotta pick all of these?" complains Dean, looking at the bunch of lockers in front of him.

"Remind me Dean, whose idea was this again?" I ask and he rolls his eyes before starting on the first one. "Just make sure to put everything back exactly as you found it because I have a feeling he will know," I say, always getting a creepy feeling from Kane. And Dean doesn't exactly know anything about subtlety.

"What the fuck is this?" asks Dean and I drop the bag I was looking in, walking over to where he's stood. My heart drops when I see a little baby sock.

"What the fuck?" I ask, picking it up immediately and taking a closer look at it. "Holy shit, this is Evan's," I say to Dean.

"Maybe it's some other baby's," comments Dean, trying to shrug it off but I shake my head. We can't even do that because we did the shopping.

"We bought this pair for Evan, look it has the little black stain from that stupid ink pen you were using," I say, pointing to a little black dot near the top where the black embroidery is. We bought a lot of Evan's stuff after he was born, the little guy kept growing. Dean one day was using a pen to write something down, what it was I forgot, but he accidentally dropped the pen on Evan's sock. I offered to throw it away but Iris insisted on keeping it since we bought it for Evan. She said he'd grow out of it soon anyway.

"Well we know he hasn't got Evan," says Dean confidently and I nod my head. But is he planning on taking him? I mean, what does this sock mean? For Evan? "Should we assume the worst?" he goes on to ask me but I shake my head.

"We know Seth and Iris have Evan, they won't let him out of their sight," I say assuredly. "But why the fuck would Kane take Evan's sock? To perform some voodoo ritual?" I question, the whole thing seeming too bizarre at the moment.

"Maybe he's lost it more than he already has," offers Dean as an explanation and I really hope that's what it is. Nothing good can ever come out from Kane being involved in anything. I take out my phone but a name starts flashing on screen.

"Hang on a sec," I say, answering the phone. "Yeah Nikki?" I say into the phone, wondering why she would be calling me.

"Seriously?" asks Dean, not looking too happy about me answering a phone call in the middle of this.

 _"Kane's coming,"_ states Nikki before hanging up. I put the phone in my pocket and quickly start to close his bags and put everything back.

"Kane's on his way, close that locker!" I instruct Dean and he does so without question. Once I put the bags away he grabs my hand to leave but we hear footsteps right outside the door.

"Don't be so rude Kane, all I ask is that next time you watch where you're going!" we hear a female voice. I mouth 'Nikki' to Dean and he drags me to stand behind the lockers, against the wall. Luckily the gap between the wall and lockers is enough for us to squeeze in, but we're going to have to be extra quiet.

"I've told you to leave. Me. Alone," we hear as the door opens. I look at Dean and he gives me a reassuring look. The door slams shut and you hear a pissed of Nikki on the other end before her voice has gone, I'm assuming she walked off.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Either she's very good at hiding things or she just doesn't have anything to find," I tell Angie after having searched the whole room, top to bottom, including underneath her mattress. And behind the wardrobe. Yep, that's how desperate I was to find something. And still, I ended up with nothing. Unless she has a secret hiding spot underneath her basement or something.

 _"She definitely will have something, just keep on looking,"_ says Angie. I wonder why I can't find anything. Surely there must be something incriminating lying around.

"This is why you should have done it because I can't find anything," I tell her, fearing Angie could have thought of things I haven't if she were in my place. I hear a noise and then look in front of me. "Wait a sec," I then say and open up her laptop. "Hey, she doesn't have a password for her account on here," I point out, that being a positive thing for us.

 _"Only an idiot would do that,"_ comments Angie, making me giggle. _"Now come on, find something juicy for me,"_ she encourages me as I start to browse the desktop.

"And what is classed as juicy in your book?" I question absentmindedly.

 _"A lot of things,"_ she answers as I try to look for anything that sticks out could help us. _"Hey Evan, can you say Aunt Angie?"_ I hear her talk to my son.

"He's only 2 and a half months Angie, there's no way he'll even be able to comprehend that," I explain, continuing with my search. "When he gets to 9 months then we'll start to understand what he's always babbling on about," I go on to say, still very excited to see what my son will come out with. Will he say Mom first? Or will it be Dad? Or maybe it'll be potato, who knows?

 _"How do you know that?"_ she questions me.

"I read," I let her know as if it's obvious. "After coming out of the coma, I felt so guilty about not being in Evan's life for the first 4 weeks when he needed me," I start to explain. "I wanted to do everything to make sure I can make it up to him. So I read up on absolutely everything. From talking to walking to when he should start having formula milk to giving him massages," I finish explaining. I also read because I had nothing else to do when Evan was sleeping. And to try and distract myself from the thoughts of Seth having kissed me.

 _"You're a great Mom Iris, don't feel so guilty. The fact that you gave birth to him is enough for him. Isn't that right Evan?"_ she says, making me smile.

"Guess what? She's left herself logged in to her emails!" I say excitedly at the prospect of having found something. I don't know why I clicked on them but I did. And they're there!

 _"Great,"_ says Angie, sounding happy at something finally going our way. _"Filter the emails so you can see what she's got since the date you came here, that'll make it easier and we'll find something for sure,"_ she instructs me and I do as she says. It's useful advice.

"Hmm, that's peculiar," I comment, looking at the names from someone that's emailed her.

 _"What is?"_ asks Angie, sounding curious. Right now this is distracting me from everything going on downstairs and boy do I need that distraction.

"She has emails from someone labelled 'Him', whatever that means," I go on to say. Why would someone be called him? Unless they're trying to hide their identity.

 _"The guy that's been behind everything!"_ exclaims Angie all of a sudden just as it dawns on me. _"What do the emails say?"_ she then goes on to ask me.

"There's quite a lot of them," I say, shaking my head. There's no way I'll be able to get through all of them in the amount of time that I have. "Wait a second, I'll forward them all to me and then delete them from her her 'Sent' box that she sent them to me so she doesn't find out," I say, thinking quickly on my feet.

 _"Hmm, I'm impressed,"_ says Angie. Like it's hard. Besides, any idiot would come up with what I just did. _"These emails will be key. I still don't understand her; you know?"_ she says, sounding kind of confused.

"What do you mean?" I ask her as I do the task I set myself.

 _"I don't understand why she did what she did,"_ answers Angie. I thought it was obvious? To get Seth? Dig her nasty claws into him? _"When I was trying to convince her to break you guys up, my lowest point,"_ she starts, something I don't really want reminding of.

"Yes, I've noticed," I say with a small smile. But all is forgiven because she's genuinely sorry about everything. So it's all sorted now, nothing to worry about.

 _"She was so on point that she would only ever consider trying it out with Seth if he was single and that she'd take no part in trying to break you guys up,"_ Angie explains to me. _"She was so genuine about it, so bold. I of course thought it was stupid at the time but that…that's the Isabel we've all known since we were kids. Not this,"_ she says and I can hear the sadness in her voice. I suppose the thing to think is why the big change all of a sudden? It's not like I rubbed her up the wrong way.

"But if she really is being blackmailed then can you blame her?" I say, kicking myself on the inside for always making excuses for other people. It's what makes me weak. This guy must be blackmailing her by targeting her Mom and Isabel gave in and changed her whole demeanour.

 _"There's always a way out of things Iris, no one has to take everything lying down,"_ she states. She's right. But if others were in her place, I can guarantee a lot of people would do the same?

"Maybe not but everyone's different I guess," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "Ok, that's done! Now to get out of here before I do get caught," I then say, getting up off the chair and putting down the laptop screen. I'm glad to be getting out of here finally.

 _"Wait, look out the window!"_ Angie says and I do as she asks. I laugh when I see her holding up one of Evan's arms in the air, a sign of our small victory right now.

"I'm going to forward you the messages so you can quickly look at them, Evan looks tired anyway so you can put him in his cot. He'll be out like a light in no time," I tell her and then get out of Isabel's room, using my phone to send the messages to Angie. I really didn't like being in there, it felt too weird. I slowly walk towards the stairs and then go down them, one by one. I stop when I see Isabel in the living room and my eyes go wide at the sight before me. What the hell?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Hey," I say, making Isabel jump. She turns around with a hand over her chest, looks like I scared her. "Sorry," I apologize, standing on the other side of the kitchen counter. She looks like she has just been caught doing something she shouldn't have.

"I should hope so," says Isabel, shaking her head. Something's up.

"Here, I got them," I say, picking up the drinks and taking them out of the kitchen and to the living room. After a couple of minutes Isabel comes too and we sit down on the couch, drinks in our hands. I wonder what she's planning. Nothing she does is without planning.

"So, was Evan planned?" asks Isabel, bending her legs and resting them on the couch as she turns to look at me. I twist my body to face her, trying to figure out what her game is.

"Not really," I say, shaking my head and speaking the truth. "He was a complete surprise". I am thankful every day that he's mine. I would have been there for him if he wasn't but the feeling I got what I found out he was mine, it's inexplicable.

"So you didn't plan him at all?" asks Isabel and I shake my head. "Wow, must be hard to suddenly have to be a father when you don't want to be huh?" she goes on to say, a frown appearing on my face. I don't like the way she made that sound.

"Yes it was difficult but I never knew how much I wanted to be someone's dad till I first looked into Evan's eyes," I tell her truthfully, knowing what she is trying to imply. Why though? Where is that going to get her?

"That fit perfectly then didn't it?" she asks me and I nod my head. I look at her closely as she takes a sip of her wine but doesn't seem to look too happy. I think she's trying to find cracks. She's trying to find a crack so she can pick at it and eventually things will fall apart like she wants. But I'm not going to let that happen.

"Isabel, can I ask you something?" I ask her and she nods her head. "What exactly happened with you and…and David?" I finally manage to get out. I hide the smirk that I get on my face when I realize that I've thrown her. She was not expecting that.

"Well we got married and moved away," starts Isabel, not looking too happy. "Everything was like a fairy-tale. You know, high school romance and all. We both had good jobs but then after a while…things just weren't working," she explains to me, looking down at the floor.

"In what way?" I ask curiously. Maybe if I can help her fight her demons then she'll stay away from my family.

"We'd been together for years so I thought we should start thinking about starting our own family," says Isabel with a nod of her head. "At first, David seemed up to the idea but then when I brought it up again he said we didn't have the time. Which was fair I guess," she says, looking down at her glass and shrugging her shoulders. "But things changed. I tried cutting back my hours at work and instead of doing the same, David, he increased his. He'd come back late and leave early in the morning. Even though I was living with him I would hardly see him for days," she goes on to say and I start to feel sorry for her. Don't fall weak Seth, she's evil.

"I'm really sorry," I tell her, placing my hand on her knee forcibly. This is how I'll get something out of her.

"It's not your fault," says Isabel in a soft voice, actually sounding sad. "We drifted apart too much. I didn't know him anymore. He wasn't the man I married. Eventually I couldn't do it anymore but before I could tell him that, he came to me and handed me the divorce papers. He said he didn't love me anymore and wanted me gone by the end of the week," she explains, wiping a tear at the corner of her eye. David was always a dick, I'm not surprised.

"Shouldn't that make you happy?" I question her, tilting my head to the side. She wanted a divorce and he gave it to her before she even had to breathe a word.

"It should have but it didn't," she tells me. "I was hoping if I said I was going to leave then he'd make me remember why I fell in love with him. Why I married him. That he'd try anything to stop me but instead he handed me the papers for me to leave," she says, moving in closer to me. I keep my cool and let her keep her head on my shoulder. "So I left. He didn't even try to stop me and I guess that's what makes it worse. We were together for many years and in the end, he didn't care about what we had anymore," she sobs and I gently run her back. I wonder if this is how Iris felt after our break up.

"Are you sure? In high school he was always a right dick to anyone that looked your way, including me," I explain, finding the whole thing weird. Wait, what am I doing? I can't get sucked in!

"Yeah, he was always possessive and he was very mean," says Isabel, moving her head to look at me. "The only reason I went out with him was because he was one of the most popular guys. I stayed with him and chose him over you," she says, looking into my eyes, making me feel uncomfortable. "I never once regretted that decision because David grew up from all that. He got more mature and was a decent guy. But now I do, I regret that I never gave us a chance," she says, her lips moving dangerously close to mine.

"I…" before I can say anything Isabel cuts me off.

"I know, you moved on and I get that," says Isabel, not moving from her position. "Don't you ever wonder what it was like?" she then asks me. "If we were together," she says and places a kiss on my chin. Nope, I can't even let her touch me. It feels too weird.

"Isabel, you're not in your senses," I say, moving away from her. "I'm going to get more wine," I say, leaving abruptly and going to the kitchen. I lean against the counter and let out a loud sigh. I don't think I can do this, even to end things. Even if Iris has given me her permission I just can't. I'm not that guy anymore.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I let out a loud sigh as I watch Seth leave the room. This is still proving to be too damn difficult. I have to get him to concede. All I have to do is keep reminding him about the past and make him feel sorry for my situation over David. In no time he'll comfort me. That was the plan. Now, I have a new plan.

"I guess we're doing it the hard way," I mutter to myself. I take out the sachet, the guy dropped off earlier, from my bra. When I went to get the wine, I would have put it in then but Seth came into the kitchen so I hid it. Now that he's gone I can mix it in his glass. He still has about a quarter of wine left and that should do nicely. I pour the contents of the packet into Seth's glass and use my finger to mix it in properly. There. He won't know what hit him. He'll start acting like a drunk guy and eventually pass out. All I have to do is get us both naked and he'll think we've done the deed. Then he can say 'bye bye' to the relationship he has with Iris. As soon as Seth comes in the room I jump up and grab the wine from him, filling both our glasses to the tops before he notices anything out of place.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

It's been about ten minutes since Kane came into the room and I swear I have not breathed properly since. Dean keeps a tight hold onto my hand and we both stand there, waiting for Kane to leave or something. What if he doesn't leave? I won't get a chance to talk to Randy which I don't even need to explain is highly important.

"Hello?" says Kane and I'm guessing his phone rang. I'm too busy imagining scenarios of what will happen if we do get caught, by Kane and our bosses. "You did what?" he asks into the phone, both me and Dean looking on curiously. "Do you know how important it is for this to work? For me to make sure things go from good to bad to worse?" he questions.

"Iris," I whisper lowly, that being the only answer. He's talking about Iris. About ruining her life. But I still can't even say that for sure. Then again, who else does he have a grudge against?

"Don't even mention Iris or Seth," says Kane angrily, my eyebrows rising of their own accord. So we're right? "If someone hears you, they'll think something's up," he then goes on to say. What's he planning? "Like I care about Evan," he comments, my heart beating in worry for my Godson. "Just get it done, today!" he orders letting out multiple sighs. "Fine, I'm on the first flight out. Do what needs to be done and I'll be there within the next 3 hours," he says, hanging up the phone for good. All of a sudden there's a knock on the door and Kane goes to answer it.

"We have to get out there, what's taking you so long?" we hear Randy's voice and my anger levels rise as I realise he really is probably just playing with me.

"I got held up on the phone," explains Kane and we hear him moving around the room. "Wait a second, something's not right," he says, panic settling in at the thought of him catching us out. "What the hell is this?" he asks and I'm assuming he's showing something to Randy.

"A bobby pin," answers Randy, Dean mouthing 'fuck' at this moment. I can't believe we're nearly about to get screwed because Dean threw the pin on the floor like he does with everything else.

"It's not mine," states Kane, sounding angry. "Someone's been in here," he goes on to say and I bite down on my tongue. If he suspects at least he won't start looking for us right away.

"Unless you actually managed to land a girl," jokes Randy, letting out a laugh.

"I am going to scream at a Bella today," says Kane and I feel relieved as Dean looks on relieved. We hear the door slam once more before they both finally leave.

"Holy fuck that was close," whispers Dean and I nod my head. That was too close. If Randy didn't comment about a girl being here and Nikki actually having argued with Kane, then we would have been found for sure. Dean gets out from behind the lockers and then helps me out.

"Why the fuck didn't you put it in your pocket?" I ask Dean as soon as we're both out.

"I did, it must have fell out," defends Dean and I let out a snort.

"You threw it and don't want to get into trouble," I say to which he protests. We continue bickering as we leave the room, not even risking looking through the other lockers at the moment. In a way we got what we came for, some evidence that Kane is up to no good and we need to stop him. Maybe this thing with Randy will clear things up.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I shake my head as I watch Seth come back into the room and Isabel mixes in more wine with the white powder she's spiked his drink with. She can't get away with this. I can only trust Seth as long as he's in his senses. No doubt, that white powder will do the opposite. He'll lose his senses and she'll…she'll take advantage. I can't let this happen.

 _"Iris, are you out yet or what?"_ asks Angie with a big sigh, waiting for me to get back still.

"No," I say lowly, thankfully the music is still playing. "Angie, you need to get off the phone because I have to sort something out," I then state. I have to think of something, I have to tell Seth.

 _"Why, what's wrong?"_ she asks me and I quickly tell her. _"Holy fuck! Ok, I'll message him to get out of the room and you meet him in the kitchen, alright?"_ she asks me and I nod my head.

"Fine," I say quietly and go down the stairs. I kneel down on the floor and crawl to the kitchen in an attempt to not get caught. Not the highlight of my life, trust me. I get up once I'm in the kitchen and stand around, waiting for Seth to come. You'd think he'd come running if Angie tells him I need to see him. What's taking him so long?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Excuse me," I say and take out my phone. I see a message from Angie telling me Iris needs to see me in the kitchen. I start to panic internally when I realize Iris is still in the house. She should have been back home by now.

"Anything the matter?" asks Isabel and I look up from my phone at her. I make sure to maintain a calm facial expression. If she sees me panicking, she'll know something is up.

"No," I say, shaking my head. "It's just Angie," I shrug it off as my mind starts to think of how to get back into that kitchen.

"Seth, what are you doing?" she asks me and I give her a blank look. "You're claiming you don't want me in that way at all yet you continue to sit here and make me believe you do," she says, looking at me with hope in her eyes.

"Isabel, I'm just trying to get my friend back," I tell her, genuinely wondering where the real Isabel went.

"Seth, you won't ever get her," she states clearly. "Because she doesn't want to be friends anymore, she wants something more than friendship," she says, placing her hand on my thigh and making me feel incredibly uncomfortable. This is it, the moment where I can decide what happens. I can either use it to my advantage and suck it up or let it go and possibly regret it. "Stop me if I'm wrong," she says and moves her head closer to mine. Her eyes fall on my lips and then back up to my eyes. What do I do? This is for my family. I lean forward and see the smirk on Isabel's lips. Just as our lips are about to touch my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" I say, all too eagerly answering it. I'd do anything to get away from her right now.

 _"You need to go see Iris before she has a heart attack,"_ orders Angie before cutting the call. Right, she's still in there. Hence why I'm still panicky.

"I'll be right back, it's Angie again," I tell Isabel and then leave the room. I put my phone in my pocket and enter the kitchen, smiling to myself when I see Iris standing there twiddling her thumbs.

"Seth," says Iris in a low voice, glancing towards the entrance to the kitchen. "Isabel, she…" her voice trails off and she stares at me.

"What?" I ask, wondering what it could be. Do I have something on my face?

"You…you have lipstick on your chin," Iris tells me and my hand immediately flies to my chin. I start rubbing it has hard as I can to get it all off. I look up and see Iris's back turned towards me. Damn it.

"Iris," I start, placing a hand on her shoulder. All she has to tell me is to stop and we can both just walk away from here.

"Don't worry about it Seth, we know you're going to have to take it till she tells you something," she says in a quiet voice. I place my arms around her waist and bury my face in her hair.

"I only love and want you," I tell her, hoping she'll believe that. It's all I've ever wanted since she returned into my life.

"I know," says Iris and then turns around, taking my arms down from her. "I have to tell you something," she says, looking towards the entrance before looking back at me. "When you went to get more wine, she put something in your drink," she reveals to me.

"What?" I ask, not sure I heard right.

"I was on the stairs," starts Iris as I try to make sense of what she's telling me. "I was waiting for a chance to go but then I saw her pull out a little packet. Whatever that white powder was, it's all in your drink. She's up to something Seth and I think she's making sure that no matter what happens today, she's taking you away from me," she explains to me but I shake my head.

"No one could take me away from you," I say, placing both my hands on the side of her face.

"I love you," says Iris and I give her a smile. I love hearing her say that. It's the best thing she's ever said to me.

"I love you too, now listen to me carefully," I tell her and she nods her head, looking serious. "I'm this close to cracking it, it won't be long," I say and she nods her head once more. I place a kiss on her head and leave from there, ready to finish this.

"Anything important?" asks Isabel once I get seated right back next to her but I shake my head. I doubt she actually cares.

"Nothing, just something Evan did," I say and lean back, running a hand through my hair. Ok, so I can't drink the wine. I have to make sure that I don't. She might be insistent that I drink it because without it we aren't going anywhere. Unless I trick her into thinking we are.

"Ok," says Isabel and then places a hand on my chest. "Let's get back to where we were, huh?" she asks me and I shake my head.

"Isabel," I start but as usual she makes sure I can't say anything and gets in there first. No one as annoyed me so much in my life, not even Dean.

"No," says Isabel, placing a finger over my lips and silencing me. She moves to straddle me and then places both her hands on my neck. "You want this," she says, moving her lips dangerously closer to mine. I can't stop thinking about Iris. "Stop fighting it," she tells me and I nod my head. She smirks and then leans forward. Iris. Iris. Iris. I'm doing this for Iris. I place my hands on her hips and hear a satisfactory sound out of her.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this," I say to her, moving my hands up and down her back. I'm just thinking of what I would say to Iris when we finally will get down to doing it.

"Oh fuck, I think I do," says Isabel, starting to move against me. This will be embarrassing since I'm not attracted to her. I won't ever be able to get the guy up. I only have so much time till she figures it out. "Kiss me Seth," she orders, something I'd rather not do.

"Good things come to those who wait," I tell her. I then grab her hair with one of my hands and make her bend her neck backwards. I place a kiss on her neck and she lets out a moan, closing her eyes. "I just have a couple of questions first," I say, noticing she's going into that state where she won't even realise what she's saying.

"Ask me anything," says Isabel and I place another kiss on her neck. "Fuck, this is going to be great," she then states. She's always been like this, she gets something she wants and forgets everything else.

"Did you frame Macy?" I ask her and she nods her head.

"Yeah," she says and I think she doesn't even realise what she just told me, just as I thought she wouldn't. This is perfect.

"And you've been working with someone else? A guy?" I ask and she nods her head again.

"Mmhmm," says Isabel, digging her nails into my shoulders. I'm about to ask her who it is when a voice so loud makes us both jump out of our skins.

"Seth Rollins!" shouts Iris and we both look at her. I look at Isabel who looks just as shocked at me as I start to wonder what Iris is doing. Me and Isabel both look at each and then look up at the woman in front of us who looks angry beyond belief. Oh shit.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	53. Fake Break Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Yep, you've already guessed Kane. Maybe that's what they should call themselves, lol. Enjoy the next chapter! :) Xx**

 **Debwood-1999: Hello lurker! I love you guys too! As I said before, interesting theory. Man, I love what some of you guys are coming out with. Although, it makes me wonder if what I have planned will really surprise you all. Thanks for the review :)**

 **Lourdes1694: You said it :)**

 **Paisley2: Can you blame her? Seth is a fine piece of ass! Lol :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 53:**

 **SETH POV**

"Iris," I say her name as Isabel quickly gets off of me and we both stand up together. "W-what are you doing here?" I ask, thinking she left when I told her to. And why is she here? I nearly would have gotten everything out of Isabel. Wait a second, she looks mad. Why does she look mad? And betrayed.

"Catching you in the act apparently," Iris states in a sad voice. She does know I was only doing this for her right? I didn't get any enjoyment out of that. So why is she looking at me like I ran over her puppy? "I'm at home caring for your son and you're here getting off on her?" she asks, looks of betrayal sent in my direction.

"Iris, it's not what it looks like," says Isabel, siding with me and defending us. I am so confused right now. What is going on?

"Don't Isabel, I'm not surprised you continued on doing what you did because forget the whole blackmailing thing, you actually want Seth for yourself don't you?" she questions, her hands on her hips as she shakes her head.

"It's not like that," says Isabel in a small voice which makes me roll my eyes. I think this is beyond blackmailing now. If it was blackmail then when we were getting close just seconds ago, instead of getting lost in it she would have stopped me.

"Then what were you doing on top of my boyfriend just seconds ago?" questions Iris, letting out a scoff. "You know what? I don't want to know. I have given you everything Seth, everything. Yet you're here with her. Cheating on me. Once again," she says as tears sting my eyes. She really believes I would cheat on her again? "I should have known, once a cheat always a cheat". That line, that really just hit home. I would never do something like that again.

"Iris, please don't say that," I say to her, my voice nearly breaking. I spent so much time trying to make everything up to her but she still sees me like that.

"Why? It's the truth," says Iris, shrugging her shoulders as her eyes water. "All I've ever wanted Seth is your love and faithfulness but I never seem to get it. I've given you all my love, I've given you a son…what more do I have to give to you so you don't stray? Am I really that bad?" she goes on to ask but I shake my head. She can't think like that. "I'm…I'm never going to be good enough for you am I?" she then says, her voice above a whisper.

"Iris, that's not true," I tell her, shaking my head. I walk over to her and stand in front of her. I take her hand in mine but she shoves it away. "You're too good for me, you always have been. It's me that's not good enough for you. Believe me when I say I do love you," I say, trying to convince her. I don't know what's going on or what I'm doing but I'm not losing her.

"Love me?" she asks and then lets out a dry chuckle. "You don't know the meaning of that word Seth. If you loved me, then I wouldn't have been waiting for so long for you to get back. You told me you went on a walk right? Instead, you're here with that slut!" she exclaims in anger. My mind not even comprehending what she's saying.

"I am not a slut," Isabel defends herself, coming to stand right next to me. "It's not my fault that you couldn't give Seth certain things because of which he had to find it from someone else," she says as I look on in bewilderment. I cannot believe Isabel said that. I can't believe I'm in this situation right now truth be told.

"So it all comes down to that does it?" asks Iris, looking at the floor and then looking up at us both disapprovingly. "I can't have sex with you so you decide to get it from someone else right?" she asks and I don't say anything. All I know is if I open my mouth then I'm a dead man. "If **_this_** ," she starts, pointing to Isabel. "is what you want, then by all means take it. Just know that I am done waiting on you Seth Rollins. I'm leaving with Evan. Tonight," she says as my eyes widen.

"No," I say instantly, grabbing a hold of her wrist. "Please don't. I love you guys. Please, we can talk about this," I beg her, looking at her desperately.

"No, we can't," she says, shaking her head. "All the talking is done. You promised you'd be faithful to me but you're not. Is this the first time you've gone behind my back?" she questions and then uses her other hand to release the hold I have on her wrist. "I am done Seth, done! Just…leave me be," she requests and then turns on her heel and gets out of there as fast as she can.

"Are you going to be alright?" asks Isabel, getting too touchy feely with me with her hand on my shoulder and her body close to mine.

"No, I have to stop her," I say, determined to explain to Iris that I was doing what I did for her sake. For our relationship. I brush off Isabel's hands and go after Iris. "Iris! Iris, wait up!" I call to her and jog so that I'm walking alongside her. "Iris, I was only doing it for us. It was you guys that suggested it in the first place!" I point out and she gives me a glare.

"Of course I know that," says Iris and stops walking. "It's called acting Mister Rollins," she says and my eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I got into Isabel's email account and forwarded all the messages from whoever this guy is to Angie. She's been looking through the messages and told me that this guy is going to come over and see Isabel once she gets the job done," she starts to explain to me. "But I wasn't going to actually let you go through with it so I pretended to catch you in the act, break up with you and leave you. Now, when he comes over, we can catch him," she finishes as a small smile forms on my face.

"Wow, that's clever," I then comment and see her blush. She is so smart in addition to a long list of other things that are so great about her.

"Don't smile, she might be watching. We have to make it look like we're still arguing," Iris then instructs me and I drop the smile from my face and put on a serious look.

"I love you Iris and I would never cheat on you, ever again," I state and see her trying to fight off a smile. I think I panicked and then acted like an idiot. Not even realising that she could be acting.

"I love you too and I know that," says Iris in a soft voice. Not being able to help myself I put both my hands on the side of her face and crash my lips to hers. I can't believe this amazing woman is all mine. I'm so lucky to have her with me. I don't know of any other girl that would do something like this. When I let go of her I'm met with a slap to my face. I look out the corner of my eye and see Isabel standing at the door. "Stay the hell away from me!" shouts Iris before turning once again and walking off. I smirk as I watch her leave and then turn back to Isabel with a disappointed look on my face. That was…hot.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I break into a smile once I've turned away from Seth and walk back into the house. I can't believe I just did that. But I had no other choice. I saw Isabel as soon as Seth stopped kissing me and knew I had to do something. And it was the only thing I could think of. I hope he doesn't feel too offended by it.

"Hey, did she buy it?" asks Angie and I nod my head. "See, this is where being able to act is very beneficial," she says, making me chuckle. She's right though. If I couldn't then things wouldn't be looking too great right now.

"I guess," I say in agreement. "Come with me to my room," I say and grab Angie's hand, dragging her upstairs. "Just act like you're trying to stop me and don't know what's going on," I instruct her, opening the door to my bedroom. I take out my suitcase and start to move around, throwing anything I own in there. This is now how I would ever pack in my life, angry or not.

"Iris, what are you doing?" asks Angie, standing in the middle of the room, tilting her head to the side and looking on at me in concern. I guess I'm not the only actress around here.

"I'm leaving, remember?" I say to her and she follows me back and forth like I tell her. "Now stop right in front of me," I say and before I know it, she's blocked me from walking further.

"What's wrong Iris?" asks Angie, looking at me seriously.

"You want to role play?" I ask her and she nods her head, looking excited. "Cool, your brother has ruined my life!" I shout, my arms waving around frantically. "He slept with that slut!" I say, looking like I'm trying to hold myself together. "I can't stay here," I then state, my hands up in the air and my gaze on the floor.

"Iris, don't leave," says Angie, placing her hands on my shoulders. "What about Evan?" she asks. I look over at my son with a sad facial expression. Hopefully the only time he sees that is when I'm acting and not because of any more crap that has gone on.

"He doesn't need a useless dad," I state and move away from Angie. Just as I suspected I see Isabel in her room, looking at us both in curiosity. I walk over to the window, letting her know I see her and close the curtains with her shocked facial expression on the other side. "That was fun," I say with a giggle, turning back to Angie.

"And, the little guy got a good look of what it'll be like if his Dad ever did mess up," says Angie, making me laugh as she picks up Evan into her arms from the playpen. "What would you actually do if theoretically that happened though?" she asks me. I stand there for about a minute, really thinking about it.

"I'd let Dean and Ariana loose on Seth and sit back to watch the show," I answer simply at which we both laugh. If Seth ever did that to me again though, the truth is I'd die. That's how madly I love him. When I actually thought I was going to die when pregnant with Evan, I took it better than most people because it meant I didn't have to live with the heartache.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Seth!" exclaims Isabel, running over to me quickly. "Are you alright?" she asks and I slowly shake my head. I know I'm a good actor but how can I look so sad when I'm so happy? "Come on, come inside," she ushers me back into her house as I continue to keep a dejected look on my face.

"I am such an idiot," I state, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I've lost Iris, and for what?" I go on and look to see Isabel looking offended. "No offence," I add on. I can tell she's trying to hold in her smile.

"None taken," says Isabel with a small smile, setting down a glass of water in front of me. "Seth, you have to think of this practically, ok?" she asks me and I give her a questioning look. "Ok, yeah maybe we shouldn't have been doing what we were doing but did you ever stop to think that it could be because your relationship with Iris isn't right?" she asks, taking a seat adjacent to me.

"N-no," I say, shaking my head and taking a big gulp of the water in front of me. This is a new theory of bullshit. I wonder what crap she's about to spew?

"If yours and Iris's relationship was so great, you wouldn't have strayed with me," she says, pointing a finger in my direction, kind of looking proud at herself for being able to do it. Well she thinks she has done it. "You would have stayed loyal and nothing I said or did would have changed that, alright?" she asks me and I nod my head. "Now, I have to get something from my room. I'll be right back, ok?" she says and I nod my head after which she walks off. She speaks about loyalty yet she has no idea what that is.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"There you are!" I exclaim, having searched for Nikki practically everywhere, only to find her in catering. "I need to talk to you, now," I say urgently, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of there. It's a good thing she was by herself, if Brie was with her I'd be seen to have gone mad.

"Miss Bella," says Dean, once I've taken Nikki to a random room. At least she's not protesting, which means she knows what this is about. I just don't understand how she could have done it.

"Hi, I'm not going to call you Mister Ambrose," Nikki lays down the ground rules as we all stand there in a circle. Dean continues to stare at her and she starts fidgeting. "Ari, tell him to cut it out and to stop being weird!" she complains. Hmm, I think she's innocent. I know Nikki's technically a friend but she has been suspicious. Then again, she helped us and that's anything but suspicious.

"Dean," I say and he puts his hands up in surrender, moving back to lean against the walls. His eyes don't move from Nikki but he's not looking like the weirdo he was before.

"Ari, why have you brought me here? I've been training all day! I need food!" exclaims Nikki. I can't believe she's thinking about food at a time like this. "Especially when I went toe to toe with that stupid monster," she says, immediate dislike in her voice.

"Exactly, why did you go toe to toe with the monster? How did you know we were in there?" I question her. Neither of us told our plan to anyone else. And I know Dean has a big mouth but why would it be a Bella that he tells? It'd be Roman.

"Oh!" says Nikki as if just getting what I dragged her in here for. "I thought it was that at first but then Dean kept looking at me like as if I was guilty of something which made me think it might be something else," she says quickly as us two just stand there and take it in.

"Quit your yapping and give us some answers," says Dean, Nikki crossing her arms over her chest and sending him a small glare. She should know that won't do anything. I better help her out.

"Dean," I say his name, turning my head slightly in his direction. I don't even need to say anything further; he knows what he needs to do. We can't waste a lot of time here either. We need to find Roman, let him know what we know and then I need to go and see Randy. We need to get the other stuff set up too.

"Please," Dean adds on, although it sounds anything but pleasant. That's the best Nikki's going to get though so she might as well take it.

"Alright, fine. I was walking down the hallway, minding my own business, when I saw Dean push you in and go in himself," Nikki explains simply and I give him a look. He always thinks he's great when it comes to covert ops but he loses focus as soon as he's achieved his goal.

"She's a sneaky witch," Dean defends himself, Nikki letting out a gasp. Now I have to deal with two kids who don't like each other. Just great (!) If I ever have Dean's kid then he or she will probably be a nightmare. Let's hope they take after their Mother.

"You take that back!" says Nikki, pointing her finger at Dean, the one thing she should stay away from. It's the only thing that can make a situation ten times worse when saying something to Dean, using the finger to tell him off.

"Guys, come on," I say, deciding to get in the middle of it. "So, you stuck around to see if we'd come out?" I go on to ask Nikki and she nods her head.

"I thought you'd come out quick but you were in there for a while so I decided to leave and catch you later," Nikki starts to finish explaining the rest of the story. "I was heading to the ring when I saw Kane, I heard him say he was going to his locker room. So I purposely bumped into him and then started to yell," she goes on to say as I stand there in disbelief. She purposely yelled at Kane knowing what he's like?

"You seriously did that?" I ask Nikki, even though I could hear her say some things to him before he came into the locker room.

"Well yeah," says Nikki, a smile overcoming her face. "At first I was so really scared but then I guess the adrenaline started to run through because I was doing it as if he's no one scary, you know?" she says and I nod my head with a smile on my face. "Plus, there were so many people around at the ring. So he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to," she says, being aware of her surroundings.

"If you were too busy yelling then how did you call Ari?" asks Dean, raining on Nikki's parade which I can tell she does not appreciate one bit.

"He walked off in anger and I knew where he was going so I called Ariana and let her know," says Nikki as if it's obvious. "Then I went after him and berated him for bumping into a lady and not apologising. Then of course he yelled at me to leave him alone and disappeared inside," she says, looking like she's thinking real hard. "He didn't catch you guys did he?" she asks in concern and I shake my head.

"Your distraction and phone call gave us enough time to hide," I explain, nodding my head in approval. "Thank you so much Nikki, we would have been dead if you hadn't done that," I say and she nods her head, telling me that's what friends do. "Dean?" I say his name and look at him.

"Yeah, thanks," says Dean, probably still depressed that someone caught us sneaking in. Not only that but it was Nikki out of all people. And she managed to come up with a way so that we don't get caught. Smart and quick thinking on her part.

"No problem," says Nikki with a smile on her face, giving me a look. "Did you train him?" she asks me in a low whisper and I shake my head at her, trying not to laugh. "What I don't understand is why you two were rooting around Kane's things," she makes an observation, looking between the both of us.

"Mind your own business wench," comments Dean and I use my hand to hit his arm.

"Be nice," I say, shaking my head. Why's he gotten all moody all of a sudden? "We have a feeling Kane's up to something and wanted to see if we could find anything to either confirm or deny our suspicions," I tell her openly, she's not going to blab to anybody. And she's a friend.

"Oh god, I hope he's not. You guys and Iris could do without it," says Nikki and I'm glad she didn't ask any more questions. I don't know whether we should tell anybody what we found so I would have just lied to her. "Can I go eat now?" she asks and I move to the side so she can get to the door.

"Oh and Nikki," I say, stopping her from opening the door. She turns her head to look back at me. "If Kane throws a bobby pin at you then please just take it and glare at him or something," I advise her. Obviously he hasn't said anything to her yet otherwise she would have mentioned it.

"A bobby pin? Why?" asks Nikki and I shake my head. This isn't something I can honestly stand here and talk about at the moment.

"Don't ask, just do it please?" I ask Nikki and she nods her head, leaving from there. "Now, eat and then deal with Randy?" I go on to ask Dean who nods his head.

"And find Roman and tell him," Dean reminds me as I open the door to the room. I don't know where Roman is, it's unusual that we haven't seen him all day. We didn't see him much yesterday either. I wonder where he keeps disappearing off to. Or maybe it's Paige that's distracted him from us. That's not a bad thing. Except right now when we have something important to tell him.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I leave Seth in the kitchen and make my way up to my room. I kind of feel bad for him. He got slapped after all and he looks so incredibly heartbroken. But he was responding back to me so it's a good thing Iris caught us. I would have hate to have blackmailed him with the tape from the hidden video camera. If Seth couldn't keep his hands off of me he would have put his hands on someone else.

"It's done," I say to him as soon as he picks up. "Iris even caught us so we don't need to worry him with pictures," I then explain, my heart beating fast as I wait for his response.

 _"_ _Really? Amazing job,"_ he says on the other end, obviously sounding more than happy. _"What's going on now?"_ he then asks me. I wonder what his instructions will be next.

"Iris has broken up with him and I can see her start to pack things from my room," I then explain, hearing a content sigh on the other end. This is what he wanted and this is what he's getting.

 _"_ _What about Seth?"_ he questions me, that being of a big interest to him. Of course he'd be too. He did say that Seth is the one person that can convince Iris of anything. I saw it myself when Iris caught us together and chose to believe Seth. This time though, I've made sure he stays here with me so he can't convince her otherwise.

"Seth is downstairs in the kitchen, he's pretty distraught," I tell it as I see it. He does look pretty sad.

 _"_ _Get rid of him because I am on my way, we have plans to make,"_ he says. All he does is bark out orders? He never stops to think about what I want. Then again, why would he? He has Mom.

"What? How am I supposed to do that?" I snap at him. You'd think since he has Mom I'd be a little nice to him, well I'm not going to. "It's not like he can go to his house considering Iris is over there and if I send him there who knows what'll happen. They might even start to patch things up!" I go on to explain. The last thing I need is for all my hard work to go down the drain.

 _"_ _Hmm, good point,"_ he says on the other end. _"Looks like I'm rubbing off on you,"_ he comments at which I let out a snort.

"I don't think so, I'm not evil," I retort, shaking my head. I am nothing like him. In fact, I don't think anyone in this world is like him.

 _"_ _I take that as a compliment,"_ he says to me. _"Ok, be nice to Seth and let him pass out from the GBH. Then message me when that happens and I'll be there in five minutes,"_ he says, barking out more orders. I feel like a puppet.

"Oh, another thing," I say, deciding to bring it to his attention. "He…didn't take the GBH, it's still in his wine glass," I point out. He's going to get mad isn't he? Because Seth won't pass out since he hasn't had the drink containing the GBH.

 _"_ _So he went with you of his own free will?"_ he asks me and my silence confirms the answer to that question because the next thing I hear is a laugh on the other end. _"Even better. Just make him take the GBH anyway and have him knocked out. We'll take it from there,"_ he says and cuts the call. I roll my eyes and look up to see Iris close the curtains, looking directly at me. Busted! Oh well, it's not like as if she can read my mind. Plus, she will hate me considering me and Seth were about to do the dirty behind her back.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I look around wondering what's taking Isabel so long. I can't help but think about what it is that she's doing upstairs. I still can't believe she's falling for it all. She must be more desperate than I thought. I hear footsteps and quickly put on a sad face. My face is going to be tired after all this.

"Sorry I took so long, a friend of mine called and I hadn't spoken to her in ages," says Isabel as I keep my gaze on the table. "Here, I got us our wine too," she says with a smile and sets it in front of me. The wine that has something mixed inside of it. Shit.

"Uh, thanks," I say, determined not to drink it. I look at her and she sits back down, taking a sip of her own wine.

"You know Seth, maybe what happened was for the best. Maybe you guys aren't meant to be together," Isabel explains to me, giving me hopeful glances. If she thinks I'd ever want to be with her after everything she pulled then she's got another thing coming.

"I don't know, maybe we were and I screwed it up," I state. That's probably the most likely cause of us not working out in the future. Although I'm determined to ensure it never happens.

"Seth, I hate to break it to you," starts Isabel and I know she doesn't really hate it. "But you guys don't belong together," she says, placing a hand on my hand. Of course she'd say that. She wants me all to herself. "The only reason you were with her was because of Evan otherwise you would have been with someone else. Think about it, if it didn't work out the first time then why on earth would it work out again?" she goes on to question. Maybe because I'm not going to screw up? I can't say that to her though.

"I don't know," I say with a sigh, running a hand through my hair. I get up and pick up the wine glass, walking around the kitchen trying to think of a way to get rid of it. "Iris is perfect for me in every way. She listens to me, always cares about my happiness, gave me a son. She's amazing," I list her qualities for Isabel to listen to. Maybe for once she'll feel guilty and actually do the right thing. I still can't believe she didn't realise what she blabbed to me.

"Obviously that wasn't enough otherwise you wouldn't have come here," says Isabel and I feel her hand on my shoulder. I close my eyes for a few seconds.

"Isabel, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better," I start, turning around to face her. "But it's not going to change anything. I screwed up, big time. And now I've lost the person who loved me the most," I go on to say. I sure hope I never do screw up.

"Here, have some of your wine," encourages Isabel and it makes me think why she still wants me passed out. In her eyes me and Iris are over, there's no need for this anymore. Why does she need me to get knocked out?

"Ok," I say, knowing I have to keep up appearances. "But you might want to get the rest of the bottle," I then state and she nods her head with a smile.

"Be right back," says Isabel. As soon as she leaves I quietly throw the wine down the sink. I then stand back in my position and put my lips to the glass just in time for Isabel to walk back in with a victory smirk on her face. "Wow, you really went to town on that thing," she comments, looking happy.

"Well when a man loses everything, sometimes only a drink can help," I say and gesture for her to pour some more wine into my glass. She does so happily and I know there's probably still remains of the GBH in my glass but it shouldn't be enough to knock me out. Enough to make me woozy so Isabel believes I'll be going down without that actually happening.

"Cheers," she says, clinking her glass against mine and this time I actually do drink the wine.

"This wine is really good," I comment and she sits on the kitchen counter as I continue to stand.

"I knew you'd like it," comments Isabel and then gestures for me to come close to her. I move forward and stand in front of her, feeling kind of woozy as planned. But I have to bear it, especially since I don't think I've mastered the art of pretending to faint or anything.

"What's up?" I ask her my eyes feeling kind of droopy as I shake my head.

"This," says Isabel and before I know it she's smashed her lips to mine. I try to protest but she slips her tongue into my mouth, holding on to me with her arms for dear life. I don't kiss her back because this is wrong on so many levels. Instead, I push her back as she looks on at me in shock.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"I still don't understand what he wants with that sock," says Dean, pacing our hotel room as I sit on the coffee table, both of us waiting for Roman to get back. Since we had time we thought we might as well try to figure out what the deal is with Kane and the sock. But neither of us can come up with an explanation that actually sounds realistic.

"And why he's got it hidden in his locker room," I remind Dean, shaking my head. "But I think I know what we should do," I then say to him and he gives me a curious look. "We need to investigate further. We need a couple of days off," I go on to say. "We could go to our apartment in Vegas and just relax a little. You can get someone to keep an eye on Kane and we won't even get blamed for it if things get found out because we're not actually there," I go on to say, Dean looking unimpressed.

"That's your big plan?" asks Dean, stopping in the middle of the room, his tone letting me know just how stupid he thinks it is.

"You got a better one big boy?" I ask Dean, standing up and placing my hands on my hips. "The best way we can deal with Kane is by keeping an eye on him. We can't exactly go to our bosses and say get Kane arrested, we snuck into his locker room and found Evan's sock. He's planning on doing something evil with it," I say, emphasising just how stupid it sounds right now.

"We'll need to think of something better in the meantime," say Dean and I nod my head, that may be true. I look at my messages and see Stephanie has emailed me. She says I can come see her within the next hour. It's around 4 right now so I can discuss time off with her and then get back to sort out Randy.

"I'm going to go see Stephanie quickly, you stay here and wait for Roman. When he gets back, tell him what we're going to do and then get set up," I instruct him, pecking his lips quickly and leaving. Once out of the hotel I catch a cab and go to the arena, heading for Stephanie's office. I knock on the door and I get told to come in.

"Hey Stephanie," I say, walking in with a smile, one which drops slightly when I notice Hunter sitting there too. I don't mind the guy but I'll know he'll want more of a reason for why we'll be taking a couple of days off. "Hunter," I say his name, closing the door behind me.

"Please take a seat," says Stephanie, taking some papers off of Hunter. I take a seat next to him and sit up properly. Maybe I should have brought Dean and left Roman a note instead. "I don't have a lot of time today Ariana so if you could make it quick please," she then says.

"Yeah sure," I say, hating the fact that I have to get straight to the point. "I was just wanting to see if me, Dean and Roman could get the next couple of days off," I say to her, I include Roman because he might want to as well. Maybe I should have asked him first. It's his fault for going AWOL anyway so what do I care? I notice Stephanie glance at Hunter.

"Why do you need a couple of days off?" questions Stephanie, putting the papers down and focusing all her attention on me.

"Just, something personal," I say, deciding that we can't tell them anything. Instead, me and Dean will get yelled at for snooping around.

"You out of all people know you can't just demand days off without a just cause," Hunter intervenes, something which I was afraid of. Now what the fuck do I say? I can't lie. Well I could but that's not good character. Ok, how do I spin this then?

"I know, but I can't give you the reason," I say, standing firmly at that. "To be honest, I think we do deserve it anyway. When was the last time any of us had a good holiday anyway? The only thing we do is take breaks here and there upon request and this is one of those times," I say in a calm manner. I'm not going to argue with them because that would not work in my favour. We're literally working almost every night and they can't give us the next couple of days off?

"Ok," says Stephanie, giving Hunter a look which I think tells him to drop it. "You can have your couple of days off. I don't think we need you much for the house shows, you've done Smackdown and RAW. Consider this your good luck," she says and I nod my head. I thank her and get up to leave. "Oh and Ariana?" she calls out my name.

"Yes?" I ask, turning around to look at her.

"No funny business," Stephanie states and I nod my head, leaving the room. I let out a sigh and head back to the hotel. I don't tend to get nervous but when faced with both bosses, believe me it's hard not to. I've managed to give out some excuse at the moment but I'll need to be more careful in the future. Then again, I doubt there will be any issues like this once we've sorted out Kane.

* * *

 **Reviews would be lovely! :)**


	54. Missed Opportunities

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, here's the next chapter. Sorry, I know it's a day late. But, it is my longest chapter for this story so hopefully that makes up for it. Some of you might hate me by the end but, ah well. Also, I am going on a mini holiday to London to see family for a week so there will be no updates till next weekend. Sucks, I know. But, in my defense I haven't left things on a cliffhanger :)**

* * *

 **PunkShieldGirl: Haha! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Aw, don't worry. They're as strong as ever. You thought just like Seth ;) I don't even remember if you have. That's how many times you've guessed! Lol. Thanks my love :) Xx**

 **Debwood-1999: Yeah well the sock thing is weird. I think after this chapter you might go on a rant because of what happens. So, apologies in advance. Triple bomb? Now that's an idea. Haha! I like that, daughter of either Hunter or Kane. That would be something. Dude, I totally love what you come out with! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 54:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"Did Roman come back?" I ask Dean, walking into our hotel suite. Dean shakes his head, still in the same place I found him in.

"What do we do?" asks Dean, standing up from the couch. "We have an hour and a half till you have to see Randy and he's nowhere to be found," he then says, running a hand through his hair. "You think he's hiding something from us again?" he then goes on to ask me.

"No, it's Roman," I say, even though he is still hiding what happened between him and Kane. "He wouldn't hide anything more from us," I say, realising that Dean's thinking about the same thing that I am.

"Ok, then where the fuck is he?" says Dean, being sceptical as usual. He's asking me as if I've got a tracker on Roman and know his exact whereabouts. But I understand his annoyance too, we need him for what's going to take place at seven.

"He's your best friend, not mine," I say, walking over and sitting down on the couch. However, something on the table catches my eye. "Did you order food?" I ask, noticing plastic bags on the table.

"I thought we could have dinner before you have to face Randy, that way you can actually vomit something on him when you see his face," answers Dean, making me burst out in laughter. I pat the seat next to me and he sits down.

"I love you Ambrose," I say, shaking my head and placing my arm around his neck. I place a kiss on his cheek and then reach over the table, plating our food up for us. Hmm, Mexican. I like.

"How are we going to change our plans?" asks Dean as I look on at him in disgust. No matter how much I love the man, I still find his eating habits beyond disgusting. I should get an award for putting up with that. Like he should for putting up with my attitude I guess.

"You leave that up to me," I say, a smirk on my face as I easily think about an alternative. We didn't specifically need Roman, just a third body. Roman would be ideal because he's our friend, cares about Iris and knows everything. But he's not the only one.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

I give Seth a questioning look after he pushes me back. I couldn't help it. He was standing right here and he looks so good. And it's not wrong since him and Iris have broken up. Why doesn't he want me?

"Seth what's wrong?" I ask him in concern, he wanted this before and now that he's getting it he's pushed me back? It doesn't make sense. He's intoxicated so he should be more willing, not less. I thought once I drug him it would be easier.

"I," starts Seth but then he holds onto his head. I jump off the counter in concern but before I can do anything he's fallen on the floor and passed out.

"Damn it," I say to myself. I should have held off on giving him the GBH, then maybe me and him could have done a lot more. He probably pushed me off because he got a headache from the stuff. I sigh to myself and take my time getting him to sit up. Once he's leaning against the lower kitchen cupboards I start to think about how to move him. I hear a knock on the kitchen door and know who that is. I walk over and open the door. "Hey," I say to him, finally he's arrived.

"Hello," he says with a smirk on his face. He walks in without an invitation and I hear him chuckle. "That stuff works quick doesn't it?" he asks and then goes over. He props Seth onto his feet and I follow him as he takes Seth to the living room and lets him fall onto the couch.

"Thanks," I say, glad that at least Seth won't wake up on an uncomfortable floor. He won't end up with a sore back either.

"Now, let's get to business," he says and motions for me to follow him. He leads the way to the kitchen and I glance at Seth one last time before following him. "I am very happy with what you've done Isabel," he tells me and I nod my head as we stand opposite each other.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I open my eyes after they've left the room. I can't believe they fell for it. I actually was woozy and me dropping was definitely the GBH but I haven't actually gone unconscious. I could hear their voices but it was difficult to make out what they were saying. But, right now I'm more aware. I take out my phone and message the girls to let them know he's here. The guy that's been trying to break us up is here.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"Are you alright? Your voice sounds terrible," I point out to him. He does not sound like himself at all. If he called me right now, I wouldn't be able to guess who he was.

"Don't worry about me, this day has been the greatest day of my life," he says and then towers over me. "You've gotten done exactly what I wanted," he says, looking happy with himself for getting me to do all this.

"Now you have to give me what I want," I say to him and he nods his head. I did not do all of this for no reason whatsoever. I want what I get out of this deal.

"No problem," he says and takes out his phone. He talks to the guy on the other end and a smile erupts onto my face as I hear the conversation, finally! I am so sorry to have to have done all this to Seth but what I'm getting in return is more than worth it.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Nikki Bella?" asks Dean, looking on at me in disbelief as I walk through the hotel room with Nikki in tow. "When you said you're going to get a third body like we needed, I thought you'd bring someone more useful," he says, Nikki letting out a gasp. My fiancé cannot get along with anyone. I conclude it.

"Excuse me, if it wasn't for me then you'd have already been caught by Kane and gotten suspended already!" exclaims Nikki, shaking her head. She looks at me and I give her a look which tells her to try and bear with him.

"Look guys, I don't have time for any bickering," I announce, not putting myself in the middle. "Dean, you're going to have to accept Nikki's part of the plan since she already knows we snuck into Kane's locker room. She's useful if we use her right. And Nikki?" I say, turning to look at her. "I am so sorry for all the crap Dean is going to throw at ya," is all I say because there's nothing more I can do.

"It's fine Ari, I've dealt with many assholes before. What's another one?" she says casually, making me let out a snicker.

"Very funny (!)" says Dean, taking this whole operation way too seriously. He acts as if he's in charge and we're supposed to do what he says. But the funny thing is, he's not and we don't. Which is just pissing him off.

"Nikki, can you give us a second," I say to her and she nods her head. I grab Dean's hand and drag him out of the room, taking him to the stairs. "Dean, what the fuck is wrong with you? Nikki's chosen to help us and you have to treat her like a human being," I instruct him but he just lets out a scoff.

"What we're doing, it's everything to do with my sister. We can't allow any fuck ups. What if she accidentally spills something? Then we're all fucking toast!" says Dean and it becomes clear his main concern here is Iris and Evan. He wants to protect them.

"You don't need to worry about that. Me and you are here to make sure Nikki doesn't screw up," I explain to him in a calm manner. The only way I need to use right now. "She understands how serious this situation is. Just give her a chance. And don't worry, nothing will happen to Evan and Iris. Right?" I say, moving in to give him a hug. I feel Dean nod his head and we go back to our suite. Hopefully, this will run smoothly.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Ok, he's there. Now what do we do?" I question Angie from my bed, running a hand through my hair. Do we go over there and confront them or wait till Seth does something?

"We go over there and catch him, obviously!" she says, getting up with Evan in her arms, clearly forgetting about my baby. I don't want him anywhere near danger.

"What if he's dangerous?" I ask, analysing the obvious risks that she isn't. Angie just sees that we've reached a goal and then goes for it. But we can't do that, especially not in this case because we don't know who the person is.

"Iris, there's me, you and Seth to fend him off," Angie points out confidently. "Plus, it doesn't matter that Isabel's there because she doesn't have a backbone when she's confronted. She barely got by last time and this time we'll decimate her," she explains to me, my doubts still clouding my judgement.

"I'm not sure," I say, shaking my head. We have no idea what this guy is like. He can come out with anything that none of us expected.

"Fine, if it makes you feel any better then I'll ring Neil and he'll come over," says Angie, handing Evan over to me and taking out her phone, dialling his number. That would make me feel better actually. The more bodies the better and since everyone else has gone off to the other house, we need someone else.

"Won't he be at work?" I question her. I'm sure he's not been around because of that.

"So? He'll run straight over," she says, shrugging her shoulders. I give her a you-guys-are-so-in-love look and she laughs. "Stop looking at me like that," she tells me off before talking to him on the phone.

"What about Evan?" I ask her, bouncing him up and down in my arms. "There is no way we are taking him over there, something could happen to him. And we can't leave him here alone either". Maybe sending everyone away wasn't the best idea.

"Bring him, but stay directly behind me, alright?" instructs Angie but I give her a hesitant look. "Look, don't worry. They're in the kitchen. If we obstruct one door, then he'll try and escape through the other. Not to mention there's 4 of us now, just stay behind us all and everything will be fine," she reassures me and I nod my head. I kiss the top of Evan's head, feeling nervous about this whole thing. Or maybe I'm just worried to find out who this person is that's playing games with us.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"Happy?" he asks me and I nod my head as he puts his phone away. "Now, what to do with that bozo?" he goes on to question. He really isn't happy with Seth is he? He always talks about him with disdain in his voice.

"What? No, you said you'd leave Seth alone after this!" I say in shock. The only reason I did this was because he promised all we'd do is break them up and then he would relish in the consequences. He didn't say anything about doing anything to Seth.

"You really think I'm going to leave him all alone after he's spent so much time with Iris?" he questions me and then shakes his head. Does he think Iris's influence has ruined Seth or something?

"Why don't you just stick to what you have to do and I'll take care of Seth?" I suggest to him, asserting myself. I know the one thing he can't be bothered to do is waste time here. He has more important things to do.

"I'd be tempted to say no but you're right, I'm not going to waste any more time on that weasel. He can just drown in his sea of regret," he says and I cross my arms over my chest. He is so completely wrong about Seth.

"He has nothing to regret, we made him do this," I state honestly. We forced Seth to make a move on me and betray Iris. If it wasn't for me they'd still be together and I wouldn't be forced to feel so guilty. When Seth first came, I'm not going to lie I wanted him. But when I saw him with Iris, I realised I needed to step back and let him live his life. If it was meant to be then him and Iris wouldn't last long.

"Don't tell me you actually feel guilty?" he asks me with a chuckle. Of course I feel guilty, I never wanted any part of this. Although, when I got close to Seth I can't say my intentions stayed pure. I did get carried away.

"Of course I do, Seth has always been a great friend of mine and despite the fact that I like him more than a friend, I never wanted this," I say, shaking my head. I was forced to do this. "I wanted to leave them be and I would have too if…" I trail off, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

"If I hadn't come and made you do it right?" he asks but I know he doesn't care. He doesn't care about emotions. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. As long as he gets what he wants, everyone else can screw themselves.

"They were happy together," I state with a small smile. Iris, Seth and Evan. They always looked cute together. But I've ruined that now. "Seeing him with her was hard but the smile on their faces, it was genuine. And you made me destroy that," I say, upset and disappointed with myself. But I can't forget why I did this.

"Don't get all emotional now," he says, letting out a laugh. "Save it for when your Mother gets back," he says but I ignore him. My Mother. The reason I did all this. At first he only threatened me with my Mom, but the last couple of days, he's had her. I don't even know how she is. At least before I could say Seth wouldn't fall for my charms but this time I had to make sure he would. Otherwise I'd never see my Mom again. "She's on her way to you after I made that phone call so you can focus on her. And Seth," he says with a wink.

"Like as if I can ever have Seth after what I pulled," I say, shaking my head. Even if Seth did decide to give us a shot, I would never be able to live with him knowing what I did to his relationship with Iris. But my Mother is all I have left so I had to do this.

"I don't care what you're going to do after this," he then says to me. "I've got what I wanted," he says with a smirk. Both our faces drop when we hear something fall. I look to the door as does he, slowly putting the hood back over his head. "You sure he got the GBH?" he then asks me.

"He drank it right in front of me," I state firmly. There's no way Seth's up and secretly wandering around. But then, if it's not him, who could it be?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Thanks for doing this Nikki," I say, walking through the hotel with her. "Dean's just protective when it comes to Iris and Evan. He actually sees them as family," I say, trying not to let the smile that wants to make a home on my face stay.

"I get that; he just needs to trust me more. But I get it, it's difficult to with my track record," says Nikki, referring to the whole Total Divas thing a few months ago. At least she has admitted her mistake, apologised and tried to make up for it. I think that's what Iris always sees in people. It wouldn't hurt for the rest of us to act the same.

"What the hell is she doing here?" asks Randy, looking at us with an unhappy look on his face. Dean's a smart cookie. Randy said Dean can't accompany me so I brought along someone who he shouldn't have any issues with. The original plan included Roman being a part of it but he's AWOL so here we are.

"You only said I couldn't bring Dean," I state, Randy's eyes narrowing at my loophole. "So I brought someone else instead," I say with a smile on my face as I look at Nikki.

"I think I'm a better partner anyway," says Nikki, a smile on her face too, Randy looking between the both of us. Like I said before, I am so not stupid to meet him all alone.

"You can't do this," says Randy, me and Nikki crossing our arms over our chest. "I wanted to talk to you alone Ariana, why was that so hard to do?" he goes on to question me.

"Why? Anything you say to me is going to be relayed to my fiancé as well as my friends," I tell him truthfully, that's a fucking given. "And after last time when you groped and kissed me against my will, how could you possibly think I would want to meet you on my own?" I ask, truly amazed at the common sense this guy clearly doesn't have.

"If she stays, then I'm leaving," Randy then says, after thinking about it for a couple of minutes. I look at Nikki with a frown, I didn't anticipate this. Or is he bluffing?

"Fine, then leave," I say, calling out his bluff. Randy looks at me surprised but I keep my ground and give him a nonchalant look. He looks to be thinking for a couple of seconds but then makes for the door. What the fuck? He wasn't bluffing.

"Wait," says Nikki, sending me an apologetic look. "I'll go," she says, Randy turning around with a content look. I swear to god I will have no problem using anything in this room to kick the shit out of him. "But I'm waiting outside," she warns him, giving me a look that tells me to shout for her if need be. She then opens the door and leaves from there.

"Why do you have to be such an asshole?" I ask him casually, keeping my eyes on him as well as anything that seems weird in this room.

"No offence, but I'd rather talk to you alone then have another person yelling in my ear," explains Randy, his hands out in front of him. "And, it means there are no witnesses," he adds on in a low voice.

"There may not be any witnesses but I'm warning you if you try anything with me, anything, then you won't even see the beating I have for you coming. Last time I was unprepared. This time, I know exactly what I'm dealing with. You never know Randy, I might have a knife in my boot," I warn him, seeing nervousness settle in on his face. He knows I'm not beyond it.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything like I did last time. Trust me," says Randy, that last comment eliciting a scoff out of me. Men like Randy Orton can never be trusted.

 _"That asshole can't ever be trusted,"_ I hear Dean's voice as I keep the smirk that's threatening to appear on my face, hidden. Me and my fiancé think alike. Another one of Dean's ideas. If no one can be in the room with me, then he'll be there but just won't be seen.

"Just tell me what it is you need to tell me," I say with a sigh. I just want this over with so I can find out what I need to know so I can plan my next move.

"Fine, it's not like I want to do anything else anyway," says Randy which is a new thing for him. He normally stalls as much as he can so he can stay in the room with me longer. "Look, you need to warn Iris of Kane," he then tells me, an automatic frown appearing on my face.

"What's he trying to do?" I ask directly, Randy looking around as if there could be someone here.

"I don't know exactly," answers Randy at which I'm not impressed at all. He wants to tell me something about Iris but he doesn't even know what it is?

"I'm confused, what the fuck am I doing here if you don't even know what's going on?" I ask, trying to sort my mind out. What the hell is going through his brain?

"Kane is being kind of cryptic but from what I've gathered he's got something in place, something to help ruin Iris's life," says Randy, the sock coming to my mind. He isn't planning on taking Evan is he? That would ruin her life. Or parting her from Seth. Wait a second, he could be in cahoots with Macy. I'm going to have to warn Iris.

"I think everyone knows he would do anything to ruin her life, give me something else here Orton," I say, keeping a close eye on him.

 _"It sounds to me like he's bullshitting. I mean, he wanted you alone for that?"_ asks Dean incredulously. _"This doesn't sound planned,"_ he says, something which I agree with. Has he called me down here on a whim? To mess around with me?

"I don't know what else to say," says Randy and I begin to wonder if this is the first time in his life that he's being truthful. "You need to keep an eye on Iris. I'm doing what I can to find out what's going on. But he's not letting up, I don't think he trusts me. Or anyone for that matter," he explains, that being unusual. Kane not trusting Randy. "I know he's wanted to separate Iris and Seth as soon as he heard they were back together. But again, he's not told me how he's going to do this," he further explains.

 _"This is one shit message slash warning,"_ comments Dean with a sigh as I hold in a chuckle.

"So, what can I do?" I ask Randy, wondering what he wants me to do with this not-so-helpful information.

"Stick close to Iris," answers Randy easily. "Wherever she is right now, keep a close eye on her. Kane's gone somewhere at the moment, he left pretty quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up where Iris is just to be two steps ahead," he explains, actually making sense. If he has disappeared, then Iris needs to be warned. Her and Seth both won't see whatever it is that Kane has coming. "And of course, I'll try and let you know about anything else I find out," he adds on, my eyebrows rising of their own accord.

"Thanks I guess," I say, giving him a surprised look. "Just a query, what's in it for you? Why are you helping us? Why are you helping Iris? No offence but you've never helped us in the past," I say, thinking about how Randy's has always tried to make our lives miserable.

"My reasons are my own," says Randy, not giving anything away. "That being said, I owe her one. I owe her for something a long time ago," he says as if thinking back to a different time. "See you around," he says, leaving the room, Nikki coming in immediately afterwards.

"Did he give you anything useful?" asks Nikki at which I finally nod my head. It may have been beyond cryptic but he's given me a few openings I can investigate.

"Yeah, he did," I say, taking my earpiece out and asking her to follow me back up to the suite. All we need to do is figure out our next move and if possible, Kane's.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I get up and here talking, I move towards the kitchen and stand in the hallway, listening to their conversation. I don't who the guy is that's speaking cause his voice sounds all groggy, like as if he's ill or something. I need to get a clear view of him. But I can't do that without them noticing me. I shake my head as I hear how Isabel did all this for Rita. At least I can find peace in the fact that she did this for her family, not because she wants me all to herself. I feel a hand on my back and jump out of my skin as a hand is placed on top of my mouth.

"Iris," I whisper, looking at her in relief. "What are you guys doing here?" I then ask, noticing Evan in Angie's arms standing next to Neil. Angie hands Evan to Iris and luckily he's a quiet kid otherwise we'd all be screwed right now. I've seen plenty of movies where the babies' screams result in the adult getting killed.

"We're going to confront the motherfucker," says Neil in determination. I couldn't agree with him more but right now I just realised something.

"I swear you're growing on him," I mutter to myself but Angie just shrugs her shoulders. "I can't see his face in there though," I inform them all. "Isabel would see me," I add on. How can we find out who it is if none of us can see him?

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" asks Iris with worry etched onto her face. If his voice didn't sound so horrible I probably could.

"None, it sounds like he has a cold so I can't even recognize his voice," I let them know. We just need to see his face so we can finally put this whole thing to rest.

"Damn it," says Angie, looking dejected. "Do we just charge in there then?" she asks with her hands on her hips. Before we can discuss it any further the vase next to us in the hallway falls down and smashes to the floor. We all look on in shock at what Evan had just done.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

"Hello? Anyone there?" I call out as he stands in the middle of the room. "I'm going to go check on Seth," I say and move to leave the room. I hope he's not woken up and is moving around, hurting himself in the process.

"Never mind that, I'm leaving," he states firmly and I nod my head. "Out the back," he adds on and makes his way to the back door of the kitchen, exactly where he came in from.

"Well get him!" I hear Angie's voice and freeze in my spot alarmingly. We both turn our head around and I look to see Seth and Neil come through the door, their eyes fixed on him. He quickly opens the door and gets out but Seth and Neil follow and chase after him. I stand there in confusion at what the hell is going on but as soon as Iris comes into view with Evan, I realize that I'd been set up. I thought I was playing with them but they were playing with me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Never mind that, I'm leaving," we hear the voice of the guy that's trying to ruin our lives. I feel relieved he won't get near me or Evan but at the same time I know something needs to be done so we know who he is. "Out the back," he says.

"We can't let him leave," I quickly speak up. This is our only chance to catch him. If we let him go then who knows what he'll do next.

"What do we do?" questions Neil and Angie slaps his arm as if to say that he's being stupid.

"Well get him!" she says loud enough for them to hear. Seth and Neil go forward with us behind him. I see the guy at the door but his hood is way too low for anyone to see what he looks like. He shoots off fast and the guys run after him. I notice Isabel standing there in shock and confusion which is cleared up as soon as she sees my face. Seth and Neil get back but the disappointment in their eyes makes it clear that they didn't manage to get the guy.

"What happened?" Angie questions them, walking right up to both the men. I think I know. He got away and we've lost our chance at finding out about the person hell-bent on ruining mine and Seth's life.

"He went through a couple of fences and we lost him," says Neil with a loud sigh. I guess it was a lot to ask for wasn't it? Considering the vase thing just turned everything to shit. We lost the element of surprise.

"Damn it!" curses Angie. Her gaze then shifts to Isabel who's standing there looking beyond scared. And she should be. After everything she's done. "You!" she says, walking forward and pointing a finger at her. "None of us ever thought you could stoop so low," she says, shaking her head.

"Angie," says Neil but she shakes her head. I think we're all more disgusted with her than we've ever been before.

"No," says Angie, keeping her eyes on Isabel. "She's been helping someone in trying to destroy Iris and Seth's lives and since he's managed to escape, she's going to tell us who it is," she says, grabbing Isabel by the arm who doesn't say a word. "Who is the fucker that you're helping?" Angie demands and although I don't approve of the method, I think it's needed. No more standing around and waiting for things to reveal themselves.

"I…I can't tell you," says Isabel, her eyes watering up and I hate myself for feeling sorry for her. Be strong Iris, this bitch has tried to destroy your family. That's not something I can forgive.

"Why the fuck not?" asks Angie in anger. I bet it's because she feels her life will be in danger if she does tell. Although if she doesn't then it still is because of Angie.

"Angie, let go of her," I say, being the voice of reason. She doesn't do what I say so I say her name again and she finally let's go of the grip she had on Isabel. Isabel's either going to tell us or not, no amount of grabbing her arm will change that.

"If I tell you, he'll kill Mom," says Isabel, tears flowing down her eyes. "I'm sorry everyone, I really didn't want to do this," she says and then looks at Seth. "I really have always wished you and Iris all the happiness in the world. Heck, you did that for me and David," she explains, shrugging her shoulders. "For the last few days he's had Mom and he's only just decided to let her go. I-I can't let him take her away again, I'm sorry," she cries, looking down at the floor once again. I understand that but that doesn't make things right. Not in the slightest.

"We would have helped," states Seth, looking at Isabel. "We would have helped," he repeats and then shakes his head and walks out. Sensing he needs me I follow him out of the house.

"Seth," I say his name and he stops. "Are you going to be ok?" I ask him in a soft voice, concerned for him. He always thought of Isabel as a good friend and I think he saw a little bit of himself in her. That's why he's been so lenient but things have changed now.

"How can I not be when I have you two?" he says, turning around with a small smile. "I'm just beyond disappointed," he says, taking Evan out of my arms and holding him close. He kisses the top of Evan's head and a small smile appears on my face.

"She couldn't help it Seth, her Mother is the only person she has," I remind him of the reasoning behind Isabel's reaction. "She said if it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have done anything". I don't know how any of us would have reacted in that situation but she still handled it badly.

"You can't really believe that Iris," says Seth with a bitter chuckle. "If she really didn't want to do it, she would have come up with ways to try and not do it. But she went ahead and tried to break us up, so many times," he says and then lets out a sigh. I let out a sigh myself because I feel like such an idiot for the next thing that's about to come out of my mouth.

"You'd do the same for Anne," I point out to him, shrugging my shoulders.

"Not like that," says Seth with contempt in his voice. "From now on, she means absolutely nothing to me. I want nothing to do with her, ever again," he says and gets a thinking look on his face. He goes back inside and I follow him, going to the kitchen where Isabel is crying with Angie towering over her.

"You are no friend of ours," says Angie. Are her tears even real? I don't know. She's not been my friend, she's been Seth and Angie's. They know how to deal with her.

"I agree," says Seth and all of them look in our direction. "You've done what you did and we're all disgusted. You're not the Isabel I cared for as a friend and you're certainly not the girl I once had feelings for," he says as I feel a stab of jealousy. Just thinking about Seth loving someone else doesn't sit well with me. "You're a disgrace and I don't want you anywhere near my family. When they all come back tomorrow, we're telling them everything and after that none of us ever want to see your face again," he says so calmly that I actually start to feel scared. Normally when he's angry, his voice is raised. He snaps. Right now, there's something different about it.

"Seth, don't you think that's a bit harsh?" I ask him, knowing full well how scared Isabel must have been without Rita. She panicked and did what she was told. She should have come to us for help but she didn't. That's where she failed.

"Harsh? Iris, if this girl succeeded you and Seth would have been heartbroken," Angie points out. That's true as well. She tried to break up my family with Seth and I have made myself a promise that I won't let it slide so easily.

"But she didn't," I then remind them all. "Despite what she or the guy that's doing this thought, my relationship with Seth is much stronger". I look over at Isabel and see surprise in her eyes as she looks at me. If she thinks that this means she's forgiven then she's wrong. The only reason I'm saying what I am is because her actions were partly because of the fact that she was blackmailed.

"Iris, I'm a nice guy. I always try to make sure people are treated fairly and all, but this is on a whole other level," says Neil, coming up to me. "She doesn't deserve once ounce of your compassion, not one. How many times have you given her the benefit of the doubt?" Too many times is the answer. I need to learn from my mistakes don't I? I keep trying to make sure everyone else doesn't make mistakes but here I am, still making my own.

"Leave it," says Seth, looking at Neil. "Iris is like this and you won't be able to change her mind," he says, his eyes on me now which makes me feel nervous. He doesn't approve. "Let's just get out of here, I don't ever want to be in this house or in her presence ever again," he says and one by one everyone walks out.

* * *

 **ISABEL POV**

Everyone walks out one by one and I close my eyes letting the tears fall. I haven't just lost friends today; I've lost my family. Why must life be so cruel? I get my Mother back but I lose everyone else. Once I open my eyes I see Iris standing there with a sad look as she watches me. The one person who should hate me the most is the one who's feeling sorry for me.

"I really am sorry," I tell her and she continues to stare at me, as if thinking about something.

"I don't forgive you," says Iris as I take in a sharp breath. "You know, I've never had a real, proper family in my life. Seth and Evan, they've given me that. They're more precious to me than anything else in the world and you tried to break that," she says. I think she needs to say this and I need to hear it. "I am not letting anyone take my family away from me, no matter what. For some reason, I do feel sorry for you. But that's my natural human instinct, it's how I am. I can't help it. But everything you've done, it's on you. If anything like this happened to me, Seth would be the first person I'd tell. Why? Because he's family. Something they all considered you as but don't anymore. And that's on you," she says, before shaking her head and leaving from there.

"Sorry," I say, it coming out as a whisper. Despite what she's just said I've realised one thing. Seth was right about her. She is very compassionate. She was standing against them today for me even though I don't deserve it. I never have. But I'm glad. I'm glad they didn't actually break up and are still together. He won't be happy about this but there's nothing more I can do. And I wish them all the happiness in the world because they both deserve it. I hope one day they are able to forgive me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I keep my eyes on Seth as I get ready for bed. Evan went straight to sleep as soon as I put him down. I go into the bathroom and do my toothbrush. For the first time I have no idea what to say to Seth. I've been trying to for the past few minutes but nothing seems to be coming out at all. What can I say? He feels to betrayed and hurt. It's hard to come to terms with.

"Hey," I hear his voice and see him standing at the door from the reflection in the mirror. I spit into the sink and then let the tap run, running my fingers underneath the cool water and then splashing my face with water. I grab the towel from the side and clean my face.

"Hey," I say, still looking at him in the mirror. "Is everything ok?" I ask him in concern. I honestly do not know what's going through his mind right now. Does he need me to reassure him that nothing bad will happen now? That he's a good friend even if Isabel's not? That despite what I saw when he was with Isabel I hold nothing against him?

"Fine," answers Seth before moving forward and wrapping his arms around me from behind. "I just missed you," he says, making me giggle. He can be so silly sometimes but I love him for it.

"I was gone for like 2 minutes," I say, shaking my head at his silliness.

"If it was up to her you'd be gone forever," says Seth, making me sigh. So that's what he's thinking about. The fact that there was a chance she could have succeeded in her plans and separated us both.

"Seth," I start, ready to reassure him, but he cuts me off.

"I know, I know," says Seth and I turn around in his arms. "I just…I hate to imagine what would have happened if she succeeded," he says, one hand playing with my hair. I think I forget sometimes just how much he cares for me and Evan.

"But she didn't," I remind him of the positive thing we have right now. "We're ok Mister Rollins," I say, wrapping my arms around his neck and placing a soft kiss on his lips. I don't think I can say anything to stop him from continuously going over everything in his head but I'm hoping I can distract him here and there.

"I know, I guess I just don't even want to think about you being away from me," he says, avoiding my gaze which makes me think he believes he's being stupid. Nothing he ever says or does will make me think he's stupid.

"Are you scared?" I ask him in a low voice and notice him getting alarmed. "It's ok Seth," I reassure him, running my hands up and down his back.

"I feel like an idiot, I shouldn't be scared," he says, shaking his head. I think he feels he shouldn't be because he's the guy in this relationship and he should be ready to fight things off. But I'm glad he's letting me know how he feels, instead of denying it.

"Look at me," I say and he does, his eyes gazing into mine. "People will always fear separation from the things they love. It's ok to be scared, I am too. I can't imagine ever being away from you, it scares me. But right now, you're here with me and that fear is nothing," I explain to him. Without warning he moves forward and envelopes me into a bone crushing hug.

"I don't ever wanna lose you," he says so lowly that I barely manage to hear it. I don't ever want to lose him either, the thought of it terrifies me. I wouldn't be able to cope with him leaving me again.

"You won't, I won't let you," I say with a small smile, wrapping my arms around him as well "I love you Seth, so much," I tell him, knowing he needs to hear that right now. I feel him relax against me which makes me feel a bit better too.

"And I love you," he says. I hope we can come away from this stronger than before. I never realized how much all of this really was affecting Seth but I'm glad he's revealed his feelings to me. And though a person out there doesn't want us together, we're with each other right now. Nothing will ever change that.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who reviews! Keep em coming! :)**


	55. Surprise Guests

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I'm back from my little holiday which I totally bloody needed. I'm roaring to get on with this story now! Haha! Summerslam this weekend, can't wait! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: That would one way to do it. Thank you so much! Glad you're enjoying it :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Paisley2: Damn, so sorry. Well I wanted to but then you'd get too much. Yeah, I thought it'd be good to bring another person into it, just for some freshness.  
Haha! I know what you mean ;)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 55:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"Well Randy was no fucking help," comments Dean as soon as me and Nikki walk through the door. "Like as if we'd let Iris loose around Kane anyway that he's saying to make sure to keep him away," he goes on to rant, talking more incoherent stuff to himself.

"At least he had the decency to warn you, even if it is insulting to you," says Nikki, placing her bag down on the couch and staying stood up like me and Dean.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask Nikki, tilting my head to the side as I look at her.

"Just that if he thought you wouldn't be keeping an eye on Kane or Iris for that matter, then he's insulting your intelligence. I mean, of course you'd keep an eye on her considering everything that she went through," says Nikki and I nod my head in agreement. If Randy actually thinks that then he's even more stupid than I thought.

"Randy's an idiot. We decided that a long time ago," I comment, rubbing my eyes and then placing my hands on my hips. "Question is, what the fuck do we do next?" I go on to say, glancing at Dean. Maybe he has an idea. My mind isn't working right now. Or maybe there is nothing to do.

"I want to know what this whole 'Owing Iris one' thing is," says Dean, facing both me and Nikki on the other side of the couch, near the table. "He said, he owes her one. That implies she did him a favour. What the fuck did she do for him?" he questions, that being a good and valid point. But I know enough to know Iris would never tell us. And I doubt we could guess it right.

"Does it really matter? If she has done him a favour, it's over and done with. No point bringing it back up," I explain to him, that not needing to be our focus right now.

"You need to focus on what you've been told," says Nikki, in agreement with me. "Randy was too cryptic but if something is going to happen, that Kane is planning, then everyone needs to be vigilant. Especially Seth and Iris," she explains and I nod my head. That's definitely true. "Maybe you should ring them and let them know what's going on," she suggests, both me and Dean looking at each other.

"I don't think that's a good idea," says Dean and I nod my head. They've gone to have some fun, to relax. We're not going to worry them further. Not after what Macy did to Iris.

"Agreed. They don't need the headache," I say, thinking about my own. All this Kane and Randy nonsense has honestly started to fry my brain. I've never done so much thinking in my life. "We'll tell them when they come back, not before," I add on, Dean nodding his head in agreement.

"Don't they need to know what's going on, what if they're ambushed or something?" asks Nikki, increasing my concern for Iris and Evan. But Seth is there too. He's protect them if need be. And his whole family is there. There are too many people for anyone to pull anything drastic.

"Which is why we're putting a tail on him," answers Dean, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's gone off and I've already got someone following him. He's in Iowa, but whether he's there because of Iris or something else, we'll have to wait to find out," he goes on to say.

"And Nikki, can you please keep this to yourself," I say, looking at her. She nods her head and says she will. "Thank you," I say to her and she steps in my direction, giving me a hug.

"Everything will be fine Ari, you'll see. If you need anything then I'm only a call away," says Nikki, rubbing my back with her hand before pulling away. She leaves the suite and me and Dean sit down next to each other on the couch.

"This is one of the most fucked up situations I have ever been in," says Dean, reaching forward and taking a swig of his beer. How the hell can you manage something when you don't even know what it could be?

"Amen to that," I say, taking the bottle off of him and taking a sip myself. How can you protect your friends when you're not sure what is going on? Maybe Roman will have some sort of a useful input. If the buffoon ever comes back from wherever the fuck it is that he is.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

I walk in to the suite when I'm met with two glares. Uh oh. They look like they mean business. I knew listening to Paige and keeping my phone on silent was going to bite me in the ass. I couldn't help it though. She's the girlfriend after all.

"What up guys?" I ask, sending a nod in their direction. I close the door behind me and they both glance at each other before glaring me down once more.

"What's up is that you've been missing for hours!" exclaims Dean, Ariana patting his leg to calm him down. Now, I know he doesn't care about me disappearing unless he wants something.

"And we couldn't get through to your phone," states Ariana, calmer than Dean. An annoyed Dean and a calm Ariana can only spell trouble. Nothing good ever comes out of it.

"I was with Paige and"- I don't even get to finish off my sentence because Dean goes off on one again. I swear I sometimes feel like I'm in a relationship with him.

"Ooh, you were with Paige! Well let's all stop living while you do that!" exclaims Dean, Ariana slapping his arm and putting him back in his senses. "What? We needed him today!" he says to her, confirming my earlier theory that he wanted me for something.

"Roman, honestly, you should have picked up at least one phone call," says Ariana, standing up, Dean mimicking her action. When Ariana says it like that it means something serious is going on.

"Paige made me put it on silent," I defend myself. And the fact that she dared me not to look at my phone during the time I spent with her. I didn't think it was a big deal because we were supposed to be doing coupley things together.

"That's a shit excuse dude," says Dean, plopping back down on the couch. Well it's going to take some time to get him to come around. I'll do it tomorrow because he is exhausting. Hats off to Ariana for being able to deal with him all the time.

"Can it Dean, we have bigger things to worry about," says Ariana, sending me a look which tells me I won't like to hear what she's going to come out with next. "I think you should sit down," she says and I know for a fact now that I won't like it. Ariana begins to tell me what they've been dealing with and I can't believe it. Well I can. Kane wants Iris gone. Completely. That's why we fought. Is he planning on luring her out somehow?

"Randy didn't say anything else?" I ask Ariana, looking up at her and she shakes her head. I keep calm and think of Iris and Evan, who need me not to go punching the living daylights out of either Kane or Randy. Kane for being such an asshole and Randy to get some extra information out of him.

"If you don't believe her then we've got it on tape," intervenes Dean cockily which lets me know he won't let any of this go so easily.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Yeah, you can listen to it yourself and see what you think if you want," I say to Roman, grabbing Dean's phone from the table. I press play for the recording and all of us sit there, listening to it intently. There could be something I might have missed out or something.

"I don't trust Randy," says Roman and both me and Dean nod out heads, neither do we. "What if Kane's put him up to this? To mess around with us?" he questions, another possibility. One that I never even thought of.

"We can't just ignore it though, something is going on," says Dean, too many unknowns factored into this equation. The major problem is; we don't know anything for sure. And that means we can only go on what possibilities are likely. Which seems to be too many.

"I think we should focus on how best we can keep Iris away from all of this rather than guess what Kane has planned," I give my opinion. We need to focus on how keep her and Evan safe.

"How the fuck can that work if Kane is in Iowa?" asks Dean, something that I'd forgotten. "We should tell Iris and Seth what's going on so they can stay safe," he gives his opinion but I shake my head.

"And worry them for no reason? Kane might not even go anywhere near them," I say, not wanting to mess up Iris's little holiday. It wouldn't be right to do that.

"Maybe we should tell Seth at least then," advises Roman which is a possibility. But then I realise one thing which I cannot agree upon because then I would be a fucking hypocrite.

"And have him hide things from her? That's not going to work," I say, shaking my head. If Iris finds Seth hiding secrets from her, she won't take it well. Especially since she reaches dramatic conclusions very easily. "I've managed to convince Stephanie and Hunter to give us a couple of days off. We should use this time to put our heads together and think of something," I explain to them both. This isn't as clear cut as I thought it could be.

"You've already managed to get us a couple of days off?" asks Roman and I nod my head. "Wow, you work quick," he says, eliciting a small chuckle from me. it should be enough for us to formulate some sort of a plan. Dean's phone buzzes in my hand and my eyebrows knit together in confusion as I see something about tracking someone.

"Dean, who the fuck is Elizabeth?" I ask, my anger levels rising as I realise he's been tracking the movements of some woman. I look at him and he opens and closes his mouth a few times before staying shut up. He's probably thinking of what he should say.

"What's going on?" asks Roman, looking over at me curiously. I show him Dean's phone.

"Dean has been tracking some chick," I answer plainly, turning to my fiancé in anger. "Who the fuck is she Dean?" I ask him through clenched teeth.

"Just some woman I know," says Dean, my insecurity levels rising as I start to think about what could be going on. No, he's not cheating. I refuse to believe that. He wouldn't. "You think I'm cheating don't you?" he asks, looking at me in disbelief.

"I never said that," I state. No one can control their thoughts of their feelings. That doesn't mean you use them to make sense of situations all the time. "I am going to ask you one last time, who the hell is this woman?" I ask with a glare on my face, warning him not to keep on dancing around the question.

"I can't tell you," says Dean and I let out a scoff. That seems to be his answer for a lot of things. I look at his phone once again and realise this girl is in Iowa, close to where Seth's parents' house is.

"This has something to do with Iris," I state in realisation and look back up at Dean. "Dean, tell me what the fuck is going on. If this has something to do with my best friend then I deserve to know," I say, feeling increasingly concerned for my best friend. Like as if having to worry about Kane wasn't enough, we got to worry about this now too.

"Dean, you're going to tell us everything. Now. Or regret it afterwards," threatens Roman as I continue to look at Dean. Why does this man have to hide something or the other from me?

"Fine," says Dean, probably noticing the concerned look on my face as well as Roman's threat. He begins to tell us what is going on and by the end I'm sitting down on the couch with my head in my hands. "You don't need to worry though, Iris and Seth have got it all covered with everyone over there. Things will be fine," he assures both me and Roman but I let out a scoff.

"When were you planning on letting us know about this?" I ask, lifting my head up. The way he avoids my gaze tells me everything I need to know. "You were just going to keep tracking this girl and hide everything from us? Have you not kept enough secrets?!" I yell before retreating to my bedroom. I can't believe him. He knows how important Iris is to me, she's family. Yet here he is keeping things about her from me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Why do I always get told off?" asks Mason, walking into the house as I stand there in the hallway with a smile on my face. Things will get back to normal in just a couple of minutes. Well more normal than they have been. "Iris, please get them to stop," he says, looking over at me as he sets his bags down.

"Mason, we've been together since we were 16, I think I know when you're acting up," says Marie in a taking-no-crap tone. He must have done something silly again. "You stole the chocolate from Lily and upset her," she accuses of him. That sounds like...something he would definitely do.

"We haven't been in here 2 seconds and already you've started something," says Nick, rolling his eyes at his brother who doesn't seem the least bit bothered.

"I have a surprise!" I quickly say when they all start to talk.

"Oh, have you?" asks Annette and I nod my head with a smile. "Well what is it dear?" she asks me, all of them giving me their attention with curious looks.

"Wait, where's Rose and Damien and the little ones?" I question just as I see Rose and Damien walk through the door. "Lily and Lacey?" I ask, figuring everyone might as well be present.

"Sleeping in the car, I will bring them in a few minutes," answers Damien and I nod my head. Poor girls are probably knocked out.

"Ok, well they can get surprised later," I say and look to see questioning looks on everyone's faces. "Uh, everyone, this won't be something you'll expect and I know it'll come as a huge shock but here goes nothing," I warn them and then step to the side to reveal Macy standing behind me.

"What?" says Rose and I hear gasps from a few of them. "What is she doing here?" Rose asks in an unhappy tone. Maybe I should have explained things first?

"Wow, thought someone would at least be happy to see me," Macy mutters to me. I shake my head and get everyone into the living room. Seth and Angie also come as well and we explain to them everything that happened.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Ari," Dean says my name, walking into our bedroom. I turn my body away from him from where I'm sat on the edge of the bed. He might not see this whole thing as a big deal but it is. It is to me. But he never seems to get that. "Look, I'm sorry I hid everything from you but I couldn't tell you," he says at which I let out a scoff. That is the biggest bunch of bullshit I have ever heard.

"You know what Dean? That is a repetitive line I keep hearing from you," I say, getting to my feet as I turn to look at him. "What is it about me that stop you from sharing things with me?" I question, my hands waving about.

"Ari, it's not you," says Dean with a sigh and then rubs the back of his head. "I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to worry you. It's not like I love hiding things from you," he says and I shake my head at that. I completely disagree with that last statement.

"Really? Because your actions show otherwise," I say, trying to keep my anger in check but being unsuccessful at the moment. "You know what Dean; I try so hard to make sure you know everything that's important. I always make sure anything we decide we do together," I explain to him, looking into his eyes.

"I know," says Dean, his eyes going to the floor. He should be ashamed of himself.

"Wanna know why?" I ask Dean, his eyes meeting mine once more. "So pricks like Randy can't take advantage of things we hide from each other in order to make us fight. He did that last time, any other person could do it too. And you're just hell-bent on making sure that happens don't you?" I say, crossing my arms over my chest. It's like sometimes this relationship doesn't mean that much to him and that hurts me.

"Look, we understand each other well. You know I'll only hide something if it's life and death, not because I want to," Dean defends his side but I don't see this situation as that.

"Not wanting me to worry is life and death?" I ask, finding the whole thing ludicrous. "I just don't understand you at all sometimes Dean. When you found out I hid the fact that Randy was hitting on me and even made a couple of passes, you were beyond pissed. I thought I was trying to save our relationship by hiding but in the end realised if I wanted to save us, I couldn't keep big secrets. Now it seems like you gave me a headache for no reason since you're doing the same," I point out to him. He was so mad when things finally surfaced and it took him a while to get over it. He made me promise not to hide big things in the future. Yet here he is, doing it himself.

"That was different, he was trying to take what's mine. This has nothing to do with us or our relationship," says Dean and once again I shake my head.

"Hypocrite," I comment, shrugging my shoulders because that's all it is. "You expect me to be open and honest with you but refuse to do the same? Iris is my sister. She's family. I thought you out of all people would understand just how important she is to me," I say, grabbing my jacket from the bed. "You can sleep on the couch tonight," I comment, leaving the room to go for a walk.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Oh my," says Anne and walks over to Macy, hugging her tightly as I watch on with a smile. "We are so sorry my dear, you tried to tell us and we didn't believe you," she says, her hand over her mouth. Macy looks at me and I nod my head at her.

"I don't blame you, she was very convincing," says Macy, shrugging her shoulders. Surprisingly Macy keeps taking everything really well. I would have thought she wouldn't, considering her past.

"Where is she now?" asks Nick, standing up and looking dangerously calm like Seth yesterday. So that's where he gets it from.

"Don't worry about it Dad, we've taken care of it," says Seth, placing an arm around my waist. "Maybe now she'll finally leave us alone," he says, still upset over the whole thing.

"Macy, how can we ever earn your forgiveness?" asks Rose, guilty looks on all their faces. At least they know if they've done something wrong then they should apologise. It's a lot more than what my Mother ever did for me.

"Hmm," says Macy, looking like she's thinking about it. "You really want to earn my forgiveness?" she asks her and even though she question is directed at Rose, they all nod their heads. "Fine, you'll have to sit and eat food cooked by me tonight!" she says with a smile on her face.

"I think I can suffer through that," states Mason, making everyone laugh. Everyone hugs Macy and tell her they're sorry and I stand there with a smile on my face. Mission accomplished.

"I can't believe we're leaving the day after," I comment and then look at Seth. "I really am going to miss everyone," I say genuinely. Seth's family having grown on me in the short amount of time that I've been here. I feel like they're my family.

"We'll come back," Seth reassures me moving to hug me from behind. "But at least everything's sorted now," he then says. I look at them all and shake my head.

"Not everything," I comment, looking at one person in particular. There's one more thing I need to do before leaving this place. I've sorted everything out, made sure to tie up all loose ends. Except for one. One person in this family is still unhappy and it's about time they stopped feeling that way. I know what I have to do.

"What do you mean?" Seth asks me, giving me a questioning look. Yeah, I don't think he needs to know because I have a feeling that he will try to stop me.

"Never you mind, leave that up to me," I say with a smile. He places a kiss on my cheek and I chuckle. That was ticklish.

"Oh no, I'm dying!" exclaims Mason, later on during dinner that day. Macy glares at him as he continues his acting. "It's poison!" he says as everyone goes on about laughing. I think if he keeps this up then Macy will use one of the knives to stab him with.

"Now I know for a fact her food hasn't actually killed anyone yet," we hear and everyone smiles at seeing Nicky standing up there. He hasn't been back here since everything that happened. In fact, I don't think he's talked to anyone since he left.

"Thank god you came!" says Macy, going over to him and hugging him. "Mason's being an ass," she tells him at which I gasp. I cannot believe she just said that.

"Macy!" I reprimand her, shaking my head to let her know that I do not approve. If it was directed at one of the others then maybe, but Mason is one of oldest people here.

"He started it," she complains with a frown. I think everyone forgets who's what age around here.

"You're both as bad as each other," I say, getting up and grabbing a plate and some cutlery to set a place for Nicky at the table.

"Come on, sit down now," Anne says and they do as they're told. I set the plate and cutlery in front of Nicky who thanks me and then starts to dig in to the food made by Macy. She did a wonderful job. Mason's just pulling her leg. Each time she turns away he makes funny faces. Just as I'm about to get a glass for Nicky, the doorbell rings.

"Lucy will you get that please?" I ask her and she nods her head. I take the casserole dish from her hand before she goes and set it in the middle of the table. I can't wait to try it, it looks delicious.

"Hmm, that smells lovely," says Nicky before helping himself to quite a lot of it. In the end I have to slap his arm because he's being greedy and everyone else would like to try some.

"The only thing I know for sure is cooked right, Mom taught me," Macy informs everyone. The sadness still present in her voice at the mention of her Mom. It might have been a while but she still hasn't been able to accept the limited contact with her parents.

"And where are your parents now then?" asks Annette, pouring some water in for herself. "I mean, we've never seen them," she says, Macy's face falling. She looks over at me and I can feel the sadness emanating from her eyes. She can't see them. And her past, her ex is the reason for that. Can he be her ex if they're still married? I get up to fill the jug with more juice. But as I take the juice out of the fridge I freeze in shock at what I see.

"Oh my god, food!" exclaims Dean as if he's met the love of his life. "Great, because I am starving. That flight food was just a bunch of bull," he says and sits down rudely in my seat as I wonder if what I'm seeing is real. He takes a bite from my plate and makes a face. "Ew, that is disgusting!" he says, sitting back and drinking my water, washing out the taste.

"Oh no you don't," I say and walk over to where he is. I grab his ear and make him get up. "Don't be so rude Dean, you can't walk in here and act like this," I tell him off in front of everyone who look amused. I think I do this half the time because it embarrasses him in front of others and I kind of relish in that.

"But you can stand there and hold onto my ear like that?" Dean questions me, gesturing to his ear. "I thought you'd be happy to see me?" he says in confusion and I shake my head and let of his ear. He looks at me with puppy dog eyes and says, "Sorry," shrugging his shoulders. I let out a laugh and wrap my arms around his neck. I missed the heck out of him.

"What are you doing here you Lunatic?" I question him, pulling back and keeping my hands in his. He still looks the same as I left him. Well, he has a bit of a stubble now but generally, still the same.

"I missed my little sister, duh," he answers in an obvious tone, putting an arm around me. I lean in to him, happy to have him here.

"What about me?" Seth asks from his seat, looking betrayed. I look at Dean who discreetly sends me a wink.

"Who are you again?" asks Dean and I have to put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. He really knows how to wind up Seth because right now my boyfriend is muttering curses underneath his breath.

"Guess who?" says a voice, hands covering my eyes. I smile and put my hand up to her hands.

"My sister from another mister!" I exclaim and turn around to hug Ariana. "I missed you!" I squeal, excited at having my friends here with me again. I love everyone here but Ariana has been my family since I was a kid and we've never spent long periods apart. We've always done everything together as much as we could so it's weird not to have her around.

"I missed you too," says Ariana and then pulls back. But I grab her into another hug. "Whoa, someone's really missed me," she comments with a chuckle. No one can even measure just how much,

"You have no idea," I say, pulling back once again. Wait a second, if they're here then there should be one more person present. "Where's Roman?" I ask, knowing if they're here then he can't be too far behind. I look over in the direction they came from, frowning when I don't see the big Samoan.

"He decided to go see JoJo," answers Dean at which my smile falls slightly. Well he has his own kid, of course he'll want to see her. "Just kidding!" he then says, poking me, and I look up to see him coming down.

"Roman!" I shout and run over to him, getting enveloped into a great big hug. "I missed you!" I say as he lifts me up from the ground and spins me a little.

"Missed you too little sis," says Roman, settling me back down on the floor. I pull back from him and take his hand, bringing him to the dinner table as well. Everyone greets each other since they already know each other and I get more plates for my friends to sit down in front of.

"What are you guys doing here?" I then ask them all. It's a nice surprise but it is very unexpected. I have to wonder how they managed to get time off to come here.

"Well, we had a couple of days off," starts Dean, digging into some chicken Lucy made earlier. "And I thought, why not come here and spend them with Hot Mama and Tidbit?" he goes on to say as if it's stupid that he didn't think of it before.

"Tidbit? Hot Mama? Am I missing something?" asks Angie, looking between us both.

"He means me and Evan," I tell her and notice Dean constantly looking around. I think I know who he's looking for. "Who by the way is sleeping, so you're going to have to wait," I say, laughing at how he looks sad at what I just told him.

"Oh, what's his name for Seth?" Rose then asks, leaning forward. I bet she thinks this is going to be good, something they can use to embarrass Seth. She'll be disappointed though.

"Seth," answers Dean with a confused look. "Why would I call him something else?" he then says before walking over to the fridge and grabbing a beer as if he owns the place. Then again, he does this wherever he goes so I shouldn't be surprised.

"You see? This is what I mean," says Seth, looking unhappy, pointing at Dean. Uh oh, it's going to be fighting between these two. "He has all the love in the world for everyone and when it comes to me, he says piss off," he goes on to say, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"Seth!" both me and Anne say at the same time and then laugh when we realise what we just did. Or should I be alarmed that we're similar?

"Wow, I bet it's been hell here for you with that," comments Dean, sitting back down. Although, he looks strangely happy at that very idea.

"He would have come here on his own Iris, if I hadn't told him that we're going too," says Ariana and I gesture for her to explain further. I wonder how he would have come on his own. "We had a couple of days off, Roman was going to go see JoJo and I was going to spend it at home in Las Vegas. He wanted to do something else so he got his tickets and everything. I found them the night before and when I asked him, you know what his answer was?" she says.

"What?" I ask, having a feeling it was going to be pure gold. I mean, it is Dean Ambrose and you don't ever get to hear anything dull wherever he's involved.

"Just because you're going to be my wife doesn't mean I'm spending every holiday with you!" she says, making everyone burst out into laughter. I can't believe he said that to her.

"Why would you say that?" Seth asks him, probably still confused at how Dean managed to bag Ariana. I think a lot of it is probably due to Dean being more himself when it comes to her.

"Because it's true," says Dean, shrugging his shoulders, making it seem like girlfriend and wife are the same thing. When they're actually not. "Plus, I wanted to see her reaction when she thought I was going to go by myself," he adds on, a smirk on his face.

"What does that mean?" questions Ariana. Uh oh, he's been playing games again, hasn't he?

"It means I didn't have to get yours and Roman's tickets last minute, I had them already but hid them and then purposely left mine for you to find," Dean explains, none of us understanding why he would do something like that. But he's Dean so what can we expect?

"So you were messing with us?" Ariana clarifies and Dean nods his head. "Why…why would you do that?" she asks, placing her hand underneath her chin. Does she even really need to ask this knowing who she's talking to right now?

"I got bored," he answers, earning a few laughs from around the table. Typical Dean answer and the surprise element of this whole thing has disappeared.

"Roman, you should have gone to see JoJo," I say, changing the topic of conversation, looking at him. "Having Dean and Ariana come over would have been enough," I then say. I know he doesn't get to see her a lot because he's always on the road but he should have this time round.

"Yes but JoJo's is coming for the next few shows, her Mom said I can keep her for a few days since she's off school," says Roman, giving us some good news. "Which should be fun," he adds on. It will be. Last time JoJo was around we had a lot of fun, especially us girls.

"Not if Dean gets her to paint her face again and then stand in the dark to scare the crap out of you," says Ariana and I nod my head, very fond of that memory. In Dean's defence, both of them were bored and JoJo dared him to do something scary.

"Which is why you need to keep him away from Evan," Roman points out. I know who else would love to keep Dean away from Evan. My boyfriend. I bet Dean's kids will adore him though.

"Don't worry, I will," says Seth, leading to Dean's face becoming that of a person's whose puppy got run over. Evan is one of the people Dean cannot stand being parted from. It's nice though. Evan would always respond to Dean's swearing when he was in my womb and now, they just connect.

"Iris," whines Dean with a desperate look on his face. He knows Seth has a right to do what he's doing but he also understands that Seth isn't the only one to make that decision.

"Don't look to her, you come here and insult me and ignore me and then expect my son to be best friends with you? I don't think so," says Seth, clearly jealous of what transpired. Dean continues to look my way with a hopeful look in his eyes. And who can resist those gorgeous blue eyes? I see why Ariana gives in to his every whim.

"Don't worry love, Mister Rollins will do as I say and I say you and Evan can be best friends," I say, reaching over and pinching his cheeks as a smile breaks out onto his face.

"Iris!" complains Seth but I ignore him. He can complain about it later but I can't stand to see Dean sitting there with a sad look on his face. Even if Seth tried to keep them apart, I don't think it would work.

"Now, do you want some chocolate cake?" I ask him and Dean nods his head eagerly. I get up to get him a slice and bring it back, placing it in front of him and handing him a fork as well. I know how much he likes cake. It's one of the few aspects of his wedding that he's sorted out.

"Thank you," says Dean, digging into it happily. He might look like a pig whilst he eats but I am tell you that no one else could ever enjoy food the way he does.

"What the fuck just happened?" I hear Ariana ask Roman who shrugs his shoulders, both of them looking at us as if we're aliens. So I like Dean Ambrose. Sometimes we fight and sometimes we stand our ground together.

"So you're getting married?" Angie asks and that leads to talks about Ariana's and Dean's impending marriage. They've decided to have it in Vegas and have also decided on the venue which less work for me to do. At least they're making the important decisions. She also tells us the many things she's decided on. The guest list she's still having a bit of trouble with anyway.

"But Iris will do that anyway," says Ariana, not worrying about it obviously. How am I supposed to cut people out? "This is the advantage of a Maid of Honour, she gets to do all the work and I can sit back and relax," she says, sitting back in her chair for emphasis.

"So I'm supposed to take care of a baby, a boyfriend, your wedding and Dean?" I ask, that sounding like too much work, even for me. "Even I'm not Superwoman," I comment. All I know is if I have to do that, I'll get a lot of white hairs before I'm supposed to.

"What do you mean take care of me?" asks Dean, looking between all of us with a confused look on his face. Like he doesn't know what it means.

"Dean, we all know this wedding isn't going to be easy, especially with you being the groom," I say, shaking my head. I'll be expecting an earthquake at least. "It'll be double the work. I don't think I'll live through the tux fitting, forget everything," I say, sitting back in my chair. I can't even imagine seeing Dean in a tux, willingly. The tie will probably be around his head by the end of the night.

"Whoa, tux?" asks Dean with alarm in his eyes, looking kind of scared. "I have to wear a tux?" he goes on to ask. I have no idea where he's been living since weddings were a thing.

"That's what the grooms wear you buffoon," says Ariana, rolling her eyes at his stupidity. "Did you think you were going to cruise in on there in your SHIELD gear?" she asks with a chuckle. He has mentioned that once before I think. If not a tux, then what would he wear?

"Hmm, so you're gradually warming up to the idea," he says, looking like he's thinking. He's probably thinking of what he can do to ensure that happens.

"No way, you said this wedding can be everything I want meaning you have no say meaning no SHIELD gear," Ariana quickly lets him know, the disappointment of what she's said clearly evidence on his face. "I've told you this before, no means no," she adds on, Dean letting out a sigh. I have a feeling he'll find a loophole though. I mean, it is Dean Ambrose.

"Damn it," mutters Dean as Ariana shakes her head. She goes back to wedding talk and he looks at me, sending a wink in my direction. He's messing about with her again, just like he always does. God I've missed them. I am so, so glad they decided to come and surprise us.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	56. Believe That

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you're all ok! I am so incredibly happy today because I finally passed my driving test! Whoo! This chapter is probably one of the shortest but I had nothing more to add to it so I hope you still like it :)**

 **On another note, Summerslam? Wow! I hope Randy's ok. I was all 'oh shit' when I saw his head just pouring out blood. It was predictable Dean would keep his title and Seth had a very good match with Finn! This was a different PPV than before for me :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! I know! Thanks love :) Xx**

 **Debwood-1999: You have a good feeling that there are more moves to be played. What they are though, who knows? I don't plan on dragging it out too much. I have done it long enough. Right now, I'm just planning myself :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much! :)**

 **Paisley2: Thanks! She is, isn't she? I bet you'd love to be in her place ;)**

 **Calwitch: That's the question on everyone's minds though right? Curiosity peaking. I knew you'd love the part about Iris putting Dean in his place. And yes, I just had to put in the thing about the SHIELD gear. Thanks for the review! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 56:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Dean Ambrose, you woke him up didn't you?" I question, seeing him come into the living room, where everyone was gathered, with Evan in his arms. There is no way my son cried and he was there at that exact moment to pick him up and console him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," defends Dean but I give him an I-know-you look. "I went to the bathroom and heard the little man crying," he then makes up an excuse. He thinks he's so smart but then he doesn't think about the excuses he gives.

"Well then how come we didn't hear anything on the baby monitor?" I question, crossing my arms over my chest, looking closely at him. I'm sure I can see a little bit of a smile on his face. But he's always been very good at trying to hide things like that.

"Must be broken," he responds, shrugging his shoulders and then lifting Evan in the air, playing with him. "Did you miss Godfather Dean?" he asks, lifting him in the air and giving him an eskimo kiss.

"He is so full of shit," Ariana mutters from besides me, a smirk on her lips. We both know Dean enough by now and I think he knows that too but still tries to get away with things. Probably hoping his cute eyes and dimples would do the trick.

"I know but he's so great with Evan," I tell her and she nods her head in agreement. He's going to make a great Father one day. Better than his own. I know he probably does worry about that on the inside but he does a great job of not showing it.

"Now come on, give me my Godson, I haven't seen him either," she says, going over and taking Evan from Dean. I can tell Evan recognizes her because the familiarity is on his face. He starts flapping his arms around when he sees someone he hasn't for a while.

"You mean **_our_** Godson," Dean reminds her, sounding kind of possessive. I actually have a feeling he'd go with Evan over Ariana sometimes which is kind of scary. I don't doubt Ariana would mind though. I think if anything it makes her feel more love for Dean.

"So you're the guy that took away my position?" questions Nicky from the other couch, giving Dean a hard look. Well, trying to anyway. No one can ever give Dean a deathly glare and get away with it or let it affect him.

"What can I say? I had a better resume," comments Dean, sounding pretty cocky of himself. He does know we could easily just give his position to Roman if he messes around right? Although, I wouldn't want to. He's a perfect Godfather to Evan.

"How on earth does that guy have a better resume?" questions Nicky, looking at Seth who's on the other side of me. Uh oh, Seth's going to come out with something.

"Don't ask me, it was Iris's decision," says Seth with his hands up in surrender. Of course, blame the whole thing on me. He agreed on the decision as well. Besides, I was willing to let Dean raise my kid thinking I wouldn't make it. So Godfather makes sense. It's kind of a demotion, but a nice one.

"Really? Iris chose him?" Nicky questions in disbelief. Like it's hard to believe. Dean may be a goofball half the time but he genuinely cares about my son. I know he would do anything for him. That's a Godfather's job.

"Do we really have to get into the logistics?" I ask them both, trying to shake it off. I already had to hear Roman complain about Dean being given the position, I don't need another person doing the same. "Dean's Godfather so the rest of you are going to have to deal with it," I state, leaning back in my seat and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Still not fair," mutters Nicky to himself as Macy laughs and rubs his am reassuringly. They're all such big babies. They need to man up and take it on the chin.

"You're Godfather to the twins, you didn't hear Seth complaining about that now did you?" says Damien, jumping into the conversation as well. He winks at me and I nod my head with a smile. It's nice to have people around who can jump on my side.

"That's because I'm not a big baby," comments Seth at which Nicky sticks his tongue out at him.

"And we're back to kindergarten," comments Nick with a big sigh. "These two were always fighting over everything and anything," he tells us all. I don't doubt that for a second. I bet they were always playing pranks on each other.

"And when they did get along they'd create havoc for the rest of us," Anne adds on. I look at Ariana, this sounding like two people we already know.

"Never for me though, they were well behaved," Mason cuts in. They were well behaved for Mason out of all people? Anne wasn't scary enough? Hmm, I really doubt that.

"That's because you joined in!" exclaims Marie, making everyone laugh. That's Mason for you. It's such a shame he and Marie can't have kids, they would have made excellent parents.

"It sounds like Seth and Dean," Ariana comments. "When they're against each other, it's horrible but when they're in cahoots, it's the end of the world!" That is actually true. However, we're at the phase of them being enemies because of this whole situation with Evan. Seth taking Evan away and Dean wanting to keep him.

"And right now they're against each other," comments Roman, describing my thoughts exactly. "In fact, Dean's been bad mouthing him for days," he lets us all know and I shake my head. I don't think he meant to say that out loud, Seth does not look happy.

"Yeah so?" says Dean, not giving a care in the world. Ariana hands Evan back to him and sits next to me once again. Now this should be interesting.

"Only because he blames Seth for taking you guys away for such a long time," explains Ariana, her hand resting on my thigh. That may be true but he's only holding Seth responsible. I think that's because he realises he needs at least one parent on his side to continue to see Evan.

"Dude, how many times do I have to say that my family wanted to see them both?" Seth says, letting out a loud sigh and sitting back in his seat. I think this argument will carry on till the end of time.

"Like as if you couldn't fly them out," mutters Dean, sounding annoyed but keeping a smile on his face for Evan who seems to find Dean's nose very interesting. I think very soon he'll be grabbing Seth's beard. I don't know for sure but I have an inkling.

"Alright you two, pack it in," I say in a loud voice, deciding we don't need any more of this. "I don't want any more bickering otherwise me and Ariana will disappear with Evan for a couple of weeks," I threaten them both. That should do it, all three of us going off.

"Ooh, I like that idea!" Ariana joins in with a big grin, patting my leg. "We could go on a mini holiday, take Evan to the beach and actually relax rather than worry about their sorry asses," she says, making me laugh. I think she worries a lot more about Dean than I do Seth though.

"Dude!" says Dean, looking at Ariana in betrayal. I've not been given that look yet but boy am I glad I haven't.

"Don't 'Dude' me, I can do what I want," she says to him, laying down the law as I like to call it. Plus, he always messes around with her, doing things to annoy her. If he can do what he wants, then she can do what she wants.

"As can I," I point out, looking to the side at Seth. They both better behave themselves because us girls can be difficult too.

"I hate this double teaming crap," comments Seth and Dean nods his head in agreement, sending me looks if disapproval. He'll do that to anyone that wants to take Evan away from him.

"Maybe us guys will do that instead, then we'll see how you like it," suggests Dean and Seth gets up to go over to him. Does he realise how stupid that sounds?

"Yes, then we'll see how you guys can fair without us," he says, giving Dean a high five, both of them looking beyond smug. I bet Ariana could just punch them off their faces. I'd gladly help her with it too.

"Crap they're in cahoots again," comments Ariana. Soon everyone starts to retire back to bed but some of us still stay downstairs. I think I will go up in a bit though. I feel tired. "How far along are you?" Ariana questions Rose on her pregnancy.

"A couple of months," answers Rose with a big smile. "We're so excited!" she then says. I don't doubt that for a second. She's wanted another child for such a long time and now they'll finally be able to have that.

"Definitely, hoping for a boy this time," says Damien, putting a fist in the air. I bet he's sick of having too many girls around the house. He wants some testosterone in there with him. I bet they all gang up on him as well.

"What's wrong with having a girl?" I ask him, sitting with my legs crossed on the couch. I love Evan but sometimes when I think of the future, I do think it would have been easier to have a girl. I have a feeling his Father and Godfather will corrupt him.

"The screaming," states Damien, making us all laugh. "I love my girls to bits, but when they all get excited I start to go deaf," he explains, pointing to his ears. Ariana gives me a look and I roll my eyes. She always says that's what I do to her. Typical.

"We're not that bad," says Rose, turning to look at Damien. She looks kind of offended. Then again, I do think he's exaggerating.

"Sure you weren't (!)" says Damien with a roll of his eyes causing Rose to slap his chest. Never make a comment against the woman when you're in a relationship. It can only spell trouble for you.

"By the way Seth, you're the Godfather to this one," Rose then says as if she just remembered. Seth looks surprised as I look at him after which a smile appears on his face. That was a weird way to announce it but whatever. I lean towards Seth and place a kiss on his cheek.

"What? No fair!" exclaims Nicky, causing Rose to roll her eyes. He can't seriously be complaining about this one can he?

"You're already Godfather to the girls," Rose points out to him. "It's only fair," she says. They have to take turns. You'd think Angie would have something to say about this but she doesn't. I don't think she's as bothered because it's a title. And the boys are more childish when it comes to these things.

"But if this is a boy, then I want an inning!" he complains after which it looks like a light bulb has gone off in his head. "Ooh, can we swap Seth?" he asks. He better be glad Lily and Lacey aren't a part of this conversation, they would have attacked him ferociously.

"Why?" asks Seth with a quizzical look.

"Because I don't want to spend the rest if my life playing dress up with dolly's!" exclaims Nicky, making everyone laugh. He can complain about it but I have a feeling he secretly likes it.

"Too bad," says Seth, shrugging his shoulders.

"I have lost all respect for you, who puts their Godchild up for adoption?" says Dean, shaking his head, holding Evan a little bit closer. "You disgust me," he says from besides me. When Dean and Seth finally sat back down, Dean decided he wanted to sit next to me so Ariana is sitting on the armrest with her legs across Dean's lap. Dean finally let up and gave Evan to Roman.

"But…" Nicky trails off seeing the looks on everyone's faces. Eventually we all decide to go to bed. The guys have been here before and know which rooms they're staying in so that isn't a problem.

"There you go little man," says Roman, gently placing Evan down in his crib as he sleeps and I watch them. I didn't think Evan would go to sleep because he'd been sleeping not too long before but somehow Roman's managed to do that.

"You are magic Roman, he's never gone to sleep so fast," I comment, my hand on his shoulder. My son is so lucky, he has so many people around him to take care of him.

"Thanks, will you say that to Dean?" he then asks me and I let out a laugh. I think I know what's bugging him, or rather, whom.

"He's been giving you a really hard time about this Godfather stuff hasn't he?" I ask him and he nods his head.

"You have no idea," he comments. We all know Dean likes to boast about things to the extreme, especially if it annoys his best friends.

"Ok, I'll slip it in somewhere to drive him wild," I tell him and he thanks me, placing a kiss on my cheek. "I can't wait for JoJo to come on the road, it'll be great to have her along with Evan". That would be something. I don't even think she's see him yet so that'll be interesting.

"I know," he says with a smile and I can tell he's really excited about it. His busy schedule doesn't leave much time to spend with JoJo and I know he would like to.

"On another note, how are things with Paige?" I question him and chuckle when I notice him get shy. I haven't talked to him much recently so I would like an update on how things are going at the moment. I can only assume they're going great because I've not had any complaints.

"Thing are…going great," admits Roman with a smile. He's such a different person when she's mentioned, it's too cute.

"Really? Because she's not really your type is she?" I ask him, leading him over to the bed. We both take a seat on the end and I face my whole body in his direction.

"No, definitely not," says Roman, shaking his head with a smile. "I never thought I would ever date someone like Paige but…she's different," he reveals to me. "And I think that's why I like her so much," he admits. It's great that things are going good for him. And I did tell him once upon a time that he might end up with someone who he has nothing in common with.

"Good for you Roman, I'm glad things are going well for you," I say in a soft tone, taking a hold of his hand. It's always been kind of sad to be all coupley and then have Roman not be with anyone.

"And I'm glad things are going great for you, Seth's not too much of a douche is he?" he says, making me laugh. Now he sounds like Dean.

"No, he's been great," I answer truthfully, nodding my head and thinking about everything. "He takes such good care of both me and Evan…he's amazing," I tell him. All I've ever wanted I think was to have someone take care of me and when I had Evan, I wanted the same for him. We both have that now.

"Hey, what are you guys secretly chitchatting about?" Dean asks, walking into the room like he owns the place just like he did when he decided to surprise us all before.

"Having a private conversation which you just rudely interrupted," says Roman, not letting him get away with it. I have a feeling though Dean won't get that though.

"Oh, it's a good thing you decided to end it," he says absentmindedly, walking further into the room. "I just came to make sure Evan was still alive". He acts as if he's the only one that can make sure Evan is safe and secure.

"Yes, because I tried choking him to death (!)" comments Roman, looking annoyed. Roman's the one who had a child first, he knows a lot more than us all put together so he shouldn't technically get any crap. Especially from Dean.

"You did what?!" asks Dean, looking on at us both horrified. "Iris, how can you let this happen? What kind of a Mother are you?" he goes on to say, going and looking over at Evan in worry.

"Relax Dean, he was joking," I say, looking at Roman who's wearing an amused expression. I think someone wants to get underneath Dean Ambrose's skin.

"Roman, we talked about this. No jokes like that about Evan, you gave me a heart attack," says Dean with a hand on his chest. I swear he acts like he's Evan's parent more than half the time.

"And we talked about you not being an ass but apparently that never registered," retorts Roman, both of them looking ready to start getting into it. If it's not Seth and Dean, it's Roman and Dean. The connecting factor being Dean. What am I going to do with this boy?

"Alright, stop it guys," I say, having to play mediator between everyone today. I swear it's a real job and I should be getting paid for it. I know Ariana just likes to watch and see who's going to get punched first.

"See? I told you," I hear Seth's voice and see him walking in with Ariana in tow. Ok, so a party in my room today. I have a feeling though that Ariana's come here on a mission.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be bed," says Ariana, her hands on her hips and her eyes on Dean. Don't tell me she's been looking for him this whole time. Because then I would totally understand why she's pissed off. But then she should have checked here first.

"I couldn't sleep without knowing Evan was ok," Dean explains to her. It must be very difficult for her to shrug off the sweet thought that Dean just exhibited.

"You could have just told me; I've been looking for you everywhere!" she says in an annoyed manner. Dean never does learn. I hope she knows by marrying him she'll still have to deal with all this.

"Till I ran into her and told her you're probably up here with my son because you're obsessed," comments Seth, sitting down behind me and wrapping his arms around me, placing a kiss to the side of my head.

"I am not obsessed!" protests Dean, the rest of us chuckling. "As Godfather, it's my job to make sure Evan is protected and safe at all times," he states, clearly taking this way too seriously. Besides, if he's making sure Evan is safe and protected then what are his parents there for?

"For goodness sake Dean, have your own kid instead of trying to steal theirs," Roman tells him, that becoming a very long running joke now.

"I would if someone would let me near them," mutters Dean but we all hear him and see Ariana go red in the face which rarely ever happens. I cannot believe he just said that in front of all of us. Actually, yes I can. It's Dean Ambrose.

"Ooh!" me and Seth say in unison with a laugh but shut up once Ariana glares in our direction. Clearly she doesn't approve of any of this. Us acting the way we are or Dean spilling everything.

"We are not bringing this up in front of everyone," Ariana tells him off, pointing a finger in his direction. I believe they have some issues to work out.

"Why not? We want to know why Dean isn't getting any," says Seth but I slap his chest to shut him up. Ariana will hate bringing up anything in front of us all. It's rude and totally irrespective of their privacy.

"Because I hid everything about what happened with Isabel from her and she found out," Dean answers shamelessly and I close my eyes, shaking my head. He still doesn't understand boundaries. Ariana isn't going to be happy. Especially when she finds out I told him not to tell her or Roman. I didn't want to worry them.

"How did she find out?" I ask him, knowing everything might as well be out in the open now. If she's going to blame him for something, then she might as well do it after knowing the whole truth.

"She found my phone and saw I had a GPS on that Elizabeth chick, thought I was cheating on her and let's say it didn't end well," explains Dean, scratching the back of his head. "I really did try Iris," he tells me and nod my head, appreciating his effort.

"I know, but you couldn't lose her," I say in understanding, not blaming him at all. "Ari," I start, getting up and walking over to her. "I told him not to say anything. Not because he didn't want to hide it from you or anything but because I didn't want him to tell you," I explain to her, hoping to fight his side a little.

"Why not?" she asks me with a frown on her face. I know she hates it when I hide things from her but sometimes I need to.

"I didn't want to worry you guys," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "You're at work and you'd hate not being able to help me. I'm really sorry it caused a fight between you guys," I then say. The last thing I wanted was for her and Dean to be on 'no sex' terms because of me.

"Don't worry about it," says Ariana with a small smile. "I guess I understand," she says, moving to give me a hug.

"I am really sorry," I say again. She does surprise me at times like this, I'm not getting the third degree but a hug instead.

"It's fine Iris," she says and places a hand on my cheek after we've pulled back. "I was really mad at first but I knew you had Seth," she says, glancing at Seth. I'll always be fine as long as I have Seth. "And I knew you'll be fine as long as you do," she says, letting her hand drop.

"It's not fine, my hand's worn out," Dean comments at which I make a disgusted face. That is way too much information for any of us.

"Because we really needed to know that (!)" says Roman, his face mirroring mine. I don't think Dean will ever fail to amuse or disgust us with his sex life. But I think we've all probably come to terms with that by now.

"Don't worry," says Ariana, leaning in to Dean's side. "You can get reacquainted with mine later on," she says, bringing a grin on his as the rest of us make gagging noises. "So how is everything with Isabel now?" she then questions me. it's going to be a long story. I hope they're prepared to listen to it all.

"Oh, I think you'd better sit down," I say and all of us gather onto the bed in a circle as me and Seth explain what's happened since we got here to them. They know some of it but we decided we might as well explain the whole story. Especially recent events.

"Thank god it's over," says Ariana, placing a hand on mine, giving it a tight squeeze. I can tell she hates not having been here to help me with things but that's just a reality she has to accept. "And Angie did the right thing Iris, you're too nice and that's why you got screwed over," she explains to me. Something which she has told me many times.

"Are you sure you didn't get to see the guy's face?" Roman asks us and I shake my head. I definitely didn't get to see any part of him. I look at Seth to hear what he says.

"No, his hood was too far down," answers Seth with a sigh. I know he's disappointed with how things turned out, he really wanted to find out who this person is as well. "He never even looked back once when me and Neil chased him. He made sure we didn't get a chance to," he explains. The guy is smart, making sure no one even got a glimpse of his nose or anything.

"It's got to be somebody we know," Dean says, looking deep in thought. "Think about it. If it's someone we don't know then he wouldn't bother too much about his face being covered. You would have seen snippets or something. But you didn't, he knew once you saw his face then it'd be game over," he explains, making a lot of sense. But that doesn't help us now since we still don't know who it could be.

"That's actually…quite smart," says Roman, looking surprised. I don't know why though. Dean is a smart guy; he just loves acting like a goofball. He's very useful in situations like this as well.

"What do you think he'll try next?" questions Ariana in worry, that being a main concern for me too. "Obviously he's not going to leave it, no one ever does," she says. My mind keeps going over what we might be faced with next but I just can't seem to get to a conclusion of who it could be.

"I…don't know," I say with a sigh, Seth using his hands to rub my shoulders. "I'm just worried Evan will get caught in the middle of this". I look over at his crib and see him sleeping soundly. That's what I want for him. To live without any worry. At this rate, all my hair will go white because all I seem to be doing is worrying about what's going on.

"You don't have to worry about that with Dean's possessive nature," Ariana jokes, making us chuckle. No I definitely do not. Dean will probably keep a schedule of regular checks on Evan just to make sure he's safe.

"Whatever we do," starts Seth, looking at us all in turns. "We do together, ok?" he asks and everyone nods their heads. It's the only way we can make sure to get through everything without a scratch.

"Believe that," says Roman with a smile, putting his fist in the middle. Dean is the first to put his fist eagerly near Roman's, followed by Ariana, then me and then Seth. I am so glad I have all my friends at my side for this.

"Thanks guys, I love you all," I say with a smile. We spend a few more minutes talking before they decide to leave the room. As I lie in bed and look over at Evan in his crib, a smile makes its way onto my face. I have never felt more safe in my life than with all my friends around me. I feel like I've got a newfound strength to tackle tomorrow's problems. And who knows, maybe whoever this person is has given up. Maybe they've seen it's not so easy to separate me and Seth. Maybe now they'll leave us alone for good.

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 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	57. Stupid Things

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone, I hope you're all ok! 200 reviews! Thanks so much for the love everyone :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Explode away like popping candy! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks and thanks! :)**

 **Jade: Oh my god! Hi! Catch up when you can. I get how busy things can get for you. And whoo! You got into your account! Lol. You always say such sweet things, love you for it. Things are going well thanks and I hope the same for you. PM me whenever you can to let me know how things are going for you :)  
You my dear have left such a long review that I don't even know where to start. I'm glad you actually thought it was Macy because that's what I wanted to happen before throwing the whole thing off. Nope, can't trust Kane at all nor can we trust Randy. But you'll have to wait and see what happens.  
Dean and Ariana. Well they do want to get married but I understand what you mean. I just wanted to show that there are issues before they married which they need to deal with. And Roman may be acting kind of off but I was hoping the fact that he has a girlfriend would explain things. A lot of the time before he was prioritizing his friends and things but that's changed now he has someone else to think about too.  
Haha! I loved how you described Isabel! But I totally agree with ya ;)  
I'm glad you've now managed to catch up and thanks once again for reading it as always :)**

 **Paisley2: Lol! :)**

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 **CHAPTER 57:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"What's wrong?" I ask Dean, getting myself ready to go down for breakfast. He's been standing at the balcony for a long time now and it's irking me. I thought after last night, everything was fine. He should have told me about Iris forbidding him to tell me the truth but I know why he didn't. He wanted me to see that it wasn't just her, it was something he agreed with and wanted the responsibility for. It also didn't hurt that we were finally intimate again last night.

"Iris," says Dean just as I get to him and place a hand on his shoulder. He turns his head to look at me and says, "She thinks someone is out to get her. Kane is out to get her," he says and I nod my head, understanding his thoughts. "Randy said he's planning something, we found Iris's sock in his locker, he's in Iowa right now just when Seth chased off that guy that's involved," he explains and I nod my head.

"Maybe it's best that she doesn't know, I mean, it'll only make her anxiety worse," I say, things just being a mess. "In the meantime, we can keep an eye out for Kane. We're going back to work anyways, and Iris will be with us," I explain and he looks back at the view.

"Things just don't seem right to me," says Dean which has me worried because if he feels like something's going to go wrong, it usually does. "Something's off," he adds on.

"About Kane?" I ask and he nods his head. "Why?" I go on to ask him. I'd rather we discuss this now if there's a chance that he could be right.

"It doesn't make sense Ari," says Dean, standing up properly and leaning his back against the stone. "Kane wants to ruin Iris's life but he waited till she was away from work to do it? How would he even know about Isabel? How would he have had the time between work and threatening Isabel with regards to her Mother?" he goes on to question, all valid might I add.

"I don't know, Randy or someone else maybe?" I suggest, honestly hitting a dead end right now. Nothing seems to be pieced together in the right way.

"Roman said the same," says Dean and I can only guess that's why he went to Roman's room last night. I suppose he wanted to discuss strategy or something.

"Don't worry Dean, we're here for them," I say, placing my hand on his shoulder. "No matter what's going on, we'll find a way to make sure nothing ruins our friends' happiness," I say with a firm nod. Iris and Seth have only just found true happiness through this little family, nothing can mess that up.

"That's what we all thought last time, that we could protect Iris but things didn't work out the best did they?" asks Dean, obviously this is troubling him a lot more than I would have thought.

"Not in the ideal way but they turned out fine. Iris was fine, Evan was fine and everything turned out fine in the end," I explain to him, it seems he can think overall. "And maybe since this plan didn't work, Kane will give up. He's tried too many times and he's failed," I further explain to my fiancé.

"They're gonna kill us when they find out," states Dean, crossing his arms over his chest. He's been acting like a goof since we got here but is this what's really been going through his mind? He's analysing absolutely everything.

"Well since they like hiding things from us, they can't be too mad," I say, knowing they wouldn't have told Dean anything had he not been someone they could use to get a tail on Elizabeth. "Dean, why didn't you just tell me Iris wanted to keep the whole thing a secret? You just let me yell at you," I go on to say, referring to when I found out all about him tracking Elizabeth.

"I didn't want to bring her into it all, besides, it was my choice in the end. I could have easily not listened to her and told you anyway," he explains easily, confirming what I was thinking in my head. He wanted me to see that he actually had a choice. He doesn't want to pin the whole thing on Iris. I don't doubt that I'm marrying the right man.

"I love you," I say, putting my arms around his torso and placing my head on his chest. "And I'm lucky to have you," I add on. No one I have ever even dated has come close to caring for Iris like I do and the fact that sometimes Dean cares more for her than me, that makes him all the more special. It makes me love him even more for it.

"Are you feeling ok? You're not coming down with a cold?" asks Dean, making me chuckle and I shake my head. "You know I wouldn't hide anything from you unless it was absolutely necessary right?" he asks me, probably wanting to make sure secrets care cause a fight between us ever.

"I know that now," I say, closing my eyes, enjoying the feeling of his arms around me. "I can't wait to marry you," I say, smiling when I open my eyes and see his huge grin through the glass on the opposite side.

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 **IRIS POV**

"Ok, you'd better get here quick. Things don't look so good," I say after which I hang up the phone and a smile appears on my face. I hate tricking people but it is the only way that I know he'll come for sure. I know he'll be here on the first flight out which should get him here by evening. Which will give me plenty of time to give everyone a warning. I go the living room and roll my eyes when I see Seth and Dean bickering about who gets to hold Evan. "Seth," I say his name and gesture for him to come over to me. He reluctantly hands Evan to Dean and comes over.

"What is so important you can't come in and tell me?" Seth asks when he gets to me. I think mainly because he didn't want to hand Evan over to Dean.

"Promise you won't get mad?" I ask him with a pout and he laughs and nods his head. I gesture for him to come closer to me and whisper what I've done in his ear. I think it can go either way.

"You did what?!" he all but shouts, gaining everyone's attention. I send them all a nervous smile but Seth stares at me as if I've done the worst thing in the world. I don't think it's that bad.

"There was no other way?" I try to justify but know from Seth's reaction things don't look so good. In fact, I think I feel sick. I have no idea why I did it but when I look over at the person I did it for, there aren't any regrets.

"Oi, what's with all the shouting?" Angie asks, giving us both suspicious looks. Seth leans forward and whispers it in her ear resulting in her eyes going wide. "What the fuck?" she shouts and again everyone looks in our direction.

"Angie, we talked about swearing in front of the kids," says Rose as she gets to us. Angie whispers it in her ear what I've done and Rose's reaction mirrors Angie's. "We're all dead!" she exclaims and I might not know what the worst thing is that can happen from what I've done but that's got to be an exaggeration…right? I'm sure it is.

"Rose, you ok? You shouldn't be stressing out over issues," says Damien, rubbing Rose's shoulders who's standing there in shock still.

"Oh really?" asks Rose and then whispers what she's just been told to Damien. This is like Chinese whispers, except the more everyone whispers the more horror I start to feel.

"Oh for the love of god," says Damien, his hands going to his forehead. "W-we're dead. We are SO dead," he says which makes me feel even worse. Holy hell this cannot be good. "We should leave before everything explodes," he then says, looking way to serious for my liking. It's not that bad...right?

"What the fuck is with all the shouting? We're getting a migraine," says Dean, joining our little gang just outside the living room. I notice Evan smile at Dean swearing which makes me smile. Even after being born that's the one thing that has an effect on him.

"How can you both get a migraine at the same time? And how would you know if my son is getting a migraine?" questions Seth with his hands in his pockets, sounding kind of jealous. He's so cute when he gets like this.

"Easy, we're connected Seth, meaning I can sense his pain and right now, he's getting a migraine," explains Dean, Seth not looking happy with that answer at all. "What is with the shouting anyway?" he asks, giving us all a curious look.

"I'll tell you," says Damien, about to move forward and whisper it in Dean's ear who steps back a few and gives him a threatening look.

"Unless you're my future wife, I suggest you get the fuck away," he says menacingly at which Damien obliges. I really should stop him from swearing in front of Evan but even when I do he still does it.

"Iris here thought it would be a good idea to call Aunt Annette's son, Mark," starts Damien, explaining the story. "Tell him that his Mother's collapsed," he goes on to say which Dean seems to find amusing. "Is in the hospital," he says and Dean nods his head. "In the ICU," he finishes, Dean still looking amused.

"You didn't!" says Dean but I nod my head. I most definitely did. Now the way he said it makes it sound beyond horrible.

"In an attempt to bring him out here for once so he can resolve his differences with his Mother," Damien adds on, looking nervous. This Mark guy can't be that bad right?

"Iris, even I know not to do something like that," says Dean, shaking his head at me for once. Not Dean too! He's the person that I wanted on my side for this.

"Why not? They need to sort this out," I say, defending myself since no one here will do it. I thought my friends or Seth would understand why I did it but that doesn't seem like the case.

"Because he's Mother-fucking crazy that's why!" states Dean plainly, looking dead serious. "You should hear some of the things Rose and Angie have told us about him. That guy will eat you alive as soon as he finds out what you've done," he tells me, making me feel unnerved. He's not very serious about that is he?

"Thank you (!)" I say, definitely feeling tons better (!) Dean Ambrose ladies and gentleman.

"He's right Iris," says Angie which makes me feel scared. Even she seems to be fearful of what I've done. "Ever since Aunt Annette's husband, Mark's Dad, died he doesn't take things as a joke. He takes things on a serious level times ten!" she informs me, not helping the situation at all.

"And he's not going to be understanding about this at all," Rose chips in. I didn't expect him to be thrilled about it but to be a little understanding. I've seen the way Anette is when she watched Seth or his siblings with their parents. There's a loneliness, an emptiness that is clearly visible in her eyes. I just want to take that pain away.

"You need to call him and tell him Aunt Annette is fine, convince him not to come out," advises Seth as the others nod their heads in agreement, that looking like the best option to them at the moment.

"About that," I start, wondering how to tell them the next part. None of them are going to be happy. "He's…well funny story. When I rang him he was at the airport and said there's a seat available on the next flight," I explain with a nervous chuckle, running a hand through my hair.

"So? He can cancel," Dean points out. That would have been a smart thing for any other situation but this isn't just any other situation. Which is what they're about to find out.

"Yeah, the next flight was five minutes ago," I mutter, playing with the earring on my right ear, feeling like I'll get an avalanche thrown at me in the next few seconds.

"WHAT!" they all shout in unison after which Ariana comes out with Roman. More back up? But I won't hope for it. If Dean thinks this is a bad idea, there's no way Roman or Ariana will think it's a good one.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" asks Ariana with her hands up. I hope she doesn't yell at me. She's always hated my meddling, even in her and Dean's relationship.

"The preparation for our funerals," answers Damien, his hands rubbing his eyes. I knew what I did sounds bad but any person in their right mind would understand why I did it. Surely Mark will see that. He can't be that bad of a guy, he has to be understanding right?

"I don't understand why you guys are making such a big deal out of it," I say, a meeting having been called to order. Everyone's sitting at the dining table and I'm behind the counter making batter for some cookies. Everyone means all us youngsters. We don't know how to break the news to Aunt Annette, Nick, Anne, Mason and Marie. Dean still has Evan; I wonder if me or Seth will ever get him back.

"Telling someone that their Mother is in the ICU IS big deal Iris," Angie points out to me. I guess she's right but It'd be nice if they all said something positive. Try not to make it sound like I've committed blasphemy or something.

"It's going to kick off," states Ariana, shaking her head, her hands rubbing her temples.

"I doubt Aunt Annette will be thrilled," comments Rose which makes me feel bad. I wanted to do this for her. I wanted to make sure she had some form of happiness in her life before I left. It seems I have given that to everyone except for her. I gave a grandson to Nick and Anne which made them happy. I helped Rose in telling Damien she was pregnant and helping them resolve their issues. I encouraged Neil to tell Angie his feelings and then encouraged her too. I do the girls hair and gave them ribbons. And I joke around with Mason which Marie finds hilarious. I just thought I could do something for Aunt Annette too. I just didn't think it would backfire at all.

"Are you alright?" says Seth and only then notice him standing in front of me. I nod my head not saying anything, this has upset me more than I thought it would. I didn't realise these guys would think what I did was so incredibly bad.

"Iris, I didn't mean it like that," says Rose, realising what she said upset me. But it wasn't going to make me feel so great.

"N-no its fine," I say, brushing it off and going over to the sink to wash my hands. I then grab a cloth and dry them, grabbing the tray to put the cookie mixture onto. Baking and cleaning, my two distractions for anything and everything.

"Iris, you're doing a nice thing. We all know you only want to make Annette happy," Macy speaks up and I give her a small smile. Clearly, my method isn't going to work though. Well none of them will think it will anyway.

"Yeah, you just picked the wrong son to do it with," says Nicky, causing Macy to elbow him and send him the world's biggest glare. He can't comfort for anything.

"What the idiot means is," starts Seth, moving around and placing his hands on my arms to get me to face him. "Your heart was in the right place but it was the wrong time to do it," he finishes and I nod my head silently. I really messed things up. I didn't even realise till they all heard what I did. As I think back to what Mark must be feeling right now, I start to feel sick.

"There's nothing we can do," says Roman, having sat back for a while and not said anything. "The only thing we can do is tell them all what is going on and take it as it comes when Mark comes here. We can explain to him what happened and if he blows, then we got your back Iris," he says with a small smile.

"Totally, besides if he even thinks about touching a hair on your head then I'll go all Lunatic on his ass," comments Dean which makes me laugh. Maybe I don't need to worry as much as I thought I did. "Who's the closest out of all of you to Mark?" he then asks, looking around at everyone.

"Why does that matter?" asks Damien, me wanting to know the answer to that question too.

"Because if it comes from someone who he gets along the most with then he might take it easier **AND** that person can calm him down before he goes batcrap crazy," says Ariana, sending a wink in Dean's direction who leans over and kisses her cheek. I guess they have a silent understanding. Or they can communicate telepathically.

"So give, who the hell is it?" asks Dean, bouncing Evan up and down on his knee who seems to be enjoying the sensation. Heads start turning and soon I realise who that person is.

"I don't think he'll listen," says Rose, shaking her head.

"Sweetheart, you're going to have to try," Damien encourages her, placing a hand on hers. "Iris needs your help," he tells her and she looks at me. I feel bad now that she has to do something she doesn't want to do all because of me. I was so sure I made the right decision but not anymore.

"Rose, he always told you his deepest darkest secrets," states Angie. Out of everyone, I didn't expect Rose to be the person. "Things he never even told his parents. If anyone can get him to see sense it's you," she says with ease, sounding confident of her sister.

"He doesn't even do that anymore, not since…you know," says Rose and everyone knows what she's talking about. His Father died and he cut himself off from everyone. "I tried a lot but he always just…he never responded. He's not going to now either," she explains to us, sounding very negative. Or maybe she just knows him better than anybody else and is being realistic.

"Before you gave him a choice and let him have his way, this time he doesn't get a choice. It's different," says Seth, his arm around me as we both look at her. "If he'll listen to anyone, it'll be you," he then says, trying to encourage her.

"I agree," says Nicky after which Angie and Damien agree too. Ok, maybe things won't be do bad then.

"Fine," says Rose with a sigh. "I'll try," she says, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. "What do I say to him though?" she asks but no one gives an answer so I decide to help her on this one since this is my mess.

"What your heart tells you," I answer her with a small smile. You can never write a speech and go in there with that, you can only try your best and hope whatever comes out of your mouth works and hits home. Hope that what you say works.

"Hey guys, what are you all doing in here?" asks Neil, walking in without a care and grabbing an apple from the counter, biting into it as if he's never eaten in his life. After explaining everything to him, Neil looks at me and says, "What is your favourite colour?" That's an odd question to ask me at a time like this.

"Uh, I don't know, yellow? Why?" I say, just to amuse him. I don't know why he needs to know though.

"So I can put the order in now for your coffin," he states nonchalantly as he sits down next to Angie who gives him a big whack to the back of the head. At least someone's useful around here.

"Thanks," I tell her with an appreciative nod and she gives a nod of her own back. Hopefully things will run smoothly. And if they don't there's always the back door. "Crap, crap, crap," I say to myself, pacing in my room realising that Mark could be here any minute now. I really didn't think anything through. I am such an idiot.

"Hey, you ok?" asks Seth, walking in and I nod my head continuing my pacing till he steps right in front of me. I send him a questioning look.

"Did you want something?" I ask him and he shakes his head. All of a sudden he wraps his arms around me and holds me close. "Seth?" I say his name, feeling worried that something may be wrong.

"It's going to be fine," he reassures me and a small smile makes its way onto my face. He's trying to make me feel less worried. He's so sweet. Still feeling lucky to have him in my life.

"You really think so?" I ask, pulling my head back but staying in his arms. I mean, they all panicked when I told them what I'd done. Then again, we came up with a plan afterwards. So that has to count for something.

"I know so," says Seth with a reassuring smile. "Now will you stop pacing?" he asks, making me chuckle. It's hard to stop once you start to do it, now I get why Dean always has trouble parking his butt once he's worryingly walking up and down.

"I'll try," I say with a sigh. "Where's Evan?" I ask him, having a feeling I know the answer to that question but asking it anyway.

"Still with Dean," answers Seth unhappily. I swear these two are going to try to bribe Evan for affections when he's a little bit older. And Evan will milk them both for what they're worth. I can see it now.

"Is that jealousy I hear Mister Rollins?" I ask him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He sometimes acts like as if Dean's competing with him for the Father role when that isn't the case.

"Jealous? Of that dweeb?" he asks me in disbelief but I nod my head. He can act like he's not but it's in there somewhere. I personally find the whole thing amusing.

"Don't worry, Evan knows who his Father and loves him," I say, placing a kiss on his lips. Evan will have many uncles surrounding him, including Dean, but he only has one Father. A Father that would do anything and everything for him.

"Here you go!" says Dean, holding Evan at arm's length and barging into our room. Seth takes him and as soon as he does we realise why Dean's suddenly surrendered him over. That lunatic is something else.

"Coward!" shouts Seth at Dean's retreating back, making me laugh. Dean doesn't say a word and pretends to ignore Seth, leaving the room without a word. He'll be back in the next five minutes asking for him again and then there'll be a fight between the two.

"Here, I got him," I say, moving my arms to take Evan from Seth.

"No, I'll do it," offers Seth with a smile. He always does that. He always offers to do it. It's worth thinking about since diaper duty is probably the worst thing you can get involved with when taking care of a child.

"You sure?" I ask him and he nods his head, moving forward and placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Yes," he says and goes into the bathroom with Evan, taking a nappy on the way and some cream. I love that man, he's always so thoughtful and never misses a beat when trying to calm me down. I think I should do something special for him. And I know exactly what it can be. It'll be when we're back on the road but I'm more than sure he'll appreciate it.

* * *

"Ariana, I can't do this," I say, barging into the bedroom she's sharing with Dean. I look to see her lying down on the bed with a magazine in her hand. She leans up on her elbows as soon as she sees me.

"I knew you'd come by sooner or later," states Ariana, nodding her head at me to come over. I quickly go back and close the door, hurrying over to her and sitting on the bed.

"Let's get some tickets and fly the heck out of here," I say, roaring to go. We can totally get it done. I mean, we'll be cutting it a bit close with the packing but I'm sure we can get it done between everyone.

"Really? That's your plan? Running away?" she asks me incredulously. It does work sometimes.

"What else can I do? This guy is going to eat me alive. Why did I even have to think of doing something like this? It's by far the worst thing I have ever done!" I exclaim, seeing amusement covering her face as a result of my current behaviour. I'm glad she's finding this whole thing funny.

"THE worst thing?" she asks me and I realise it's not. There's only one other thing I have done that was even worse.

"Second worst thing," I correct myself, knowing the whole not-telling-Seth-Evan-was-his thing. "But it's still really bad. What am I supposed to do when he comes? Be all 'Hi, I lied to you about your Mom being in ICU because I'm crazy and need locking up'," I say with fake enthusiasm. I do need locking up sometimes, then I won't do stupid things like this.

"Not a bad idea," comments Ariana causing me to slap her arm. "Listen, this is what you do," she starts, sitting up cross legged on the bed. I look at her intensely, ready to do whatever she says. "You act, alright?" she advises me as my face falls at the advice I am given.

"Act?" I ask her with a frown. I was expecting something, a little more, useful?

"Yes, like you do in that ring and in front of those cameras," explains Ariana in a slow manner. "Look, you're scared shitless right now," she comments and I give her an unhappy look. "What? You are," she points out to me. I hate the fact that she doesn't sugar-coat things. It really does irritate me sometimes. "He'll probably try to intimidate you but you have to act as if it doesn't affect you even though it does," she further explains to me.

"What if I get nervous?" I ask her in a small voice. Being on stage and having to deal with something in real life are two completely different things.

"Iris, you've done tonnes of live shows, why are you going to get nervous in front of one person?" Arana asks me. I thought it was obvious.

"Maybe because I didn't really know the people at the live shows but its personal here?" I suggest to her, tilting my head to the side. "Ari, this isn't going to end well. I felt fine till everyone else opened their mouths". I knew they wouldn't approve massively but how they reacted was a big indicator of what they thought about what I had done.

"Sorry," she says, one of the people included in that group. "Iris, you were trying to do something nice as always. But I think you get carried away in doing that stuff and this time it's come to bite you in the ass," she explains to me. that could actually be true.

"Is that what you really think?" I ask her, anxious.

"Yes, but you wouldn't be Iris if you didn't," she then says, placing a hand underneath my chin. "You, my friend, have a heart of gold and it makes you do crazy things. And despite the fact that I never would have done this in a million years, I respect you for trying," she says with a small smile. "Now, stop frowning because that's my face," she says, making me chuckle. I think I do feel better.

"Then stop smiling because that's my face," I say, making her laugh. I move forward and hug her. "Thanks," I say in a whisper and I feel her nod her head.

"Whoa, don't mind me girls. Don't mind me at all," I hear Dean's voice and pull away from Ariana to see him take a comfy seat on one of the two chairs in the room. We both roll our eyes and my ears perk up as I hear the sound of an engine. I quickly run over to the window and see a black Mercedes pull up. I place some hair behind my ear as I see someone come out of it. I gulp because I know exactly who it is. "Hey, he's here," says Dean, suddenly appearing next to me, making me jump.

"Dean!" I say his name, hitting him lightly for scaring the bejesus out of me.

"Ready to get killed?" he asks with amusement on his face. I look back at the guy that got out of the car and let out a loud sigh. I really hope I survive this. It's not going to be easy but I really do hope things turn out for the best in the end.

* * *

 **Thanks once again for the reviews everyone! :)**


	58. Regretful Lies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. Back with another chapter. So, I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, regarding this story. Now, I've decided to change the way things are going. I know it won't mean a lot to everyone since you don't know what I have planned but it does to me of course. In the future, I may have to change to one update a week. Hopefully I won't have to but it's a possibility. I just want to get everything right for you guys. I hope I can do that :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: I think you're alone in that, lol. I love how you're so in between and not being able to decide! :) Xx**

 **Debwood-1999: I am getting there. Just trying to find the right way to get there if that makes sense. I totally love you for what you come out with in your reviews :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Hell ahead, watch out! Haha! :)**

 **Paisley2: Lol. You know me :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 58:**

 **IRIS POV**

"What do you mean it's not true?" I hear him snap and instantly know that's Mark. As soon as I get down the stairs and stand in the living room I can see him looking red. He looks angry with a capital A. This can't be good but when is anything ever?

"Whoa, and I thought I could get mad," comments Dean but then gets shoved aside by Ariana who stands beside me instead and gives me a look that tells me she thinks Dean is being an idiot. Or maybe she's doing that to reassure me.

"I don't come and visit so you decide to lie to me to get me here? Really Mother?" he questions in disgust and Annette doesn't say anything. I didn't realise she was going to take the fall for me, she's not even saying anything. But I can't let her do this especially since I'm the one that was behind all of this.

"She didn't do anything," I interrupt them and see Annette shake her head. I honestly don't get it. People in this house have such big personalities like, Dean, Angie, Ariana and Annette. But the moment Mark is here they've all died down times ten. "It was me," I quickly admit before anyone can stop me or I stop myself through the heightened anxiety I'm experiencing right now.

"And who the heck are you?" he snaps at me but I keep my composure, following the advice that Ariana gave. I open my mouth to speak but someone else does for me.

"My girlfriend," Seth speaks up, looking on proudly making me smile. How can he look at me like that when I've done such an awful thing?

"So someone irrelevant gets me here with a lie because of which I may as well have lost one of the biggest contracts of my life? Fantastic (!)" says Mark, looking less than thrilled. I should say something. Then why won't my mouth open?

"She was trying to do a nice thing," Seth defends me but Mark couldn't seem to care less. But he doesn't have to be understanding, I just made him drop everything and come here.

"I knew unless I lied you wouldn't come," I speak up, deciding I need to defend myself. I love Seth and all but none of them thought it was a good idea. They understand what I did but only I can explain it to Mark in my own way to get him to see my viewpoint. "You're Annette's only son and I knew she'd love for you to come here and spend some time with her. So I told a little white lie," I explain to him, looking into his eyes.

"A little white lie? You told me my Mother was on her deathbed!" he says and this time I do flinch at his voice. Ok, yeah, maybe I should have gone with something different.

"Mark, I appreciate that you're upset but you're not talking to my girlfriend like that," Seth steps in again as I stand there quietly. I can't believe I thought this was going to be a walk in the park at one point. I really hate myself right now.

"Upset? I'm downright disgusted! What kind of a girlfriend do you have?" Mark questions Seth, shaking his head. "What kind of a sick person tells a son that his Mother is practically dying?" he asks but no one gives an answer. It takes me a lot of guts to say what I'm thinking but I do it anyway.

"Would you have come otherwise?" I dare to say to him and see his eyebrows rise in surprise. "You haven't seen your Mother in years, the first time you have is because I lied and got you here. Would you have come if I just requested you to?" I go on to say, suddenly feeling daring. Although, with every passing second my heart is beating faster and faster. Maybe it's the adrenaline.

"And who the fuck gave you a right to interfere in our family affairs?" Mark instead asks me, still not looking any less angry. "You're not family, I don't know you. You had no right calling me up like that. I can't believe this is who you have chosen to be with Seth," he says, definitely not looking pleased. My eyes water at the comment he just made because I'm not…I'm not what he's suggesting. "And you," he starts, pointing at me as I look at him once more. "I will not have Seth's flavour of the month think she can come into our family and start doing things that don't involve her," he states which does it because a tear rolls down my cheek. All of a sudden a cry fills the air and I know it's Evan.

"I-I'll get him," I quickly say and turn around to get out of there. I thought I could have handled it but I couldn't. Saved by the baby I guess.

"Who's baby is that?" I hear Mark ask on my way out.

"Mine," answers Seth with a sigh.

"Since when did you have a baby?" I hear Mark ask just as I start to go up the stairs.

"For a while now, you'd know if you ever answered your damn phone," is the last thing I hear before I end up in my bedroom. I pick up Evan and hold him close, bouncing him up and down. I need to stop trying to fix things, it's what got me into this mess. But I can't help it. It's a tendency that I have that I can't seem to get rid of.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"For a while now, you'd know if you ever answered your damn phone," I tell Mark, sighing sadly at realising Iris is crying now too. Maybe I should have talked to Mark in private and have Iris stay away from him as far as possible. "That's it, I'm done," I say, walking over to the door.

"Son?" asks Dad in surprise. I turn halfway and shrug my shoulders. I can't take this anymore. I know what Iris did was wrong but even when she's not wrong she gets treated like this.

"Dad, I'm sick and tired of people in this house making my girlfriend cry," I state, scratching my beard. I promised Iris I wouldn't let her cry. "I know what Iris did was wrong but I'm not having her get more and more upset about it. I've had it," I say, letting out a sigh and leaving the room. I go upstairs to my room only to bump into my little family. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" I ask Iris.

"E-Evan's hungry," Iris tells me and I nod my head, she's trying to keep it together but she's struggling. I move out the way and follow her down to the kitchen. I notice her eyes are watery and can see the tears stained on her cheeks. As we walk past the living room Iris keeps her eyes on the floor. Once in the kitchen I take Evan off of Iris and wait for her to get the baby food ready.

"What's that little man?" I ask, putting my ear closer to Evan, smiling when I see Iris watching us. "You think Mommy's pretty too?" I ask, successful in making Iris chuckle. She always does when I speak to Evan.

"You Mister Rollins, are a very smooth talker," Iris comments, coming over with the baby food and taking a seat adjacent to me. She opens up the little tub and uses a plastic spoon to get some of the mixture to put into Evan's mouth.

"Iris," I say and she looks up at me after feeding Evan a bite. "I think we should leave," I state. Before she can protest I say, "I know you're going to say you're fine but you're not. I know you too well now Iris and you can bottle it all you want but I'll still be able to see it". I can tell just by looking into her eyes. She can put on a smile and fool others but when I look into her eyes, I can feel her pain. I can feel how she feels and all I want to get from her is that she's happy.

"I wasn't going to," states Iris, feeding Evan another bite. Yes, she was, she knows it too. I think after everything that happened with me she doesn't want to seem weak, that's why she takes everything with a smile. "I guess I thought I could wave a magic wand and everything would be alright. But it's not, is it?" she asks me. I like the way she thinks. I could easily imagine her as a fairy, spreading happiness wherever she goes.

"It doesn't work that way Cutie Pie," I tell her with a sad smile. It would be easier if it did. "I know we all wish it could, but it doesn't. There's years of built up frustration and unresolved situations between Mark and Aunt Annette. It's not going to be solved in one day," I explain to her and she nods her head.

"Why do things always have to be so hard and complicated?" she questions me in a tiny voice. It's weird how I'm the one being the voice of reason and Iris has done something silly. It's usually the other way around. I hope what I say is useful for her though.

"Because that's life and that's how it works," I answer simply, shrugging my shoulders. It's the truth and in a way everyone has to learn to accept that I guess. Who knew being with Iris would bring out a mature side of me?

"Life sucks," complains Iris with a pout, using a napkin to wipe Evan's mouth. I would have gone with life's a bitch but that one works too.

"I agree," I tell her and then grab one of her hands. "But sometimes, it's not so bad," I let her know, hinting towards us and how we are now. She throws her head back and lets out a laugh, looking into my eyes once she does.

"Such a smooth talker," Iris comments again, using a hand to pinch one of my cheeks. I let out a growl, making her jump and she slaps me on my knee, proceeding to feed Evan once more.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"You think we should say something? This asshole is really pissing me off, he made my sister cry," I hear Dean's low voice in my ear. I keep in my smile at the care I see for Iris in his eyes and his words. But he's right, the asshole is pissing me off too. Now I don't want to say Iris cries over every little thing but this is a big thing and I'm surprised she kept it together for as long as she did.

"I don't think we can otherwise we'll be accused for interfering in family matters," I comment, shaking my head, referring to what Mark said about Iris earlier. That had to have hurt her. But Seth's with her so I don't need to worry. I put my arm around Dean and rub my hand up and down his back to calm him down. I have to make sure he doesn't unleash anything onto Mark right now.

* * *

 **ROSE POV**

"Are you going to talk to him?" asks Damien and I look sideways at my husband, unsure of what to do. I can't just order Mark around; it doesn't work like that. And he's not likely to listen considering we haven't talked in a very long time.

"I don't know, he seems pretty mad," I say, looking on fearfully. I really don't want to get involved in any of this. "What if he says something to me that I can't take?" I question, my hand going instinctively to my stomach. I don't know what it is but when you get pregnant, the littlest things put you on edge. You don't want anything to do with conflict of any sort.

"You do what you need to," says Damien, understanding as always. I nod my head and look at Mark who's been quiet since Seth left. I can't just stand here quietly. I have to do something. He's hurt Aunt Annette the and rest of us long enough.

"I think you should apologize," I speak aloud and feel everyone's eyes on me. Mark looks up and a look of disbelief crosses his face when he realises that I'm speaking to him. Well I've said it now so I can't take it back, can I?

"What?" asks Mark, not sounding happy at all. But I stand my ground. It's not acceptable the way he talks and treats everyone. Not to mention how rude he was to Iris. I know what she did was kind of horrendous but how could he talk like that to her without even knowing her?

"You should apologize," I state, walking forward and standing in front of him. Maybe I am the best person to do this. "Iris is a guest in our house and you just shouted and belittled her. That's not how this family behaves or treats the people that come here to visit. Aunt Annette might stay quiet like she always has done since Uncle Jimmy died. She might not want to set you off but that doesn't mean we'll tolerate it," I explain to him. My poor Aunt has just suffered silently, not complaining about anything. But enough is enough.

"Have you completely lost it?" asks Mark incredulously but I give him a blank stare. "You cannot be serious Rose," he tells me, shaking his head. If he was around more he would understand why I am saying right now what I am saying.

"I'm more serious than I have ever been," I answer easily. If he took the time to visit and get to know Iris, he'd feel the same. "You insulted Iris so badly. Flavour of the month? My brother is in love with her and they have a child together. Till 2 weeks ago we had never met her but she is more family to me than you are right now!" I say, pointing a finger at him. I can see that hurts him but it's the truth. In the last two weeks Iris has been amazing, helping everyone and asking for very little in return.

"That is ridiculous!" he shouts and Damien steps forward protectively, not liking how much Mark is flapping his arms around. He's such a drama queen right now. I bet he makes kids cry just by looking at them.

"You'll lower your voice because Rose doesn't need you to yell at her, she might or might not be able to take it," Damien says, a protective arm around my waist.

"And why is that?" questions Mark, crossing his arms over his chest. I can tell he's trying to control his anger and I know Damien feels I am threatened, but Mark could never hurt me. Not intentionally anyway. Well I'm hoping not. I don't really know who he is anymore.

"I'm pregnant," I state, without a care in the world. I see Mark's eyes widen in surprised. I bet he wasn't expecting this.

"Y-you're pregnant?" asks Mark and I nod my head. "W-why didn't you tell me?" he asks as if he has a right to be told straightaway. He left that way behind when he decided to keep us all at a distance.

"When are you ever here?" I question, feeling upset and mad at how he thinks he has any right to question any of us. "What gives you the right to come here and ask me that question when you haven't bothered to even come see any of us in the last 3 years!" I exclaim, trying myself not to break down. "You wanna know what you've missed, fine!" I say, deciding I might as well catch him up on everything he's missed out on. "You've missed the twins constantly asking for their Uncle Mark," I start.

"Honey," starts Damien but one look from me shuts him up. I have to do this and I know I can do this.

"You've missed the joy I got when I found out I was pregnant. You missed Seth becoming a Father! You've missed Seth actually falling in love! You've missed Nicky and his craziness when he met Macy!" as I say all these I go over to the relevant person, well not Seth since he isn't here. "You missed my parents wedding anniversary where they renewed their vows. You've missed Neil and Angie deciding to start a relationship but most of all you've missed the tears that constantly fall out of your Mother's eyes whenever she thinks of you!" I finish, breathing heavily, not having taken a breath during all that. Wow, that felt good. Maybe I should have done this a lot sooner. There's a lot of pent up frustration right now.

"What's with all the shouting?" I hear Seth ask and look to see him standing there with Evan, Iris hiding behind him looking frightened. She shouldn't be feeling like that at all.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Come and join us Seth, we're discussing the right Mark has to question us when he's never here," says Angie, not looking too angry but not looking incredibly thrilled either. I notice Rose looking all worked up and red in the face which gets me worried. She's pregnant after all.

"Rose, are you ok?" I ask, forgetting about Mark and immediately going over to her. I might be scared of him right now but my love for Rose is much greater.

"Fine," answers Rose but I don't take that as an answer and place my hands on the side of her arms, guiding her to make her sit down on the couch.

"You look all red, that can't be good for you or the baby," I point out to her. She needs a little cooling down. "I'll quickly get you water," I say, leaving the room as quickly as I can and pouring in a glass of water. I take it back to her and see everyone hovering over her. "She needs space," I tell them all. She needs to be able to breathe and can't if everyone's hovering over her. "Here," I hand her the glass full of water.

"Thanks Iris," says Rose before taking a sip of her water. I think she's thirstier than she realised because she ends up drinking more than half the glass. Or maybe she's just avoiding saying anything further.

"Better?" I ask her and she nods her head. "No getting worked up remember?" I ask her, not looking impressed but she just shrugs it off. I guess I understand since I was the same when I was pregnant.

"A-are you ok?" I hear Mark's voice and I'm surprise it sounds so small and soft. He's just sounded so big and...I don't know, scary? Hearing him like that sounds weird.

"Fine," answers Rose unhappily. I think she's mad he cares about her now when he's not bothered to in the last 3 years. According to Seth anyway. How can you not talk to family for 3 years? I was gone a few months and was losing my mind not having spoken to Ariana or the guys.

"You're not fine," I tell her, my hands on my hips. "Damien, can you please take her outside for some fresh air? It would always make me feel a lot better," I say and he nods his head. Rose gets up and leaves with him just as Lucy comes into the room with the girls.

"Uncle Mark!" both Lacey and Lily shout, running over to him and grabbing onto his legs. The looks on their faces, they look so happy to see him. It's been 3 years after all. No, I wouldn't be able to do it.

"Hey lovely ladies," says Mark with a genuine smile on his face. At least he's not frowning right now. It would totally scare the girls. "How are my favourite girls?" he asks them, bending down and hugging them as the girls' start chattering away. I look at Seth and smile when I see Evan dribbling again. I go over to Seth and wipe the corner of Evan's mouth.

"He gets that from me," comments Dean, making us both laugh. My smile drops when I see Annette leave the room and it's like Seth can read my mind because as soon as I look at him he nods his head, gesturing for me to go. I kiss his cheek and follow Annette who's gone and sat in the front room.

"May I come in?" I ask, knocking on the door even though its open. I don't want to intrude and if she needs time to herself then I can give her that. At least after everything that I've done.

"Of course you can sweetie," says Annette with a smile but it doesn't reach her eyes. She's still sad, the thing that I was trying to get rid of. "This is your house too, no need to ask for permission," she tells me. I take a seat down next to her.

"You're being too kind," I say in reference to her comment. I bite down on my lip, unsure of what I should say. What can I say to make this right? But I soon realise I'm not the one that needs to do the talking.

"You know when Mark was a child, he was sweet," starts Annette and I look to see a faraway look on her face. "He was so caring, so kind. You probably think I'm exaggerating but I'm not," she says, a small smile playing on her face. It is hard to believe considering he's been yelling since he got here. Then again, I had a huge part to play in that. "We were a happy little family. Me, Jimmy and Mark, just the three of us. Like you, Seth and Evan right now," she compares us. Then I know how happy she was. I feel like nothing bad could ever happen and if it tries, we can all face it together. I feel invincible with both Evan and Seth at my side.

"What happened?" I dare to ask. It all went wrong and it's not fair. She shouldn't have to live like this.

"An incident on his way to work," answers Annette, although how she's managing to talk about it and keep it together is completely beyond me right now. God forbid if anything happened to Seth, I'd be in pieces and wouldn't ever be able to talk about it. Not like she is anyway. "He left the house as always and before I know it I get a call saying a truck slammed into his car," she explains, her smile fallen. "He was in the ICU for five days before finally giving up," she explains to me as my hand flies over my mouth.

"I had no idea," I start but Annette places a hand on my leg and shakes her head. Losing a big part of your life, and so quickly as well. It's such a shame.

"You didn't know," Annette simply states. "Any other person would get an earful off of me but I've gotten to know you pretty well Iris. And if I'm sure about one thing it's that you always have everyone's best interests at heart," she says and I place my hand on top of hers, appreciating her being so understanding.

"No wonder he was so mad, he thought you might be going through the same thing, I'm such an idiot," I say, shaking my head with a sigh but look on surprised when I hear a chuckle. I nearly made Mark re-experience a traumatic experience and his Mother's chuckling at me feeling horrified?

"Iris, you're not the first person in the world to put your foot in something," says Annette, a small smile staying on her face. "And Mark hasn't been such a saint either. We all do things we wish we could take back but it's how you move on from them that defines you. Mark would have been forgiving but his Father's death has been tough on him. He's still grieving," she explains to me. I guess it must be worse for him, he knew his Dad and grew up with him. Of course it's going to be difficult to get over.

"Were they really close?" I ask her and she nods her head. They'd have to be right? The whole Father and sons thing? I'm sure I'm already seeing it with Evan and Seth.

"They were, like two peas in a pod. That's why it's so hard for him, he can't seem to find his place here with his family without his Father," explains Annette. But everyone here loves him, especially Rose. They were really close yet he couldn't find her to share things with?

"But you did it," I point out to her. If she could do it then can't he?

"That's because I always had a place in this family before Jimmy, with Anne," she says, referring to her sister. "It wasn't easy but eventually I got back to where I used to be. It still doesn't feel right without Jimmy but I have the love of everyone else," she goes on to say. I can tell she loves him just as much as she did then. "Mark, he's never been without his Father. How do you live your life when you lose someone you never lived without?" she questions. That's what makes it difficult, doesn't it? Losing someone you've always had.

"But it's not fair on you, he's distanced himself from you and that's why I called him here. I wanted you to be happy," I tell her. He lost one parent but he's kept himself away from the other one. Why?

"I know you did," says Annette and I know she genuinely means that. "But what made you think I wasn't happy? Sure I would like to see my son. The first time I have seen him in 3 years and all he's doing is yelling at such a sweet girl," she says, her hand underneath my chin. "But I am happy, content even. I love coming here for holidays and you children always make my day. I have absolutely no regrets about anything. I've done all I can to keep my son in my life, it just wasn't good enough," she says the last part in a low tone. Why though? Why can't she keep her son in her life? He's all she has left of her husband. She needs him.

"It was good enough, he just didn't want to listen," I say and move forward to give her a hug because she looks like she can use it. This is so heartbreaking. The day Annette lost the love of her life is the same day she lost her son too. It might be hard for Mark but its twice as much worse for Annette. Things can't stay like this, they just can't. Even my meddling didn't work.

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 **Thanks for the reviews guys! You're all awesome! Keep em coming! :)**


	59. Apologies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you like the next chapter :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Lol. That's what I was going for! Keep on guessing, I love it! Thanks love :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! And yeah, good for her :)**

 **Paisley2: I know. Iris did the wrong thing but the way he's acting is stupid :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 59:**

 **ANGIE POV**

"We should do something," I state and Neil nods his head in agreement. "What do we do?" I then ask him. If he agrees then I'm sure he knows something we can do to help Iris and everyone else. It's just a matter of what.

"Me? You're asking me?" questions Neil in disbelief. "You never ask me!" he exclaims quietly, looking beyond surprised. He's acting as if I could care less what he thinks could work. Another misconception on his part.

"That's because I've never gotten stuck but this is a delicate situation, we all know how Mark will get and we all know Iris can't handle it," I explain to him. Mark is still talking to Lacey and Lily and catching up with them. It's amazing how much they remember about him. But he's still a crazy ass who won't lighten up on Iris no matter what. We can't just let him eat her for breakfast.

"Which is exactly why we shouldn't handle it," states Neil and I send him a confused look. "If we do anything we're sure to make things worse, we both know that by now," he says and I guess it's true. Mark will just shout and make me mad and then I'll shout and make him mad. It'll be a vicious cycle. We're a lot alike when we're mad and neither of us will listen to the other.

"Then what do you want to do your highness?" I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Who handles this?" I go on to ask, panicking about what we do. Well not really panicking but trying to come up with a solution. It could get ugly. Yes, even uglier than it already has.

"I think we got the answer to that question," answers Neil and I follow his gaze to see Rose coming back in with Damien.

"Mommy!" the girls immediately shout, running over to her. We can't have Rose saying anything more to him. She's pregnant for God's sake and she nearly looked like she was going to pass out from the telling off she did before.

"Hey pretty ladies, why don't you go with Lucy and she can fix you up something to eat?" suggests Rose and the girls nod their heads. They run out the room as quickly as they came, laughing the whole way. Rose better take it slow. If not, then I'll have to interfere and it'll turn into a scream fest. Something which I know everyone would like to avoid.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Please?" Dean whines some more but I shake my head with a strict look. I am not backing down no matter what he says. He can't just demand something and expect to get it. Why does he always think it'll work with me when it doesn't with Ariana?

"Roman, please shut him up. I'm getting a migraine," I say, patting Evan's back gently. He's been fed and burped, I'm just trying to get him to sleep now. He loves taking a nap after being fed.

"All I wanna do is hold him," complains Dean but I shake my head. He's acting as if he's never held Evan at all and I'm a meanie for depriving that off of him.

"You did that all day yesterday and all of today morning so shut the hell up," I say with a sigh. I swear Dean acts like he's Evan's Father sometimes and it irritates me. Then I remind myself Dean is a kid and needs someone to talk and play with since none of us adults will.

"Children, please," says Roman, trying to play peacemaker and making Ariana laugh in the process. I see Rose coming back in and immediately tense. I'm not having Mark come here and yell at her too. If he does, then unfortunately I'm going to have to kick him out. He's not going to go around upsetting everyone.

"We would all appreciate it Mark," starts Rose, her voice loud and clear for everyone to hear. "If you'd leave," finished Rose, Mark looking more shocked than anything else.

"What?" Mark asks her. Did she really just say that? I didn't think my sister had it in her.

"You heard me right," states Rose, looking sad about the whole thing but understanding it's the right decision to make. "You didn't want to come here and we'd appreciate it if you'd leave now then too. Since you're obviously not going to apologise to Iris you might as well just…" Rose trails off but Angie comes to her side and picks it up. You can always count on Angie doing that for you.

"Get the hell out of here," Angie finishes for Rose who looks on at her gratefully. They may be as different as night and day but understand how the other feels completely. It's one of the things that makes you family. It's why I consider Iris my family.

"You're going to kick me out?" questions Mark but I don't know why it's a surprise. He's been acting like a dick the moment he got here and now he's finally getting told. There's a way to handle things and what he did was not the way to do that.

"Yes," says a stern voice and we see Annette walk into the living room, Iris following her. I give Iris a small smile and she gives me one back. Is she really going to tell her son to leave? After not having seen him for 3 years? After having always kept quiet when it came to him?

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Yes," Annette answers Mark's question as I follow her into the living room. I look at Seth who smiles at me and I give him one back. "Iris," she says and I walk forward to where she's standing next to Mark. He's going to blame me for everything isn't he? I didn't want things ending this way. I wanted them to improve. That's why I got him over here.

"I'm sorry for interfering and lying to get you here," I say with ease. I'm apologising because I was wrong although the smug smirk on his face tells me he doesn't realise that. How can her son be such an asshole when she's such a sweet lady? Then again, people can say the same thing about me and my Mother. "Especially since J…" I stop myself from mentioning it. "You know," I add on, looking away from his eyes.

"Unlike you Iris has good manners and values and has apologised," says Annette, giving me a proud look. But I don't doubt she's instilled the same things in Mark, he just needs to utilise them. "Unlike you, she isn't going to insult people and belittle them. Something me and your Father definitely didn't **instil** inside of you," she goes on to say. I have a feeling mentioning Jimmy will only make things a whole lot worse.

"You're siding with her over me? She told me you were in the ICU!" exclaims Mark and believe me when I say that I'm still horrified that I did that. Not the best moment of my life. Sadly, not my worst either.

"Is that what it's going to take?" questions Annette, looking beyond upset. I wonder why she's upset now. "Is me being on my deathbed going to finally get you to come here and see your Mother for once?" she snaps at him. I'm guessing there's anger and resentment there on her side. And why shouldn't there be? He left her to deal with everything on her own. Never bothering to check up on her.

"Mom," says Mark in a low tone, looking around the room. He clearly doesn't like to be told off.

"Don't, you don't treat me like your Mom," says Annette, her eyes watering from the emotions she's feeling. "I understand your Father leaving us was hard. I get that, it was difficult for me too but did you even stop to think about me? I was putting on a brave face for you but all you did was run," she says, shaking her head disapprovingly. "You ran as far away as you could, away from your own Mother. But you know what? It doesn't matter, because everyone around here picked me up. Rose, Angie, Seth and Nicky. Even Damien and Neil. They all helped me move on when it should have been my own son!"

"How do you expect me to help you when I couldn't even help myself?!" he all but shouts. Annette looks taken aback at first but quickly composes herself.

"We were supposed to be in it together," Annette tells him. I feel like this should be a private conversation rather than us all standing here and watching it. "Only we knew the pain of what we felt at losing Jimmy but you didn't bother. You packed up and left. I called you so many times but you never answered. I sent letters, not one reply. You never came down here, nothing," she shrugs her shoulders, looking disappointed. "And the couple of times you did, you acted like it was a burden to come down here". No one wants to feel like the other person is even acknowledging them because it's obligatory.

"Did you ever stop to think I never came because everything here including you reminded me of Dad?" says Mark which makes sense I guess. But that's also quite selfish. However, who am I to judge when I've done so many terrible things in my life?

"And you think I didn't feel that?" Annette asks him, a tear falling from her eye. "You look just like him Mark! You're a little version of your Father but that never stopped me from reaching out to you. If anything, I wanted you closer to me. But all you did was push me away. What if I was in the ICU like Iris said? What would you have done?" she goes on to say, her chest going up and down heavily from her breathing.

"Annette," I say, putting my arms around her. She might not be pregnant but this can't be good for her either. I really should have thought things through. All I've done is brought more pain. "You need to calm down," I tell her.

"Like you know what my Mother needs," hisses Mark but I decide not to take offence to his words. He's just sad and angry.

"She knows a lot more than you!" exclaims Annette, defending me. "The past two weeks, this girl has shown me more love than you have in the last 3 years!" I can tell this stings Mark and notice him looking away in anger. It's hard to hear and accept. "She's more of a daughter to me right now than you are a son," she cries, tears going down her eyes. I feel guilty because if she's crying today It's because of me.

"Annette, please calm down," says Anne, coming over to her sister's aid and wrapping her arms around her. I move my arms off of her. This is all my fault. "Just leave Mark, my sister has suffered enough," she states, leading Annette out of the room as everyone looks on.

"This is all your fault," states Mark after they're out of earshot. I notice Seth step forward but I put my hand up.

"Let him say what he needs to," I say with a nod of my head, my eyes staying on Mark. Talking with Annette and hearing what she just said now, has sort of changed my perspective and feelings. "I know this is my fault. I should never have lied and got you here. I was stupid to think I could fix everything between you two but there's…so much animosity that it can't be solved in one day," I say aloud for everyone to hear. "But don't you care? Your Mother loves you and you're hurting her by staying away". He's punishing the both of them for something that wasn't in anyone's control. That's not fair on both of them.

"Don't tell me what to do!" shouts Mark, making me flinch and the façade falls. "You're nothing to me, you hear me? Nothing!" he goes on to say, still looking at me angrily. You'd think living with Dean and Ariana who have really bad tempers would prepare me for this but it hasn't. "Besides, what would you know about losing a father? Do you have any idea how tough it's been for me?" he goes on to shout, getting in my face. Before I know it Angie has come in between us and used her hands to shove Mark away.

"Don't you dare ask her something like that," says Angie, pointing a finger at Mark. "I made the mistake once of saying something that I regretted incredibly and before you dig yourself a deeper grave, I'm making sure you don't make the same mistake," she says. It's still so surprising how much of a turnaround Angie has done. Seeing her defend me, it still shocks me.

"What are you talking about?" asks Mark in confusion but Angie stays quiet. She doesn't want to announce it aloud but everyone here knows already. Or maybe she thinks I should be the one to say it.

"My Father's also dead," I answer him instead and see what I believe to be regret and guilt in his eyes. The same look in Angie's when she apologised about making the comments she did. "He died when I was a baby so I never got to know him but…yeah," I explain, not knowing what else to say. What else is there to say?

"If anyone here understands how you feel, it's this girl right here," Angie tells him, pointing at me. "I was like you at the start, I disliked Iris and everyone knew that. I said mean things, I belittled her and it was wrong of me because she is the greatest girl Seth can have by his side," she goes on to say and I'd be lying if I said I'm not touched by her words. She thinks that much of me? "I realised that once I accepted her, things were a whole lot better. Which means if anyone, and I mean anyone, says anything to her then that person should be prepared to get ripped a new on," she says, my mouth forming an 'o' shape in shock. I didn't realise she'd grown so fond of me.

"Mark, you know what Aunt Annette said was right," Rose says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But its ok, make up for lost time. I know its hard cause you lost Uncle Jimmy but you're not the only one that lost him. Don't push her away like you did me, please," she begs him and I can see the emotions running through his eyes. Sadness, regret, guilt.

"Sort it out before you end up losing her too," I add on in a soft voice, hoping to god he doesn't shout at me. you can't ever tell with this family.

"And believe me, you'll end up regretting not telling her you love her," Seth pitches in and from the look in his eyes I know he's thinking back to the day he nearly lost me. He always talks about how he told me he loves me when they thought I was gone. I don't know how I came back but I like to think his love did. I think that's why he always tells me just how much he loves me. He never knows when the last one might be.

"And how would you know that?" asks Mark with a sigh. Not a harsh one but a tired one. He's coming around, I can sense it.

"I nearly lost Iris after she gave birth to Evan," starts Seth, smiling down at our son who always grins back whenever he sees his Father smile. "I didn't tell her I loved her and I regretted every single second of it. I was lucky to be given a second chance," he explains. I know just how much he appreciates it. He earned it as well, the way he stuck by me during my pregnancy.

"All Aunt Annette's needed after Uncle Jimmy is you Mark," Nicky tells him. They were all there for her and supported her but she needed her son.

"She won't forgive me," says Mark, shaking his head.

"You won't know unless you try," I tell him truthfully. Seth could have said the same thing when he realised what he did was wrong. But he didn't. He persevered and he tried, he earned everybody's forgiveness. I have a feeling Annette will just take her son in her arms as soon as he apologises and tries to mend fences.

"We know we have," says Rose with a small smile on her face. Mark then puts his arms around Rose in a bone crushing hug. It's as if he hasn't hugged her...well ever.

"I am so, so sorry," Mark apologizes and despite Rose telling him its fine he continues to apologise profusely. Soon, Angie and Nicky join in and they have like a groups hug thing going on. I take Evan off of Seth and gesture with my eyes for him to get in on the action. He does so too and it's how it should be. Maybe I went about the wrong way of doing this but this moment right here makes me feel grateful for doing what I did.

"Go away Ambrose, I'm keeping my kid with me," I state, giving Evan Eskimo kisses and making funny faces to get him to laugh. Dean huffs and walks off, going to Ariana. Probably to complain. She'll just listen though; it's not like she can do anything since Evan is my kid. "I'm taking him out for some fresh air," I tell Seth who nods his head and pecks my lips before continuing on with his conversation with Roman. "2 and a half months old already, you're growing quickly aren't you?" I coo over him, laughing when I see him try to clap his hands together.

"What's his name?" I hear someone ask and look up to see Mark standing over us both. At first my mouth feels dry and I don't think I can give an answer. But somehow I do manage to.

"Evan Buckley Rollins," I state proudly, looking back at my son. From the corner of my eye I see Mark take a seat next to me on the swing. "How did it go with her?" I ask him, curious and because I don't know what else to say. It's kind of weird he's out here talking to me.

"Alright I guess, considering I messed up a lot," answers Mark, keeping his gaze on the garden on front. It's always hard to admit you're wrong but if you can then you know you've managed to overcome the biggest hurdle.

"We mess up and we repent and move on," I tell him, placing a kiss on Evan's forehead. I wouldn't have a family right now if no one did that.

"I came out here to apologise," Mark says abruptly and I look to see him staring at me. Has he ever apologised to anyone? He looks kind of nervous. Or maybe he's not done it recently. "I-I was angry but mainly at myself," he admits to me.

"Why?" I question him. I know, I should just keep my mouth shut but I can't help it. Curiosity is a funny thing.

"Because I realised what a douche I've been," he answers me. Did he just use the word douche? Now I'm sure someone like him wouldn't. He's a businessman. That means there's only one conclusion to come to.

"Has Angie said something to you?" I ask, suspecting she probably did call him that and now he's using it to describe himself.

"Maybe," answers Mark with a small smile. She called him that and got away with it? He must really be repentant. "It broke my heart when my Mother said you've been more like a daughter than I have a son when you've only been here 2 weeks". I don't say anything and wait for him to talk again. After all, what can I say? That's not something any son or daughter wants to hear from their Mother. "But that's my problem, not yours".

"All's forgiven when a person realises their mistake," I tell him with a warm smile and try not to laugh at the look of disbelief written across his face. He looks genuinely sorry and it I am to blame for scaring the crap out of him by saying Annette is in a serious condition. "Are things sorted out then, between you and your Mother?" I question him. That's all I wanted to happen and even though things went pear shaped, as long as that's something that's happened, I can walk away from this without believing it to be the worst thing I have ever done. Not as many regrets.

"Barely, its going to take a lot of time but hopefully things will be how they should," says Mark, a sense of hopefulness in his words. There are years of pent up frustration and anger, it's not going to get solved in one day. But it is a start. "I'm sorry I yelled at you but I guess it was a good thing you did what you did".

"How's that?" I ask. No one thought it was a good idea and he yelled at me like crazy for it. How can he change his opinion so quickly?

"I realised how much I've been hurting my Mother without realising it," says Mark with a nod of his head. It's not like he did it intentionally but he could have been more perceptive. "We talked and I finally understand her side of things. We should have talked a lot sooner and we would have, had I not been so ignorant". It's a good thing he's realised what a fool he's been. No, I'm not going to call him a douche like Angie.

"We all have our imperfections," I joke with him. He shouldn't be so hard on himself. It's just one of those things. Everything happened so suddenly, no one can be blamed for it.

"Maybe," says Mark, I then notice him staring at Evan. Oh yeah, this is the first time he's seeing Evan. I look at my son and see him looking at Mark with curiosity in his eyes.

"Wanna hold him?" I ask him, sensing maybe he's hesitating asking me considering what happened before. But I would never do something like that. If they're family, they have every right to hold him and play with him.

"Yeah, sure," says Mark with a nervous smile. I hand Evan to him who stares at him in wonder. "Is there something on my face?" he asks me. My guess is he's never had much experience with kids before. What about Lacey or Lily? Then again, they were babies a while back.

"Nope, he's never seen you before so you're like an alien," I say with a laugh. With my head turned I see Seth at the sliding doors, watching us silently. I swear, that man is so overprotective sometimes. I blink at him to show everything's alright and he moves away from the doors. "Evan, this is your Uncle Mark. Can you say hi?" I know there's a while till he starts to talk, at the moment he just babbled a lot. That and flaps his arms.

"Ok, what's the deal?" asks Mark, sounding sick of something as I look on in confusion. "I spent every single second in that house yelling at you and you shake it off as if it was nothing? No one's that nice," he goes on to say. He's actually genuinely sorry for everything, I'm not going to condemn him. Plus, things were my fault to begin with and he had every right to be angry considering the lie I had told.

"I'm not no one, I'm someone. Someone different," I say, shrugging my shoulders, nothing else having come to mind. I

"Damn it, you really are good for Seth," comments Mark before throwing Evan up in the air and catching him, making him laugh in the process. I hear some noise and see Dean, Roman and Seth at the doors. Dean's looking unhappy. Just because he's the only one that does this with Evan doesn't mean he can get possessive. I glare at him but it doesn't work. Eventually, I see Ariana grab his ear and drag him away with the guys laughing on. He seriously needs to get his own kid.

"Tell me Mark, are you staying for dinner?" I ask of him and he nods his head. I suppose he needs to spend time with the family he hasn't seen for years.

"Yes, Mom won't let me leave without eating something," says Mark and I understand how she feels. I feel the same way when it comes to Dean. He might be a brother but I always feel like he needs to be fed to take on the world. I have no doubt it will be the same with Evan.

"We can't let our sons go hungry," I explain to him, standing up as does he. "You mind?" I ask and he shakes his head, standing up and handing Evan over to me. "Sorry, it's just Dean. He'll keep annoying and pestering everyone till he gets to spend more time with Evan". He probably spends the most time with Evan after me and Seth and still can't get enough. What's he going to do when he has his own kid? Superglue it to him?

"He's the Godfather right?" Mark asks and I nod my head. "Oh yes, the crazy possessive one Rose was just telling me about," he says, making me laugh. It's a good thing Dean didn't hear that; I don't think he would take it too kindly.

"What do you like eating?" I then ask him as we start to make our way back inside. I bounce Evan up and down as he starts to let out a little whine. He's been fed. Hmm, it must be a diaper change.

"Anything really," answers Mark, scratching the back of his head. If I asked this question to Dean, then he would have given me a great big list. I learned never to ask him again after the first time. That was pure hell. I'd never cooked so much in my life. I still have no idea where the hell it all went because I am sure not even his stomach is so big to have fit it all in there.

"Great, anything it is!" I say with a big smile on my face. I could always ask Annette what Mark likes to eat and make something he prefers.

"I'm confused," says Mark.

"I'm making dinner so thought to ask," I clear up his confusion before going through the sliding doors. Once inside I hand Evan to Dean who immediately cheers up. Seth lets out a loud sigh but I just shrug my shoulders telling him Dean would just be difficult the entire day till he got what he wanted. I then enlist the help of the girls to get dinner made, giving Lucy the night off.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What is he doing to her out there?" Dean asks anxiously, looking at both Iris and Mark sitting outside with Evan. Right now I don't know if he's more worried about Iris or Evan. It's probably both.

"Relax Dean, it looks like they're just talking," says Roman, staying stood up behind the couch. I think he's in protective mode too. And Seth because Seth's sitting down but still looking outside as well. I swear these boys act like we can't defend for ourselves. Of course in this case it could just be the fact that Iris is with someone who's reduced her to tears.

"I'm sure things are fine," I say, not feeling like they are myself but I trust Iris to make the right decision. If Mark is misbehaving with her then I trust her to walk off and come inside.

"No, I don't got a good feeling," says Dean, beginning to pace at the doors. "Shit, she's give him Evan!" he exclaims and at this point Roman knows to go over there and make sure Dean doesn't go and kick his ass. Like I said, very protective which unfortunately also means very unreasonable.

"Relax, he's never held him before," I say, standing up myself as Seth goes over to Dean too. I almost see Dean jump when Evan's thrown into the air.

"Son of a bitch!" exclaims Dean and even Iris turns this way. Just because he's throwing Evan in the air and Dean doesn't trust anyone but himself to do that?

"Dean!" I hiss his name and go over to him, grabbing his ear and dragging him away from there before he ends up doing something we all regret, Seth and Roman looking on in laughter. "He's not going to kill him, he's family. I swear at this rate you'll be checking people with a metal detector," I go on to say, pushing him onto the couch and daring him with my glare to even think about getting up.

"What if he drops him? What if Tidbit gets hurt?" asks Dean, unknowingly using a soft tone and letting us all know he's just a worried uncle. I look at Seth who smiles and comes over, sitting next to Dean.

"How do you think I feel when Evan gets passed around from one person to another?" asks Seth, him being the Father and all. "When you throw him in the air? Or when Roman's holding him with one arm?" he goes on to say and I swear I see Dean shooting daggers at Roman for that. "I'm constantly fucking terrified that something's going to go wrong. But I don't need to be that worried because I trust the people that he's handed to. If anything happens, it'll be an accident and I'm sure no one will let anything happen to him anyway," he goes on to explain, Dean continually staring at the floor.

"You're an Uncle Dean and you're worried because you care about Evan," says Roman, coming over and standing next to me. "That's not going to go away because of how close you guys are. You know, most of the time I'm on the road with you guys whilst my little girl is at home. It's torture not being able to keep an eye on her all the time but you can't always think something's going to go wrong because then you can never live in peace," he explains, showing his point of view.

"Babe, it's cute you care about Evan so much but let's try keeping it in a little so you don't come off as insane to other people, ok?" I say in the nicest way possible and he gives me a look which tells me he can see right through me. Meaning I'm still definitely marrying the right guy.

"Fine," says Dean begrudgingly but I swear Iris just spoils him because she comes in afterwards and hands Evan right over to Dean. It's a good thing Evan is a carbon copy of Seth otherwise I'd be thinking my fiancé is the Father. Oh god, what am I going to do when I actually have a child with Dean? He or she is going to end up living in a prison. I still love him for it though.

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 **Reviews are awesome! :)**


	60. Girls Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Back with the next chapter! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I know! I'll see what I can do in the future, haha! :) Xx**

 **Lourdes1694: Haha! I know! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks for telling me that, it's exactly what I needed to hear :)**

 **Debwood-1999: I know! I was waiting for somebody to say that and I bet a lot of people are thinking that. But that part is going to continue when they get back. I'm still working out the kinks. At least you're committed.  
It's not completely a new direction, it's just reworking what I had planned to fit everything a little better. So what I originally thought is going to happen but how it gets to that will be different now :)**

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 **CHAPTER 60:**

 **IRIS POV**

"You guys don't play fair," complains Rose from the table as she watches me, Ariana, Angie and Macy make dinner, moving around the kitchen. I'm giving them all instructions of course. I'm making sure to give Angie the simplest of things because...well she can't cook. Ariana's used to doing some things because obviously we lived together for such a long time. And Macy is useful.

"Here's some advice then, don't get knocked up next time," Angie teases her resulting in Rose sticking out her tongue. She's clearly frustrated she can't do anything. It's not my fault though, what if one of us accidentally bumps into her? Maybe I can still give her something though.

"Here, you can peel and cut these vegetables," I say, going over and handing her the bowl along with a knife and a peeler. I hated relaxing when I was pregnant because I've always been much of a worker. Cooking wasn't a problem because none of my friends can cook as much as I can. I remember cooking on quite a few occasions with Seth. Like when we were in Vegas. That was a good time.

"See? Iris gets me," states Rose, starting her work. I don't want her thinking she's useless. Plus, the most she can do is accidentally cut her finger and I'm pretty sure there's a first aid box lying around somewhere.

"Only because she wanted to stop you whining," comments Ariana, making Angie chuckle. Honestly, they're no easing up on her. I actually can't wait till Ariana is pregnant. Then I can sit there with a grin on my face and annoy the hell out of her because being pregnant ain't no easy task.

"Ignore her Rose, she was mean to me when I was pregnant too," I sympathize with her. I remember Ariana actually telling me I looked like the walking dead which is exactly what you wanted to hear from your best friend (!)

"I was not!" defends Ariana but I shake my head and get on with my work. "I was merely making sure you were comfortable at all times," she says, pointing the knife at me. She's just as dangerous with a knife as is Dean.

"Can you please put that knife down before you cause major damage?" I request of her and shake my head when she glares at me. I'm just making sure she does things safely. I've never let Dean near a knife after the last incident and giving Ariana a knife is like suicide.

"Jeez, you're like a bunch of kids. Poor Roman," comments Macy, shaking her head. What does she mean by that? And I don't act like a kid. Sometimes. Then again, I'm not the one threatening people with a knife.

"Poor Roman?" asks Ariana in confusion, obviously thinking the same as me.

"Well yeah," says Macy, going over to the sink and washing her hands before drying them. "He has to play parent to Seth and Dean as well as you two. Poor guy always gets stuck in the middle," she observes which is not the case. I find myself getting in between Dean and Seth a lot of the time. It was even worse when I was pregnant.

"That's mean," I say with a pout, only joking of course. To be fair, me and Ariana are always on the same side. This is a rare occurrence.

"What are you girls up to?" asks Nicky, walking over to where Rose is and taking a seat next to her. It's nice to see him back and with a smile. He was gone for some time with Macy and the atmosphere was completely different. It's nice to have an annoying little brother back again.

"Working, unlike some people," answers Macy at which Nicky looks absolutely mortified. She's telling the truth. He struts around as if he owns the place. As if we're the servants and he's our boss or something.

"Excuse me but who was it that was continuously working when we were supposed to have 2 weeks off to welcome Evan and Iris?" questions Nicky but Macy just shakes her head. He's using her job against her? Ooh. Now the gloves are coming off.

"And now we have to play parent," comments Rose, making me, Angie and Ariana laugh. I doubt any one of our relationships aren't entertaining. All our guys are just...so damn funny sometimes.

"What are we making for dessert?" asks Macy, changing the topic. I guess she can't argue back since she has spent quite a lot of the time working.

"I was thinking some plain old cookies and ice cream," I answer simply, shrugging my shoulders. After cooking everything, with Nicky's commentary on what we're doing which is as annoying as it sounds, we finally finish. Macy goes with Angie to grab everyone for dinner and Ariana pulls me to the side.

"Everything ok now? That Mark dude wasn't ruffling any feathers was he?" she questions me, being protective as usual. Actually, protective just like Dean, Seth and Roman. Do they honestly think I can't handle myself that much? Because I totally can.

"None whatsoever," I answer with a smile. He was decent outside. I think that's who he really is. "It's funny Ari, at first he scared the life out of me. Then I was saying things back because I knew what I was saying was right. Then he comes outside and apologises and…" I trail off. He completely took me by surprise outside.

"And?" asks Ariana with raised eyebrows, looking on curiously.

"And he was really sweet," I say, finding it odd that I'm describing him in that way. "I could see snippets of what Annette meant when she told me what he used to be like," I explain with a soft smile.

"Whoa there, you're not crushing on him are ya?" jokes Ariana with a laugh. I can't believe she just said that. I think Dean's inappropriateness is rubbing off on her.

"Honestly, you're just like Dean sometimes," I say, shaking my head at her. "Besides, no guy could ever take Seth's place in my life. Even if he does sometimes act…assey," I let her know, making her laugh. "Which he's not at the moment," I quickly add on before she goes and reports back to Dean who'll then give Seth the third degree about why he's not treating me right.

"Jeez relax, I was only kidding," says Ariana, patting my back. "I thought you could use a bit of lightening up. Right, come on. We need to eat some dinner before Dean eats it all," she then says, making me chuckle. We go to the dinner table and I help put all the food on the table before everyone starts to dig in. I sit down next to Seth who places a kiss on my cheek.

"Evan sleeping?" I ask Seth who nods his head and hands me the baby monitor. I keep it to the side and start to eat. Dinner goes by great. The whole table is just loud and filled with joy. Everyone's chattering on about anything and everything and its exactly how I imagined my family being. I know I'm not related to any of them but in a way I am, through Evan. So I think I can call them my family. Lord knows I have no one else to call family.

"I did not!" exclaims Rose, slapping Mark's arm, all of us looking on with smiles on our faces. Now that everyone's patching things up, things look a lot more better.

"You did!" says Mark, sitting back in his chair and laughing. "He told me the next day how you wrote exactly 1500 words about why a relationship with him wouldn't work!" he goes on to say, the whole table erupting into laughter as do I. This is how it's supposed to be.

"Alright Mom, I have to get going," announces Mark, later on when we're all sat by the fire in the living room. I notice Annette look sad at what her son just said. Of course she would be. He's finally decided to try and build bridges, to make an effort with his family since his Dad died.

"You really have to?" asks Annette and Mark nods his head, putting an arm around his Mother. I think it's luck when you act the way you do but still find friends or family are still there for you. I guess that's why they're your friends and family, because they don't leave your side no matter what. Or they keep waiting. And my oh my how Annette has been waiting for her son to return.

"Unfortunately," says Mark and even everyone else looks upset he's going. It's kind of funny since before he was getting asked to leave. "But I promise to call everyone and let you know how things are," he promises with a firm nod of his head. I think none of them are beyond going down to wherever he is and kicking his ass if he doesn't.

"You better piglet," says Rose, her nickname for him which makes Mark laugh. If what happened before was anything to go by I would have called him the big scary beast.

"And," starts Mark, looking at Annette once more. "I am coming back up here next week, for a full week to spend some time with you," he says and I can tell that means the world to Annette. The look in her eyes, it's unfathomable.

"Really?" asks Annette and Mark reassures her, placing a kiss on her head. I think I can see that he's content. How can he not be when he has his Mother? You don't feel right without your parents by your side.

"Got to start making up for lost time somewhere haven't we?" he goes on to say.

"And what about our lost time?" asks Rose in a joking way.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely be present at the next family gathering," Mark promises and then gets up to give everyone hugs before he leaves. I feel nervous when he walks over to me but Seth's beside me so I'm not that worried. "Iris," he starts and I give him a smile. "Thank you. I know things have been a little hectic but I'm looking forward to getting to know Seth's girl a lot more," he says. He holds out his hand and after a hesitant moment, I place mine in his and shake it. Considering everything that happened, things are turning out well.

"I look forward to getting to know you more as well, have a safe flight," I say and he flashes me a smile. He then gives Seth a hug and they make sure to exchange numbers before parting ways. Annette goes to drop him off at the door and everyone leaves them to it, knowing both Mother and Son need a moment alone to say a final goodbye.

"I don't know what it is about you Cutie Pie, but you always have a knack for working magic," comments Seth, putting an arm around my waist and bringing me in to his side.

"Or maybe I'm just lucky," I ponder aloud. I thought for sure I'd messed up and it could have easily gone that way. But everyone else just sort of rallied together and they made this magic happen.

"Nope, I'm the lucky one," says Seth, leaning down and pecking my lips. At least he acknowledges the kids are around. Otherwise the things he wants to get up to with Evan about result in me hitting him so he steps away from me. I am definitely not going to be giving my son his first porn show. I believe Dean will probably end up doing that.

"I cannot believe it's your last day here tomorrow!" says Macy, putting her arms around me from behind, making me laugh. It is, isn't it? Wow, time has really flown by here. What with spending time with everyone and all the crap with Isabel.

"I know, it seems like you've been here for years," says Rose, the others having sat back down. It actually does. I think slowly I've fitted in with everyone well and sort of made my place in their family.

"I don't know how I'm ever going to find a great opponent like you to play chess with," comments Nick, sending me a wink because of the double meaning behind that.

"Hey!" protest Mason, obviously sounding offended by it but making us all laugh nonetheless. It's good he realised otherwise I definitely would have burst out laughing. "I have to say I'll definitely miss your cooking though," he comments, already rubbing his stomach. He makes it sound like Marie never feeds him.

"Ha ha, sucker! I'll send you pictures of me eating Iris's food so you don't miss it too much," boasts Dean to annoy Mason and it works because Mason gives him the glaring eyes. These two are beyond childish I tell you.

"I for one am glad Iris is going, she'll be back where she belongs," says Ariana with a smile. I bet she's had enough of the boys. Too much testosterone, she needs to get some oestrogen back in there.

"Yeah, it's been crazy without you Iris. These guys think they can get away with everything," says Roman, pointing to Dean and Ariana who immediately protest, Dean looking on betrayed as usual.

"We should do something tomorrow," suggests Neil with a big grin. "After all, Iris has changed a lot of things since she first came here," he says, putting an arm around Angie who rolls her eyes but still ends up with a big smile on her face.

"How about, you all cook for Iris for once?" suggests Anne with a smirk on her face. "She's always cooking despite me telling her off for it so for the last night she gets to put her feet up," she says as if ordering everyone so that they can't say no even if they want to.

"Great idea!" exclaims Macy, taking her arms off of me. "Although, I know for a fact that Nicky is useless in the kitchen," she lets us all know, most people laughing.

"I am not!" protests Nicky. Maybe she should train him a little like I did Seth. I mean, first he did all the little things in the kitchen but now he can make things like eggs by himself without burning the place down.

"You set off the fire alarm by boiling water," Macy says, all of us chuckling at that. Of course he can't do that either, it's Nicky of course. He sounds lethal. I really will miss them all. I remember when I was on my way here, I was scared and nervous as hell. But now, it feels wrong to even think about leaving. It's weird how comfortable I've gotten here.

* * *

"Iris," says Dean, grabbing my arm gently and taking me into the front room. I look around to make sure no one's watching and he closes the door.

"What's up?" I ask him, knowing this must be serious if he wants to talk to me alone.

"I, uh, I got the thing that you wanted done," says Dean and my eyes rise in surprise. "Don't look so shocked, it's Dean Ambrose," he says, gesturing to himself. He can have a real big head sometimes. "I thought it would be hard but it wasn't. I got the information, put it into play and it's being mailed right this second," he explains, surprising me even further. He's done it all so quick.

"Will we be able to get it before I leave?" I ask Dean and he nods his head, making it seem as if it's no problem.

"Definitely, a little bit of bribing goes a long way," says Dean, that being his answer to everything. Let's hope he doesn't go out of pocket one day.

"Thanks dude," I say and move forward to hug him. He gives me a tight squeeze and then lets me go. "You have no idea how important this is. I am not even going to ask how you got it done," I say, waving a hand in the air. That doesn't even matter, the main thing is it got done.

"Believe me you don't want to," says Dean, shaking his head, a look of seriousness on his face for a second. I'm one hundred percent sure it was illegal.

"This is the last favour I ask of you, I swear," I say, not wanting to get him into more trouble with Ariana. I know how upset she got when he hid things from her and I don't want to be the reason they fight.

"No it's not going to be, what my little sister wants my little sister gets," says Dean, flicking my nose which makes me laugh. "Ariana's going to be my wife but you're family too. You need anything ever, I'm the first person you should call," he says as if it should be common knowledge.

"Thanks Dean," I say in a soft voice and he nods his head before gesturing for us both to get out of there. One of the reasons I couldn't always stay mad at Seth was because he gave me a family. If it wasn't for him then I never would have gotten closer to Dean or Roman and they wouldn't be my brothers. Sure I loved it being me and Ariana but we needed more, we needed them.

* * *

"Hey girls!" exclaims Rose, opening the door to my room and inviting herself in, me, Ariana, Angie and Macy looking up at her. She's the last one to turn up because she was putting the girls to sleep.

"Watch out, preggers alert!" says Ariana, making us all laugh and Rose frown. Rose situates herself into our circle on my bed and we easily fall into conversation.

"I'm glad we've made this last night a girls' night," says Macy with a big smile. I bet she's going to use this against Nicky. Make him do all sorts of things in exchange for him to get to find out what actually happens here.

"Yeah, no dicks," comments Angie, all of us laughing again.

"Except for my very handsome son," I say, looking at him in the middle of our group, lying down and playing with his hands in the air. He just keeps on getting cuter and cuter.

"Yep, Seth's carbon copy," says Rose, getting Evan to hold on to her hand. He has a nice, tight grip like all babies. "I wonder if I had a son, what he would look like," she ponders aloud with a shy smile.

"Half hot and half not," says Angie, referencing the second part to Damien as I shake my head showing my instant disapproval of that comment.

"Hey, that's mean," I say with a finger, pointing at her. "We're not going to be mean, we're playing nice even if the guys aren't here," I explain to her. For a bunch of adults', they all sure do act like a bunch of kids when it comes to teasing each other.

"Jeez, you guys have made her so uptight!" exclaims Ariana and I'm about to explain my side of things. All of a sudden there's a knock on the door and I get up to go open it, finding Seth on the other side.

"Hey honey, what's up?" I ask him with a big smile. He knows we've got girls' night, none of the guys were happy about it. Especially not Dean since I wasn't letting him have Evan. I even got accused of trying to turn Evan into a girl which didn't end pretty.

"Can I talk to you outside for a sec?" asks Seth and I nod my head instantly. He has a worried look on his face. I hope everything's alright. If Dean has made another comment then I swear to god, nothing in this world will stop me from kicking his ass.

"No, this is girls' night!" shouts Macy with a huff, showing her disapproval. "No guys' involvement," she states, narrowing her eyes at Seth.

"Two minutes," says Seth but Macy shakes her head, keeping adamant on her really pointless argument.

"Oh let the poor guy have her, he'll be missing her tonight," points out Rose and I roll my eyes stepping outside and making my own decision. I close the door behind me and shake my head.

"Sorry, I guess the smell of the wine is having an effect on her," I say, taking Seth's hand in mine as he leads us downstairs. We end up taking a stroll in the garden and I can tell something's up with him even more so than before. "Is everything alright?" I question, feeling very concerned.

"Yeah," says Seth, nodding his head unconvincingly. "I just…" he stops and we stop walking as well.

"What is it?" I ask him, increasingly concerned every second that he doesn't say anything. He knows he can tell me anything.

"You know I love you right?" asks Seth and I nod my head, not doubting it for a second. "I don't know Iris, I have a bad feeling," he says and I take both his hands in mine. "This person, whoever he is, is still out there and its making me feel edgy," he explains to me.

"I know, I feel the same way," I reveal to him and he looks on at me in surprise.

"Wait, you do?" he asks me and I nod my head. I can tell that's really surprised him. But it's the truth. Of course I would be. I don't even want to think about what could happen in the future.

"Of course, this guy wouldn't let us stay here in peace so of course I'm going to be worried about what he's planning right now," I explain to him and before I know it I'm enveloped in Seth's arms. "But that doesn't mean we stop living our life," I then say, pulling my head back and looking into his eyes. "Seth, we have each other as well as a beautiful son".

"That's what I'm worried about, I could never live without either of you," he tells me softly. Surely he doesn't think anything will happen to any of us?

"Nor we you," I return the affection. "But we can't live in fear can we? Or he wins. He wanted to break us apart but we stopped that. And with the support of our friends, nothing will harm us. At least I hope so," I tell him. We can't spend the rest of our lives in fear. It's stupid.

"Thanks," says Seth and I give him a confused look. "I really needed to hear that. Whenever I get antsy, all it takes is one word from you and I feel better. You have this magical ability to rub off your positiveness onto me," he says and I rest my head against his chest, hugging him tighter.

"I love you Mister Rollins," I let him know and feel his chest vibrate as he chuckles.

"And I love you Cutie Pie," he says, my heart beating just as fast as the first time when he said those words to me. I know me and Seth are both scared about the future but we can't let fear control us. As long as I have him and our friends nothing can even touch us. I truly believe that which is why I'm not freaking out as much as some people would be right now.

"What did the girl want?" asks Angie as soon as I end up back in my room and I send her a small glare.

"He is not a girl," I defend my boyfriend but she doesn't seem to care. "And nothing that concerns any of you," I say, taking my seat once again in the circle.

"Ooh, Iris has claws," says Macy with an excited look.

"They come out once in a blue moon," comments Ariana absentmindedly as she plays on her phone. I reckon she's secretly messaging Dean because he probably wants to know what's going on.

"Which reminds me, how does blue and white sound as a colour theme for your wedding?" I quickly ask Ariana before my mind is diverted and I forget again. I really should make a list and check things off once they've been decided.

"Alright," answers Ariana with a shrug of her shoulders. I really feel sometimes she doesn't care but because I know her so well I also know she does care. She just doesn't show it.

"Jeez, the way she's talking you'd think she's been preparing for her funeral or something," comments Rose, shaking her head. I don't doubt Rose was a total control freak when she got married to Damien.

"What can I say? I'm excited to marry Dean," starts Ariana, putting her phone down to the side. "But nothing else gets me going. It doesn't matter what the colours are, where it happens or who's attending. As long as I get to marry the idiot I'm happy," she explains with a smile, us laughing. "Actually, the cake matters very much. So me, Dean and the cake is all I care about," she clarifies. I think the same thing applies to Dean.

"You sound just like Dean there," I comment with an amused smile. "But don't worry, I'll make sure the cake is perfect!" Plus, the wedding is all topped off with the cake. Crap cake equals crap reception.

"It better, apart from the ceremony it's the only other thing I care about," she tells me. The actual ceremony. I'll try making sure it's not too long because I have a feeling the lunatic will not be able to control himself and will end up making a joke out of something or the other.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it," I tell her with a nod of my head. I've known Ariana my whole life so I know exactly what she'll love. When it comes to food, she and Dean like and dislike the exact same things so I cannot go wrong for sure.

"With everything Iris is doing, you should pay her," remarks Angie. I'm actually glad I've got something to do otherwise I'd have nothing else. I mean I know I got to take care of Evan but you need something else when your baby's sleeping.

"Yeah, she's actually your wedding planner if you think about it," chips in Macy. Hmm. Iris Buckley the wedding planner. I would go a great job.

"If she does a good job then maybe I'll think about giving her a wage," Ariana says as if she's doing a favour to me.

"Have you met this girl? There's no way she can't do a good job!" exclaims Rose, making us all laugh as well as making me go red. We spend a couple more hours just chatting and everything before deciding we should be getting to sleep. We all decide Rose should take the bed at least and the rest of us decide to sleep on the floor. However, Rose doesn't want to sleep by herself. "Angie please, it's not like we haven't shared a bed before!" whines Rose from the bed as I help Macy and Ariana lay out some sheets. I think someone hates sleeping by themselves.

"Fuck no, can you imagine what these two have been doing on here!" exclaims Angie and my mouth opens in shock. What exactly is going through her mind right now?

"Excuse me!" I say with a horrified look on my face. "Nothing's been going on and if it did, well I change the sheets daily so it shouldn't be a problem". I notice everyone's quiet and feel myself go red. I can't believe I just said that.

"So, uh, what's exactly been going on?" asks Ariana with an amused smirk.

"I hate all of you," I comment, sticking my tongue out and going to the bathroom to do my toothbrush. Once I'm back I see Rose finally convinced Angie to get into the bed with her. I see Ariana and Macy have made 3 places for people to sleep alongside each other on the floor. And they've both decided to take the ends leaving me to lie down in the middle. I get in and everyone says goodnight to each other. After tossing and turning quite a bit I still don't fall asleep, although I think everyone else has.

"Will you quit moving around?" snaps Ariana and I can't help but freeze on the spot. She always scares me when it comes to sleep because she takes it so seriously.

"Sorry," I apologise to her and lie down on my back. Ariana then follows my lead but turns her head to me, giving me a questioning look.

"What's going on?" she asks me and I let out a sigh.

"That guy who's tried all this with us," I state and Ariana shifts her body in my direction, resting her head against her hand with her elbow on the pillow.

"What about him?" asks Ariana and I can see the concern on her face even in the dark.

"Do you think he'll ever leave us alone?" I ask her in a low voice. If we don't let him succeed will that make him stop or make him try harder? "I'm trying to put up a brave front for Seth and Evan but…I don't know. I keep telling myself there's no point in worrying, that I have you guys and that Seth loves me…" I trail off. I do believe that but at times I seem to question it. Not everyone just whether it's enough.

"But it's not doing much good?" she asks me and I nod my head. "Iris," starts Ariana, placing a hand on mine which is resting against my stomach. "It's alright to feel scared. Just know that we are here for you and we've always protected you. We always have and we always will, no doubt about it," she says and I nod my head again. She's right. I have enough wrestlers around me. Maybe a little bit of Seth's anxiety has rubbed off on me. "Now, let's get some sleep, I didn't get any last night," she says, lying back down.

"Oh, was Dean having to constantly satisfy your high sex drive?" I joke, deciding it's someone else's turn.

"Shut up," mutters Ariana, hitting my arm before closing her eyes to sleep. I close my eyes too and in no time I fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	61. Forgotten Foes

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Hope you're all well :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks lovely! You're sounding kind of obsessed with the babies there, haha! :)**

 **Paisley2: Ok, the first question I can't really answer without revealing too much. But what I can say is it isn't the last you've heard of whoever it is. As for the second, they didn't want add to the stress Iris and Seth are under at the moment. There was a conversation in one of the previous chapters between Ariana and Dean regarding that :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 61:**

 **IRIS POV**

"But," I start just as Anne glares at me with those piercing eyes. She can look really scary when she wants to. And shut people up with that look as well.

"But nothing, you're sitting with your feet up today," she orders me, leading me to the living room and making me sit down. "Your flight's early tomorrow morning and there's no way I am having you working. Besides, I have 4 kids with perfectly good working arms and legs," she says, pointing a finger at me before leaving. So this is what Dean feels like when I tell him off. Interesting.

"I would listen to her if I were you, if you get on her bad side, well let's just say you don't wanna be there," Nick warns me and I nod my head taking his advice into account.

"It doesn't mean I can't use my legs though," I comment and get up to find Ariana. Anne doesn't want me working, walking around is a completely different thing.

"Hey Ari?" I call her name and find her helping in making breakfast with all the others in the kitchen. And by all the others I mean Rose, Angie, Nicky, Macy, Seth, Dean, Roman and Damien. She should make sure not to let Dean near the cutlery.

"What's up?" asks Ariana, putting her knife down from pointing it at Dean. I bet he was being an ass again. He just can't help it. He probably said something like 'a woman's place is in the kitchen so what the hell am I doing here?'

"Will you come take a walk with me?" I ask her and she nods her head as I hear the others groan. Do they hate cooking? I mean, I enjoy it because you get to eat what you made rather than have it handed to you.

"I'm great at walking!" Nicky quickly tells me, obviously really desperate at wanting to get out of this.

"Good for you," I say, knowing exactly what he's hinting at. I walk out with Ariana and we decide to take a walk down the street. "I'm not sure if Seth mentioned it but we've decided to move in together," I announce to her, not having told her this over the phone because it's a type of news you tell someone in person.

"I may or may not have heard Seth mentioning it to Dean and Roman," says Ariana with a sheepish smile. Seth told the boys? That was quick. I thought he might want to do it together but if not then that's fine too. This way we don't have to make a big deal out of it.

"And?" I ask her, swinging my arms at my side. I want to know what she honestly thinks so desperately.

"I thinks it's great, I really do," says Ariana, nodding her head. I thought for sure she'd tell me I'm rushing it. Or maybe I'm just underestimating her at times.

"You sure?" I ask her, making her laugh.

"That's a question you should be asking yourself, not me," says Ariana, putting an arm around me. I have been asking myself that for quite some time now. "What's wrong with moving in? Aren't you ready?" I bet that's what it sounds like doesn't it? I do want to move in with Seth, there was a time where I was so desperate I was dropping hints like there's no tomorrow. But that was a while back, things have changed since then.

"Of course I am, I'm just wondering if it seems too fast," I then tell her, smiling at little girls that run past us playing tag. I don't want to make any mistakes that can be avoided, this could potentially be one of them.

"If you don't feel it's too fast then it shouldn't matter if others think it is," explains Ariana and I guess she's right. It's about how I feel. How Seth feels. Not about what others think. "Plus, you guys love each other. You have a baby. A lot of people would be surprised that you aren't," she tells me, making me chuckle.

"I suppose I am being a bit silly, aren't I?" I say and she just laughs as a response. Maybe I'm just nervous. I guess I just want things to be completely perfect that I'm working myself up for no reason whatsoever.

"Stop worrying Iris, otherwise you'll get wrinkles on your forehead," Ariana tells me, using her hand to tap my forehead which is no appreciated on my part. I don't think anyone can really stop worrying though, everybody worries about something. If it's not this, then it's something else.

"Like you?" I tease and she uses her arm to push me, all the while laughing.

"And people say I'm the mean one," she comments, shaking her head. "You know; I'm really glad things are working out for you. You deserve it," she tells me. they're working out so far, I'm trying to make sure they continue to work out in the future. But I suppose I just need to have faith in mine and Seth's relationship, that we can make this work and things will be fine.

"Let's just hope they continue to be that way," I say with a smile. We end up near a coffee shop and decide to get a couple of drinks before heading back down. "Have you thought about starting a family with Dean?" I ask her from my seat. I remember when we all thought she was pregnant; it was the worst timing. But maybe she does have a certain plan?

"Yes," answers Ariana. "I do want kids but not anytime soon and I think Dean has the same mind-set. Plus, I don't think either of us are ready to take care of a kid," she then says. Everyone's different in that aspect I guess. But it's interesting she should say that.

"If that's how you feel," I say, taking a sip of my drink, acting indifferent.

"What now?" asks Ariana, sitting back in her chair and staring at me with her arms crossed over her chest. She sees right through me. Or do I just make it too obvious.

"It's just, well I never thought I was ready," I admit to her, a hand on my chest. "I've always wanted to be a Mom no doubt but…when I found out I was pregnant I was scared as hell. I didn't think I could handle Evan but I've managed. The thing is, I don't think you can ever feel ready to have a child, you just plough on through when you do," I explain to her. I honestly do think though that Dean will get her knocked up before either of them want her to be. Just an inkling.

"You're just saying that because you want Dean to stop giving Evan so much attention," says Ariana at which I roll my eyes. I don't mind the attention, Evan likes it. He could back off a bit though. That would probably be healthy for the both of them.

"Not necessarily, but that is getting weird," I say. I'm always half here and half there. I like that he's caring and protective about Evan but then at the same time he's smothering him to death.

"You'd think Evan was his by the way he acts," she says and I nod my head in agreement, she's voicing my thoughts exactly. "I think it's cute though. All I've ever known from him are kids stink and cry and are annoying. I never thought he'd ever want kids but then when he thought I was pregnant; he was so supportive. Then I saw him with Evan and realised I have nothing to worry about," she goes on to say. "He'll be a great Dad whenever he decides to knock me up," she states, making me erupt into laughter. I can't say I disagree with her. But if they ever have a girl, Dean will end up acting like the president's secret service. Which would be quite a sight.

"Hey girls," we hear and look to see Neil taking a seat with us. Whoa, where did he come from?

"Hi!" I beam at him with a big smile. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" I then ask him. I'm sure Angie did complain about it last night. Ariana called it bitching but it's the same thing.

"Technically yes but technically they think I'm ill," explains Neil, looking like he might be in trouble with us. "I couldn't go in knowing today's your last day with us. So I came to grab some breakfast and then head up over there". He looks at me and I give him an appreciative nod. They just better not catch him otherwise he'll be toast.

"Breakfast is being made in the process," Ariana tells him, looking at her phone. I hope they're all getting alone and making it fine. I mean, Ariana can handle everyone but who's going to handle Dean when he ends up arguing with Seth? Roman might actually just walk out saying he's had enough.

"Oh, no need to spend money then," comments Neil cheekily.

"Seth, Dean, Roman, Macy, Nicky, Angie, Rose and Damien are on the case," I let him know. Maybe we should get some food from here just in case. But then if we do I know Macy and definitely Dean will complain about how little faith I have in them. Better not then.

"On second thought," starts Neil, getting up to go queue. He comes back with just a coffee though. "What girl talk am I getting into today?" he asks us, looking on excitedly.

"Ariana, Dean and babies," I answer him happily, Ariana shaking her head at me.

"You're not pregnant are you? The marriage would totally make sense then, although I think you should do it sooner because people are good at math when it comes to this stuff," he says, earning a few hits off of Ariana. Obviously he's joking. Well I hope he is anyway.

"I'm not pregnant fool!" Ariana says and then lets out a huff. "We actually want to marry each other," she tells him at which he lets out a scoff. "Speaking of which, when are you going to get down on one knee for Angie?" she says, diverting the topic to his relationship instead which isn't as talked about as any of us would like.

"Uh," says Neil and Ariana smirks because of course she has him right where she wants him.

"Have you even told her you love her?" Ariana continues on grilling and I don't stop her because…well I really wanna know as well. Oh my god, is he blushing?

"Once," says Neil, looking down at his cup. "I told her I loved her before we got together, now we're together. I haven't told her since. Firstly, because we only just got together and second, because I don't want to scare her," he says and I nod my head. It's understandable. Angie's not been in a relationship for ages and if Neil keeps telling her he loves her she might feel pressure to say the same despite not meaning it.

"Understandable," I tell him, using a hand to rub his arm. "She saw you as a friend till only very recently, you'll probably scare her away by telling her you love her all the time," I go on to say and he nods his head. I held off on telling Seth I loved him because he never hinted towards it and I didn't want to scare him away. But then he told me he loved me, although he never really meant it till now.

"It's Angie, nothing can scare her away," Ariana states. That's what I thought about Ariana till she started to avoid Dean all because the fool kissed her.

"Just like you didn't when Dean actually wanted to start a relationship with you?" I question and she gives me a pointed glare. "Give it time Neil, it'll happen when it does. In the meantime, try not to let it slip out because now if you tell her you love her, it'll mean something different compared to when you'd say it when you guys weren't friends. Even if you said it once before. It's not something she'll be used to," I explain to him. You can't tell what will and won't set people off. It's probably better not to take the risk just in case.

"Advise taken," he tells me. After finishing our drinks Neil gives us a ride back to the house. Everyone has breakfast together before the girls get me out in the garden and get this, they want to play blind man's buff. Not that I hate playing it, but I find it extremely weird that they suggested it. Especially Ariana who seems up for it the most. Normally I'm the one that's going around trying to convince others to play it.

"Where are you guys?" I ask, walking around the garden as I hear muffled laughing. I bet they're getting a kick out of this. I remember pinning the tail on the donkey at my baby shower. At least there's no furniture here. Just a few statues. And flowers.

"How can we play the game if you cheat?" I hear Macy ask and go in the direction of the voice but frown when I don't find anybody. She probably ran away.

"You guys are mean," I say, referring to them laughing whenever they can. I walk forward and forward and forward till my hands feel someone. I quickly grab their shoulders to keep them in place. "Got you!" I shout out loud with a big smile, happy that I got one of them. "I'm not letting you go now," I comment. I keep one hand on whoever it is and use the other to take off my blindfold. I feel my cheeks heat up when I see none other than Seth standing there.

"Nice one Iris!" says Ariana, all of them together on the other side of the garden, laughing. I try and ignore them, turning my attention to Seth.

"Did you need something?" I ask my boyfriend who's standing there with a grin on his face.

"Now that I know you're never going to let me go, nope," says Seth with a smirk. Not him too! "I have a surprise for you, wanna come inside?" he asks me and I nod my head. I love surprises and anyone that surprises me with anything I love more!

"Alright," I say, not thinking anything of it. "I'll be back guys," I say, turning to the girls. Seth takes a hold of my hand and leads me around the garden till we get to the sliding doors. He quickly stands in front of me.

"Close your eyes," he orders me and I don't question him but do it anyway. Mainly because I know if I stand here asking him a million questions the result will be the same, he'll still ask me to do it. And he probably won't even give me an explanation.

"Ok, just don't kill me," I joke, smiling when I see him chuckle. He puts his hands on my eyes and then manoeuvres around me so that he's behind me but his hands are still on my eyes. "Seth, make sure I don't fall?" I request him.

"Never," I hear him say in my ear. I walk according to his instructions and know he's brought me to the living room. "Now you can open them," he says, putting his hands down. I slowly open my eyes and see everyone standing there.

"SURPRISE!" they all shout and I look around in disbelief. They've decorated the whole of the living room. There's streamers everywhere as well as food, party hats and different games around the room.

"Oh my gosh," I say, my hands covering my mouth. "W-what's all this?" I ask them, a big smile on my face from what I'm seeing at the moment.

"We thought that it's your last night here and it should go out with a bang!" exclaims Nicky, speaking as if I'll never see him again or something.

"What he means is, we wanted to give you a proper send off," Marie tells me, talking like a normal person rather than a child.

"Do you like it?" asks Anne and I nod my head enthusiastically. I can't believe they all got together and did this for me.

"I love it!" I exclaim, my heart soaring right now. Everyone's gone through the trouble of this to make my last night here memorable and I can't thank them enough. I never imagined they'd do all this. It really has come as a total surprise.

"Well then, let's get the party started!" Nicky shouts, putting on some music. I go around thanking and hugging everyone individually for this and then get on with enjoying my party. My party. I still can't believe this.

"You guys were paid to distract me weren't you?" I ask the girls who had me playing that game for 2 hours straight. I was wondering why none of them were getting bored or annoyed with it. Ariana always does so easily.

"Not paid unfortunately," answers Ariana with a sad face at which I slap her arm and then laugh.

"We just wanted to give you a good send off Iris," states Macy, making me smile. Like as if they're sending me off for good. Haha!

"And to let you know that we've loved having you around," Rose tells me. I've liked being around too. "You've been great with everyone here and even the girls. They love you to bits and don't want you to go," she explains to me and I start to feel sad at the thought of having to leave them all. I've gotten attached to them all pretty quickly.

"Neither do we but its got to happen," says Angie, sounding sad for once. I wouldn't have thought she'd actually have a sad face on.

"And to think you wanted me to leave as quickly as possible when I first got here," I say to lighten up the situation.

"That was the bitch in me," Angie jokes, us all laughing at the comment made. "But damn you for growing on me," she adds on, shaking her head.

"I don't think anyone's grown on her as fast as you have," Rose comments which is a really big compliment actually. I don't think others had the patience to deal with Angie either. She was tough to get through but I got there in the end.

"Well, ha ha bitches, I only get her from now on," boasts Ariana and I shake my head. This is the part where I see just how much Dean has grown on her.

"And you better take good care of her," Macy instructs her which reminds me of something else I've done. I excuse myself for a minute and quickly go up to my room. I didn't want to leave any stone unturned and may have enlisted Dean's help once again to get a job done. I lift the mattress from my side of the bed and take out the papers with a smile on my face.

"Where did you go?" asks Ariana when I get back down to them all, a coy smile on my face. I just know things are going to get a whole lot better once I give this to the person that needs it.

"To get a present," I say and hand the file over to Macy who gives me a confused look. After Macy was proved innocent and everything I asked Dean for one last favour. One last mission before I let him up for everything that he's done.

"What are these?" questions Macy. Sometimes it would be nice if nobody would ask questions and would be curious enough to just open it and look at it.

"Look inside," I instruct her and she does so. Her eyes start darting from one side of the paper to the other as she starts to read the papers inside, disbelief completely covering her face as she reads every single word.

"You…how…how's this possible?" asks Macy incredulously, checking the papers again. I didn't think It was possible either but after doing a little bit of work with Dean, we both realised it could be done. I just had to make sure I don't ask him how it was done.

"What? What is it?" asks Rose as they all look on curiously, surprised by Macy's emotional reaction.

"Its…divorce papers," answers Macy, still searching my eyes for answers to her questions. I knew she'd be shocked beyond belief.

"Well I really hated the fact that you were still married to Karl so I enlisted Dean's help and we got his signatures on these papers," I explain to her with a bright smile. It was not easy with Dean complaining constantly that it'll be a pain in the backside.

"I-I never told you his name," Macy then points out to me. she didn't. The divorce papers were ready and we just needed a name so they could be filled out and signed.

"I have my ways," I say, not wanting to tell her Nicky was stupid enough to let out all the information to Dean. Well Nicky was drunk too because Dean took him out for a couple of drinks. Actually, I don't think Nicky even remembers anything. "It didn't take long for Dean to track down Karl and I have no idea how he got his signatures but I don't care because he got them," I explain. It was probably done illegally but as long as this means Macy isn't married to that monster anymore, who cares right?

"Wow, this is amazing. Thank you!" says Macy with tears falling down her face as she moves forward and hugs me as tightly as she can. "I cannot believe this!" she cries, looking at the papers once more. "This is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me," she states. She would never have been able to have a normal relationship with Nicky until she got divorced which was looking to be impossible. So I just made we turned the impossible into possible.

"You deserve to be happy, I got my happy ending and you should get yours," I whisper in her ear after pulling her in for another hug.

"This calls for drinks!" exclaims Angie and all of us nod our head in agreement. We need to celebrate the fact that Macy is officially free to be with whoever she wants and who knows, maybe get married in the future to Nicky.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"When are you going to ask that girl to marry you?" asks my Mother and I turn my head to smile at her. I'm about to answer her when she says, "Yes you just got back into a relationship but come on son, you guys are perfect together. Not to mention, you're already living like you're married. Might as well cross the dots and sign the lines," she goes on to say. What is it with the people in this house and me and Iris getting married? It's like they're obsessed.

"Ma," I whine and then chuckle. "There's no rush for us to get married or do anything else. And if we're already acting like we're married then what's the need to actually get married?" I question. Since we've gotten back together I haven't managed to have sex with Iris and my Mum already wants me to marry her. If only she knew we're not actually living like a married couple. I'm not complaining, it's just been bad timing, that's all.

"Are you going to fight with me on this?" questions my Mother, grabbing my ear. Maybe I should rethink whether my Mom is actually my Mom or Iris's because I swear she grabs ears this hard too.

"Ma, let go!" I complain of her hurting me. "You can't force someone to get married," I say after she finally decides to stop terrorising my ear. I rub before putting my hand back down. That shit hurts.

"No you can't and apparently you can't force someone to see sense either," says Ma, crossing her arms over her chest with a loud sigh. I laugh and wrap my arms over her shoulders from behind.

"Ma, I promise you that I will get married to Iris one day, there's no one else in the line," I say, feeling as if she should be having this talk with Iris rather than me. Shouldn't she be begging Iris to never leave me? Considering I'm her fool of a son?

"You better because I have never wanted anyone to be my daughter in law so badly," comments Ma. I decide to tease her a little though.

"What about Macy?" I question with a playful look. I can see the look in her eye. She's going to do it again isn't she?

"I meant for you," says Ma, grabbing a hold of my ear once again as I request her to let me go. She laughs instead and holds onto me tighter and I'm sure my ear is as red as a tomato by now.

"Excuse me," says Lucy in a loud voice and Ma finally let's go as we and everyone else look at her. "Iris's mother is here to see her," she announces and I feel my stomach drop at the sound of Andrea being mentioned. I was hoping it was a mistake but when I see her walk through the entrance to the living room I realise it's not. She really is here. I look at Iris who looks surprised too. She hasn't even spoken to her Mother since the baby shower. Heck, I've not seen her since we banned her. Now, Iris is going to ask us all why we did what we did. Why we kept her Mother away.

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 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	62. Arguments

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, I actually didn't have time yesterday. I spent the time goofing off with my sisters and we had an amazing thunderstorm so that distracted me most of the evening. But better late than never :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! That's right! You are totally hyper! Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: You leave the sweetest reviews. So cute :)**

 **Calwitch: I know. I don't think anyone else would have. But the idea just came to me. I think that'll be the question on everybody's mind. It was because she tried to take Evan away from them when Iris went into a coma and blamed all of Iris's friends for her condition. Then Seth told her he was the Father and she never came back to even see Iris. But the gang didn't tell Iris anything and she never asked. And thank you so much! :)**

 **Paisley2: Care to share? :)**

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 **CHAPTER 62:**

 **ARIANA POV**

I look at Dean in panic at the sight of Andrea having come in. He nods his head at me and I know he's also telling me to calm down but how can I when that woman has come all the way out here? Last time we met she blamed us all for Iris being in a coma and then tried to take Evan away from us all. None of us told Iris about it because we knew it'd upset her; she didn't need that. We were expecting Iris to question us about her Mom but she never did. In the end we all assumed that Iris realised her Mom doesn't care about her which is a whole lot better than the god honest truth.

"Iris, my baby," says Andrea actually looking like she cares for once. It's all crocodile tears. I look to my right with Iris standing right beside me who looks shocked beyond anything.

"M-mom?" asks Iris, still looking at her in disbelief. I can't let them patch things up. Mainly because Andrea is a conniving bitch who does the worst behind Iris's back and then acts like a goody two shoes in front of Iris. I should never have let Andrea come back in Iris's life. But I didn't want to be the reason Iris lost her second parent. But it looks like that doesn't matter now because I can't let this happen. "W-what are you doing here?" Iris asks, not looking happy to see her either.

"I came to see my baby girl!" says Andrea, pushing past Lucy and coming all the way over to us. She better stay within her limits this time otherwise no one can stop me from kicking her ass.

"Came to see me? You abandon me and then come to see me?" questions Iris in confusion. Where did Iris get that from? Then again, Andrea hasn't exactly been around so what else would Iris think?

"Is that what they told you?" asks Andrea with a bitter laugh. She's pinning this on us? "I didn't want to go anywhere sweetie," she starts, taking a hold of Iris's hands and I clench my fists trying to keep my anger in control. "I wanted to be there for you and Evan but as always Ariana stopped me," she explains.

"What the fuck are you talking about you crazy old bat?" I ask with confusion all over my face. Why does she always have to do this with me? Just because Iris saw sense and chose wrestling over her Mother because of me? It was the right decision. Andrea was only ever bothered about money and what she wanted from life, she couldn't give a rats' ass about what Iris wanted.

"You know," says Andrea, acting obviously. No wonder Iris can act; her Mother here should win a golden **glove** for the acting she does to keep Iris on her side. It took me months of convincing Iris till she finally snapped and left her Mother to come and pursue wrestling. I stopped asking Iris to join me and instead boasted about how great it was. My plan worked and Iris left Andrea to do something for herself for once. But each time this woman comes to destroy Iris's happiness, not this time though. "I wanted to be there for you guys but even that Seth stopped me. None of them would let me see you!" she goes on to say.

"What are you talking about?" asks Iris, glancing at me for a second. She's not going to believe a word Andrea says, the woman cannot stop lying. I'm amazed at how well Iris turned out considering the role model she had.

"I tried to come and see you but none of your friends were happy with it," says Andrea, more crocodile tears flowing. Does she put something in her eyes or does she just think about losing money which saddens her? "And then Seth banished me, never see you or Evan again!" she exclaims. I don't think Iris will believe Andrea over Seth. She's stupid for even saying that.

"You're lying!" Seth accuses her and I nod my head in agreement. "I never banned you from seeing Iris, it's not my fault you never came!" he says, walking over to us. He only banned her from seeing Evan, it's not our fault she didn't care about Iris enough to come and see her in the hospital.

"Don't even talk to me!" Andrea points her finger at him just as Anne comes and stands at Seth's side. "You are no good for my daughter, you hear me? All you do is control her and dictate who can and can't see her. Well enough is enough! I want to see my daughter and you can't stop me!" she goes on to say as my eyebrows rise of their own accord. How the fuck she dare say that to him?!

"My, my, my, how the witch turned into a damsel," comments Dean, involving himself in it too. If the situation weren't tensed right now, then I'd probably be laughing my ass off.

"You see? I'm not here for two seconds and they're already insulting me!" Andrea turns back to Iris. Like as if she doesn't do the same to us. We do it because she starts it and she deserves it.

"Like that's a bad thing, that was my intention," Dean bites back as I hold back a chuckle. She should have learnt by now that Dean is as blunt as they come.

"That's not helping Dean," says Roman, coming over and placing a hand on Dean's shoulder who just rolls his eyes. Roman just never wants to make the situation any worse which I understand.

"I'm sure we can sort out this situation," says Anne, trying to play peacemaker. But it's so far beyond that. I know for a fact none of the guys and me would want Andrea to stick her big fat ass where it's not wanted.

"And who do you think you are?" questions Andrea which she wouldn't want to do if I was her. She could get kicked out in literally two seconds considering this is Anne and Nick's house. I suppose it's hard for Anne anyway, what with the comments Andrea made about Seth.

"Mom, this is Seth's Mom, Anne," Iris clarifies and I can see her looking tense. I just don't know what's going through her mind right now. She hates having to get in between people when arguments like this occur but I don't think she has a choice. It's do or die time today.

"I still can't believe you've gotten back together, after all the heartache he caused you," says Andrea, shaking her head in disappointment. I clench my teeth and then bite down on my tongue. I can't go off on one and risk Iris ending up on Andrea's side. But at the same time I can't keep stepping in each time Andrea tries to spin lies, Iris needs to recognize it for herself. If she says one more thing against Seth I'm pretty sure Iris will kick her out herself anyway.

"Mom, I love him and we've gotten past everything," Iris tries to convince her. Andrea only ever wants Iris to end up as miserable as her. I actually think she relishes in her daughter's unhappiness. That's why she never lets Iris be happy. Whether that involves wrestling or Seth or even me.

"That didn't matter last time when he tried to jump into bed with Ariana did it?" questions Andrea and I hear shocked gasps from some people. My guess is others like Nicky and Macy know the truth as well as Anne. The others have no idea and now they're all staring at me. This is just great (!)

"If you say one more word, I swear to god I will knock your teeth out," I threaten through clenched teeth. I'm not past it either. I've wanted to do it since the first time I met her.

"And I'll help," offers Dean. Of course he'd be my backup. The look on her face at the moment is priceless though, as if she can't believe Dean just said that to her.

"You're going to hit a woman?" asks Andrea incredulously, her hand on her chest. She definitely overacts. Maybe she should take lessons so she actually sounds convincing at times.

"No," says Dean which makes me frown. Why does he have to be confusing at a time like this? "I'm going to hit a witch, they're two separate things. Unless you prefer bitch because I don't mind hitting one of those either," he goes on to say ever so seriously. I hold in my amusement but apparently others can't because I hear snickers from Macy, Nicky, Rose, Angie, Neil and Damien.

"Iris, are you just going to stand there and let him talk to me like that?" asks Andrea as I look on at Dean proudly. Of course I would. He's defending me and showing Andrea exactly who she's messing with.

"Dean," says Iris and I shake my head in disbelief. She's actually telling Dean off? Iris then looks at her Mother and explains, "Mom, you have to understand. We've all moved past everything and gotten on with our lives. Dean and Ariana are getting married and me and Seth are together again. It's time for you to accept that too". Go on Iris, you tell her! Her voice actually sounds strong and firm, that's always good when trying to get your way or make a stance.

"As it should be, trash deserves trash," comments Andrea, looking at me. I take a step forward but Iris grabs my arm. How dare that bitch insult me and Dean like that? Has she even taken a look at herself?

"Iris, get this bitch out of here before I get thrown into jail for murder," I say menacingly. How dare she talk about Dean like that? I can take it if she only mentioned me but Dean too? Fuck no! I've spent my life dealing with her not approving of me as a best friend for her daughter but now she's going to say shit about my fiancé too? Oh hell no!

"Mom, if you're here to insult all my friends then you should leave," states Iris, keeping a tighter grip on my arm. Leaving would be a very good idea for Andrea right now before I tear her apart, limb from limb.

"Don't you understand this boy is no good for you?" asks Andrea, pointing to Seth and looking at Iris who still has a hold of my arm because I'm still that mad. If she lets go right now, then I'll attack her for sure. There's no way an y woman, Iris's Mother or not, gets to talk about me and my friends like this and expects to walk away unharmed.

"Excuse me, I don't know who you think you are but you have no right to talk about my son like that!" exclaims Anne, looking roaring to kill Andrea just like me. Well I know 4 of us who would gladly help her at the very minimum.

"I can say what I like," says Andrea, turning to Anne, a look of disgust on her face. "Your son was never good enough for my daughter and he never will be! All he knows is how to cheat on her and he'll do it again, it's just a matter of time. And who has to pick up the pieces? Me!" she says, pointing to herself. I can't believe she's so selfish. Actually, I can. I had her pegged the moment I first saw her tell Iris off. But I was a fool to let Iris believe Andrea had changed. She won't ever change. I acted civil towards her for Iris and this woman can't even do that for my best friend. What kind of a Mother is she?

"Mo, will you stop it!" Iris reprimands her off and Andrea once again turns to Iris. "You can't just come here, insult everybody that I love and expect me to stand here listening to it. I love Seth and he loves me, yes he did some things in the past which he isn't proud of but he's here with me right now Mom. And I will never be happy with anyone else. Just accept that will you?" she asks of her Mother. Good, that's what she needs to do. Tell it like it is without Andrea interrupting her. "As for Ariana and Dean, they're the greatest couple I know. Two of my greatest friends and I'm just like them. So if you insult them then you're insulting me," she says, finally letting go of my arm. I still want to punch Andrea's face in but that wouldn't help the situation right now. And for once Iris needs to tell her Mother off.

"Honey that was-" starts Andrea but is cut off by none other than Iris shocking me to my core. She's never done that to her Mother, she always said it would disrespect her.

"I wasn't finished," says Iris with a hand up to gesture for Andrea to stop. Am I really seeing this or have I begun hallucinating? "I am finally very happy in my life but all you're achieving by coming here is ruining it. You left me Mom, never to be seen of again. Why have you turned up here all of a sudden? And who told you where to come?" she goes on to ask which is something in the back of my mind too. How did she get this address? Who the fuck must have given it to her?

"It doesn't matter, all I know is I want to be able to see you and Evan," Andrea shrugs it off which makes me all the more curious. Someone who shouldn't be giving it gave it. "I haven't seen either of you for weeks and it kills me because you're my family," she goes on to say. That is the biggest bunch of bullshit I have ever heard. This woman doesn't know the meaning of the word 'family'.

"And where was this Motherly love when your daughter was lying in a coma in the hospital bed?" questions Roman with a confused look on his face. He's not going to hold back; Iris is like a sister to him. Of course he's pissed at the way she's been treated too. "If you say Seth stopped you then Iris let me put you straight by letting you know that is a lie. Seth never said to Andrea that she couldn't see you, if she didn't it was by choice," he explains and I can see the hurt in Iris's eyes. But I know she won't question it because it's coming from Roman. Me, Dean and even Seth have lied to her in the past but Roman's always been upfront. The reason she's hurt right now is because she's actually been told by someone that Andrea didn't go to see her of her own accord, no one else's.

"You can't honestly believe this!" says Andrea, looking horrified as I roll my eyes at her behaviour. She treats Iris like as if she's a kid who doesn't know right from wrong. But my best friend is a lot wiser and mature than her Mother gives her credit for.

"You know, if it was Seth, Ari or Dean then I'd probably question it till they convince me," starts Iris and I get that because we do tend to say things we don't mean. Roman's the only one that manages to keep his cool. "But Roman no matter how he feels would never say things that aren't true. Besides, Seth knew how important it was for me to have my Mom with me and he wouldn't ever stop you from seeing me," she goes on to say, showing she has complete faith in all of us.

"How do you know that? He was using you to try and get Ariana to fall in love with him," says Andrea. Why can't she stop bringing up the past? It's in the past, there but not remembered. I can see the heartbreaking look on Seth's face whenever his past mistakes are brought up.

"People change Mom," explains Iris. It's the reason she gave Andrea another chance but she shouldn't have done really. The bitch never deserved it. "Me and you never had a good relationship but I came to you during the final stages of my pregnancy because I believed you changed. How can you expect me to give you a second chance when you don't want me to give Seth a second chance?" she goes on to ask and I smirk when I realise Andrea is tongue tied. Served her right. Go Iris. She can't argue this one because she loses.

"You can't trust him Iris," Andrea uses a different approach but that doesn't seem to work because I notice her roll her eyes. "He's broken your trust too many times," she points out. That is the pot calling the kettle black ladies and gentleman. This woman truly is something else.

"And what have you done?" questions Iris in anger. "You're seriously going to stand there and judge my boyfriend after all the crap you put me through my whole entire life?" she says in frustration as she points a finger at Andrea. I guess everything just finally built up and exploded.

"Honey," starts Andrea at which Iris scoffs. Did I just hear Iris make that sound? I think that's the best thing I've ever heard from her, ever.

"I only mattered to you when money was involved," states Iris, looking straight through Andrea. I know it hurts her to admit that but we all know it's true. "I have only ever mattered to you when money was involved. Heck, its why you wanted me to be with Rick in the first place!" she says, something I didn't know about but have no trouble believing. So Rick has money and that's why Andrea was siding with him so much? But Seth has money too. It's probably because she could easily manipulate Rick but not Seth. Not with me, Dean and Roman in the picture. But I know she'll do anything to keep me away from Iris.

"I wanted you to be with Rick because he was good for you and would have treated you like a queen and Evan like a prince," explains Andrea, coming out with more bullshit as per usual. "He would have made you so happy that you'd feel like you're on cloud nine," she says. Seth is treating her just fine. I have never seen her so happy as she is when she's with Seth and Evan. It's everything she's ever wanted.

"Too bad she's with me and I'm Evan's father," says Seth, looking even more mad at the mention of Rick. Guess he's still not over Rick proposing to Iris. Of course he wouldn't. Plus, it's a slap to the face when someone says that a different guy was better for your girlfriend.

"Unfortunately," says Andrea with disdain. She shouldn't have said that. She really shouldn't have judging by the look on Iris's face.

"Stop it Mom, just stop it!" shouts Iris, this ending up being one of the rare times when she screams or shouts at someone. And it's her Mother too! But when an idiot won't understand what you're trying to say and comes out with more bullshit then you have to raise your voice. "I don't need money or any of that crap to live a good life. Yeah Rick could have treated me and Evan like that but Seth? He makes me feel like that constantly. He's always so attentive and caring to me that I feel like royalty. Just one look from him and I'm already on cloud nine, heck just knowing I'm his girlfriend makes me feel like I'm on cloud nine," she explains to her, speaking very passionately about her boyfriend. "Money may mean everything to you Mom but it doesn't to me alright?" she goes on to say, shaking her head in disapproval.

"What are you saying? Money isn't everything to me," denies Andrea but it's a total lie. She would sell Iris if it meant being able to spend the rest of her life in complete luxury.

"All my life all you've ever done is ship me off in pageants and earn money to spend on yourself!" Iris accuses her, pointing her finger at Andrea. "I was a kid for gods' sake! All I wanted to do was play around in the mud, go around the block with Ariana on a bicycle but you'd never let that happen. All I was to you was a money-making machine and that gets proven every time you come trying to rebuild our relationship which is broken beyond repair," she explains, tears falling down her eyes. I can't even imagine what she must feel like with Andrea as Mother. "Why are you really here this time Mom? Found out Seth is loaded so decided to make amends with me? Then what was the plan? Make me realise Seth's not good enough for me after which we take as much money from him as we can using Evan?" she guesses.

"Shit," I say to myself, realising that's something realistic that she could try. Holy shit! That guy that's tried to separate Iris and Seth could be behind Andrea turning up too. Last resort. It's clear she didn't want to give an answer as to who gave her the information about Iris being here.

"Iris, that is absurd!" says Andrea, looking horrified. I doubt that it is. Is that why she's here though? You can't tell motives with this woman but two things are always guaranteed. She'll try to ruin Iris and money is involved.

"Is it really?" asks Iris and I smile to myself. She's becoming more and more like me every day, in a good way of course. For once she is standing up properly to her Mom and getting all this shit out in the open. This should have been done a long time ago but better late than never right? "You could have come seen me for weeks but you didn't. I've been out of a coma for 6 weeks and its only now you decided to show up? There's no way you've not come here for something more than just to see me so either tell me the truth or just leave," she then goes on to say. She's actually right. She could have seen Iris all this time but waited till now?

"I like that second idea," I comment, daring Andrea with my glare to even say one word to Iris.

"Iris, I never pegged you for being ungrateful. That is not how I brought you up," says Andrea with her head held high and a stick shoved up her ass. I can't believe someone as great as my best friend came from something like that. She barely brought her up at all! This is ridiculous! Iris is a credit to herself, there's nothing about Andrea instilled inside of her.

"No because you never brought her up at all," I say, having had enough of keeping quiet. "All you did was put her on a stage in a pretty frock and then leave her to herself at home. Yeah you gave her food and everything but you never taught her anything. You never taught her any values or principles and I thank god for that every day because it would have been a shame if she turned out one ounce like you!" I say, pointing my finger in Andrea's direction.

"You can't talk to me like that," states Andrea. Really? She's going to say that to me after yelling at nearly everyone here?

"Oh just watch me," I say in anger. Bitches are only talked to in one way and they never really seem to like it. "You can come here and insult me and my boyfriend and when I say something back you feel offended?" I question, knowing this stick must be shoved even more further up her ass than I thought. We'll need a specialist surgeon to remove it.

"Iris, I am your Mother I know what's best for you," says Andrea, changing the subject and going back to Iris. What's best for Iris is if that woman packs her stuff and leaves forever. Iris, Evan and the rest of us do not need this headache in our life.

"No you don't, you never have," says Iris, shaking her head. "All I wanted to do was learn how to wrestle but you never let me. I had to learn from Ariana in her bedroom who was trying to learn herself. Do you realise how many times I hit my arm against her desk? Or fell on the floor and hurt my back?" she goes on to ask. Andrea wouldn't know because she was never around when Iris needed her, only when she needed Iris for money. "You don't because you didn't care. And when I wanted to pursue wrestling you disowned me! You said you'd rather have me dead than have a daughter who wrestles for a living!" she exclaims as my eyes widen in shock.

"How could you?" I ask, shaking my head and placing a hand on Iris's back in comfort. After all that, Iris was still willing to let her in her life? It's probably because she's the only parent she's known. The only family she ever had. Not anymore though. Iris has a family in me, Seth, Evan, Dean and Roman. She doesn't need this sorry excuse of a Mother.

"You don't know what it's like ok?" says Andrea with more than just an attitude. "Do you know how embarrassing it was for me to say my daughter wants to be a wrestler to the other Moms? Their daughters wanted to be restaurant owners, businesswomen but my daughter wants to fight around with sweaty people? How proud do you think that could make me feel?" she goes on to ask. She honestly worries about other people than her own daughter? I don't know why I'm surprised, this woman just keeps digging a deeper grave for herself as the seconds roll on by.

"It shouldn't matter to you because I was your daughter, what others think shouldn't matter," states Iris, trying to control her tears. "I can't do this…you…just please leave," she then says with a huge sigh. It's best if she does rather than Iris getting even more upset.

"Iris, all I've come here for is to be with you and Evan," starts Andrea. She can do that over my dead body. There's no way Evan's getting exposed to the likes of her. "I've accepted wrestling into your life otherwise I wouldn't be here. Why can't you accept me for who I am? Or is it because these people have poisoned your mind? After making sure to never let me be near you or Evan again I'm sure Seth has said other lies to you," she says and I see Anne grip onto Seth's arm because he looks like he's about to pummel the woman. Although I don't blame him I feel the exact same way. I think everyone in this room does actually.

"No Mom, you stop lying," says Iris with a steady voice, sounding like she's had enough. "I know the truth Mom. I've always known," she says as I wonder what Iris could be talking about. "You tried to take Evan away so Seth banned you from seeing him and as a result you didn't come to see me either," she says and I bite down on my tongue. She knew. She always knew! Maybe that's why she never said anything. Fuck!

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	63. Appreciation!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you're all good1 :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: I know right? She needs to do this with her Mother. Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Oh yeah. It doesn't get any better :)**

 **Ayesha: I'm good thank you! How are you? I totally understand. I'm actually trying to make sure I can keep it despite it being difficult at the moment. It's a stress free thing. That's good to hear! I wish you all the luck in the world! I haven't been up to much. Starting a job soon and writing and relaxing till then :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 63:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"What? Who told you that?" Andrea asks, glaring at me but I just roll my eyes. She may care what people think but I don't give a fuck what she or anyone else thinks. All I care is what my friends think and we all had no clue Iris knew about this. I look at Dean, Roman and Seth who all look confused as to how Iris knows all this. Maybe those nurses told her.

"No one," answers Iris which surprises me. How did she find out then? It's not like any of us wrote it down or anything like that. "I was aware Mom, I was aware of everything," she says in a soft voice. "I may have been in a coma but I heard every word everyone said to me," she goes on to explain. She never mentioned anything like that. Unless it's been coming back to her slowly, she did say she woke up because she heard Seth was leaving her. "The day you came and yelled at everyone that it was their fault, I heard. And I also heard when one of the nurses came into the room in concern because you were trying to take Evan away despite my instructions that Dean and Ariana were going to take over his care. Which you knew about when I was getting the papers ready in case anything ever did happen to me, of course it's another matter that I knew something was going to," she explains in detail.

"I…" Andrea stands there speechless, finally having gotten her ass handed to her. Wait a second, that bitch knew me and Dean get custody? And Iris just mentioned some papers. That fucking cow! We didn't have any papers because Iris never gave them to us but she did. That's why she tried taking him away because she knew we couldn't stop her.

"My friends were in my room talking about what you'd done and I heard every single word," Iris continues to reveal. That's why she never asked for Andrea, she know what had happened. "They were talking about how heartbreaking it would be for me if I ever found out what you tried to do. How they had to keep it hidden from me for my wellbeing. How unlucky I was to have a Mother like you!" she says, shaking her head. Shit. We probably should have thought about it before discussing the whole thing. Then again, Iris needed to hear it I think. To finally make the decision of whether her Mom gets a say in anything to do with her life.

"Iris, you're my daughter," states Andrea. That's a new one. Iris is only her daughter when she wants her to be. Not to mention the fact that Andrea has never acted like a Mother in her whole entire life.

"Not anymore," Iris says, shaking her head with a bitter chuckle. "From this point on, I don't have a Mother. And I never want to see your face again!" she says with a strong persona. I can't believe she just said that to Andrea. I mean I know everything was upsetting for Iris but banishing Andrea permanently is something that I would do, not her.

"You don't mean that," says Andrea, looking genuinely upset for once. She looks like her whole world has been overturned. But that's what she does every single time she steps foot back into Iris's life. Enough is enough. Iris can't let her keep on getting away with it. Especially since she's a Mother now herself.

"Oh really? Well surprisingly I know how I feel, what I want and what I mean and right now I'll be happy if I never saw you again," explains Iris, sounding like she genuinely means it too. This will be healthy for Iris and Evan. They don't need the headache. Iris never needed it but the fact that she lost her Father meant her Mom got many golden opportunities. "All you ever bring with you is trouble and sadness and tears and I don't need that in mine or my son's life". She sounds tired of having to deal with Andrea, I'm surprised she didn't blow up like this sooner. Maybe trying to take Evan away was the final prick of the needle that made everything blow.

"It's these people isn't it? They're making you say all this!" accuses Andrea, looking at everyone with disdain in her eyes. Iris gets a backbone and can confront her Mother for once yet we're getting blamed for it.

"Don't even you dare bring Seth's family into this," says Iris with a finger in the air, defending them all. "They're more of a family to me than you could ever be and I won't allow you to stand here and say even one bad word against any of them. They've shown me so much love that I've realised that it's not acceptable the way you treat me. I have never felt so much at home before than my time here so without further ado leave before I get someone to kick you out!" It's a good thing Seth brought her here then, who knows if she'd have forgiven Andrea if they didn't come here. Alright Iris. Now she's talking.

"Believe me I'll happily do the honours," I say from besides Iris. Iris has a sort of stare off with Andrea after which Iris lets out a sigh. Andrea can be a stubborn bitch and I don't think Iris has the patience to deal with her any longer. She's sick and tired of having had to deal with it from day one.

"If anyone needs me I'll be somewhere else," says Iris, leaving the room hurriedly. She won't kick her own Mother out, not physically anyways. She's kicked her out verbally and I have been waiting for his day for years.

"You happy? Once again you've managed to destroy her confidence in giving people second chances and hoping they'll change. Is that what you wanted?" I ask her with my hands on my hips and a frown on my face. This woman has had more than enough chances and every single time she shows us all what a complete bitch she really is. Bitch is probably a little too soft of a word, this woman is ten times worse.

"This is all your fault!" accuses Andrea. Like as if I didn't see that one coming. I'm always the target for when Iris decides to do something for herself and not listen to what her Mother says.

"No, it's not," I say in full confidence. "This is your foolishness costing you your daughter". Iris should have been loved and cherished by this woman but instead she's been through hell. She never got the love she needed or wanted. But at least she's finally decided that she should be treated better.

"And we think it's time for you to leave," speaks up Seth, not having Anne stood by him. I think she went to go check on Iris. She'll need someone with her right now. "The next time you decide to come anywhere near Iris and make a scene, I'll press charges for harassment," he threatens. Wow, I didn't even think of that. I'm definitely impressed. Iris won't even stop him.

"And if I don't?" questions Andrea, getting cocky but she has no reason to right now. Iris wants nothing to do with her, we want her out of here and no one in this room is on her side. Iris has even left and legally she's on Seth's parents property without permission.

"Then I'll have to use my hands," threatens Dean. He's only joking of course even though his eyes say differently. But he's a damn good actor. Its why his promos are so good and endearing. He has a way of talking that when he's all serious you can't help but believe and hang on to every word he's said.

"This isn't over," says Andrea before shifting her fat ass and finally leaving. The woman is so shameless she doesn't leave till being told at least 20 times to do so. Who the fuck even does that? It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

"Thank fuck, before I actually did use my fist," comments Dean at which I snort. He would never have done it anyway, not matter how much of a hardass he claims himself to be. Although, I probably might have gone for it, liking that she was giving me a reason to put my hands on her.

"You never would have hit her," I say, shaking my head in disbelief. If he had he probably would have knocked her jaw right off. I mean, the guy pushed me gently once and I fell on the floor. He apologised profusely afterwards but I took it with a laugh because we were messing about.

"If he didn't I would have," says Roman at which point I have no choice but to believe him. Roman's a calm person so to know he was actually this close to it makes me think what would have transpired had she not left. But then again, she did insult us all as much as she could. The old bat.

"Is Iris going to be ok?" asks Macy in concern as the others also look worried. That is a question that is always asked when her Mother is around because believe me, she never is. But now that Andrea has finally left, we won't need to ask that again.

"Yes, this is routine," I say with a sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. We've been through this so many times that I don't even need to run after Iris in worry.

"What do you mean?" asks Angie.

"Andrea comes, upsets Iris about something or the other and I go and make my best friend laugh till she cries," I describe the usual routine from years ago when we were growing up. It was always the same thing. But I don't regret a single second. We had some good times. Like when I snuck into Iris's bedroom with a bag full of sweets after Andrea told her wrestling is for people who have nothing better to do than show their skin.

"Go do your thing," Dean tells me and I nod my head after which I leave the room. Now I have to get my best jokes out just to make her smile. But it'll be worth it to know that this will be the last time I comfort her because her Mother has hurt her. Andrea won't be able to hurt her again.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I sit in the front room with a cushion resting on my thighs as I let the tears flow. I was such an idiot to think she had changed for one second. But as always, the joke's on me. After coming out of my coma, I tried to ignore it. I didn't mourn or cry or feel anything. I just wanted my family with me, my **_real_** family and I have them. But just now, I couldn't contain my emotions and here I am, crying yet again. I need to stop crying; it makes me so weak.

"Iris, how are you my love?" asks Anne, coming in and sitting down beside me. My Mother is one of the most spiteful people I have ever known. I can't believe I just chose to ignore it all this time. I was hoping she would change, rooting for her. But she just went on to do things that are even worse.

"Ok, considering…" I trail off not being able to speak anymore. I use the sleeves of my cardigan to wipe the tears off from my face. Why am I even crying for that wretched woman? She never gave a crap about me and my feelings.

"I know it's not my place to say this but you're better off without her," says Anne. I've been told that many times before by Ariana. I think I always knew that as well. But after losing Dad and spending my whole life without knowing him and having him there, I didn't want to lose Mom too.

"No its fine," I say, the tears still not stopping. "I agree with that. Hell, I've known it for a long time. Ariana's been telling me that ever since we were kids but I denied it. I didn't want it to be true". I guess sometimes you can wish and wish for something but it'll never come trust. Maybe it wasn't supposed to.

"And that's understandable honey," says Anne, rubbing a hand up and down my arm. "You wanted to see the best in your Mother but the thing is Iris, sometimes you have to be strong and just let go. Some things you can't control and unfortunately this is one of them. But me and my family will always be here for you, I want you to know that," she says and I nod my head. She then envelopes me in a hug and I smile. This is how a Mother is supposed to be. Kind, gentle, caring. Nothing like my Mom. Why couldn't she be like this? "Now, are you coming back to your party?" she asks me just as I see Ariana come.

"In a minute," I tell her and she nods her head before leaving. I bet Ariana's here for the usual routine. The pick me up. I don't know how I would have done it without her all these years. She's really been my rock through all the crap I've had to put up with.

"Hey Ariana, you two be quick now. I have a cake that everyone is dying to dig in to," says Anne and Ariana nods her head with a smile. She comes in and takes a seat next to me, placing her feet on the table.

"Ari," I tell her off and gesture with my eyes to take her feet off the table. She rolls her eyes at this though.

"Relax would ya?" says Ariana, not listening to me as always. But I'd rather have her like this than any other way. "Another day at the office, eh?" she asks me and I nod my head silently, retuning my gaze to the cushion on my lap. "I know I don't need to say this but she isn't worth it". I've heard that one a lot before too but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

"I guess," I say, shrugging my shoulders and relieved that the tears finally stopped. Although I think it's because of Ariana. I'm used to stopping crying whenever she gets involved with things related to my Mother. It's like a reflex, my Mom makes me cry and Ariana makes me stop.

"Remember when that Ernest broke your heart?" asks Ariana and I nod my head. I have no idea what this has to do with anything but I guess I'll go with the flow. I learned to do that a long time ago with Ariana because at the end of it all, it means something.

"You chased him around school with a baseball bat," I say, smiling at the memory. It was quite funny at the time and I was glad we broke up then because I didn't want a scared shitless boyfriend. I wanted someone who'd fight everyone for me. Strangely enough, Seth has actually kind of done that.

"Remember how he was jumping around when I paid Michael to put worms down his pants?" she asks me and I nod my head. Just chasing him around with a bat wasn't enough, he broke my heart after all. "He was so jumpy and screamed like such a girl! Ah! My pants! Ah! Oh my god!" she says in a really girly voice which does the jobs and makes me burst out into laughter.

"Iris, please help me! I don't want to die!" I continue to mimic which only makes us laugh harder. I can't believe I ever went out with that loser. He's definitely not the kind of guy I would love to be with. But when he asked me out, I couldn't help but say yes. Then I realised he wasn't so bad. I guess being in a relationship just made me that tiny bit happier and I took it as something that should last forever.

"See? There's that smile," says Ariana, grabbing a hold of one of my hands and shuffling just that tiny but closer.

"Thanks Ari, you're the only one that could get me like this after what happened," I tell her. I know I have my little family consisting of my brothers, boyfriend and my son. But it's Ariana who knows exactly what I need after dealing with my Mom. They could never understand how difficult that was for me to do, how heartbreaking it was as well.

"Now if you're going to start thanking me then I'll start charging you for helping you train in the ring," she warns me and I nod my head. But it's a natural reaction. When someone does something nice, you automatically want to thank them for it.

"Sor-" I start but then stop knowing she'll reprimand me for that too. "I mean, I'll make sure it doesn't happen next time," I correct myself and see her nod her head in approval. "You're the only who gets this Ari, I'm glad you're here". If it wasn't for Ariana, who knows where I'd be right now. I probably would have been depressed beyond belief because no one was around to cheer me up.

"I'm glad I'm here too, and I know what you mean," says Ariana, giving my hand a tight squeeze. "I've seen you go through this your whole life and I'm actually quite proud to be the only to get you back to normal," she explains. I bet it's something she can use to gloat with. "Well as normal as can be," she adds on, my mouth opening in shock at her words.

"Ariana!" I exclaim and use my cushion to start hitting her with it and she laughs and hits me back with her own. She can be downright annoying sometimes.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I go to check on Iris when I hear voices. Standing outside the door I hear Ariana and Iris talk. I smile when I get to hear the story of Ariana chasing some guy with a baseball bat who broke Iris's heart. It hurts when Iris says only Ariana can make her feel better in this situation, I was hoping I could do the same. But I understand. I can make her happy but she's gone through this so many times that its only Ariana who can get a hold of her at a time like this. I guess all I can is support her. Which I know she's thankful for. I walk off when I hear laughing knowing I don't need to check on Iris. She has enough people to take care of her. Me included.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

We go back to my party and I'm thankful that no one mentions the calamity that is my Mum. I think a part of me accepted way back that she would disappoint me. And I have to live with it. She's out of my life for good and I don't need to worry or cry over her anymore. I could keep giving her chances before because I honestly thought she would change. But I have Evan now. I can't let her continually disappoint him like she has been doing with me. I always thought I could set about proving wrong that 'some people don't change' but in the process its I that have been proven wrong.

"Iris," says Seth, coming over and giving me a hug. "I would have told you sooner," he starts but I place a finger over his lips. I know exactly why nor he or the others mentioned my Mom. If I was upset with them then I would have already had it out with them.

"I was there when you guys were discussing it Seth, and I understand everything completely," I tell him. He's not made a bad decision anywhere. Telling my Mom to basically piss off was the right decision. The fact that she never came back for me, her daughter, it did break my heart. But she's been chipping away at it for years now that I don't feel as much pain as I should. "And I agree with your decision, she shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near Evan. So don't feel like you have to explain yourself".

"I love you so much, you know that?" he asks me as I smile up at him. I love it when he says that. He tells me every single day and that moment is probably one of the happiest in my life.

"I have an inkling," I say with a chuckle. I hug him and we get back to enjoying the party. It was a great way to send us off I think. The food was amazing, the people and the music. It was relaxed and laidback, exactly what I needed.

"Oh, I'm going to miss my little bud so much," says Anne as I take a seat next to her, being entertained by Nicky's dancing. At one point him and Dean have a dance off. Both trying to up one another. Dean won in the end of course because he can actually dance whereas Nicky flaps around as a chicken.

"He'll miss you too," I speak for Evan who's playing in his grandma's arms. I think he's started to recognise when other people hold him, apart from me and Seth and our gang.

"Sure you can't stay a little longer?" she asks me. it would have been nice to stay but we all have our own lives we need to get back to.

"Sorry, we'll come back though," I reassure her. Spending all this time with them, I've grown attached to each and every single person. "After all, we've got to look forward to Evan's first Christmas, his first thanksgiving, his first birthday and a whole lot more". I can't wait to celebrate all these events with Evan, Seth and our family. I want to make sure he gets the love and happy memories that I never did.

"Take care of Seth, alright?" asks Anne and I chuckle. I can't believe she actually said that to me. The reason it's so funny is because she's the first person to. "I'm serious. I have never seen my boy so taken with someone and I would hate to see anything get in the way of that". It's nice to hear how Seth feels from others, it lets me know that what we have is real. It's something obvious. Which I never got before.

"Well I have never been so taken with anyone either," I let her know which makes her smile. There's just always been something about Seth that's kept me close to him. I think Evan was the universe's way of letting me know we belong together. Otherwise I would have come back into his life. I'd be off somewhere with someone else, pretending to live a happy life maybe.

"Don't worry honey, I've told him the same thing so if he ever bothers you then give me a call and his Mother will sort him out, alright?" says Anne and I nod my head. I then grab some tissue and wipe Evan's mouth because he's making bubbles with his saliva.

"Can I get everyone's attention please?" announces Nick and we all look at him. "I would like everyone to join me in raising a glass…to Iris," he says and everyone grabs a glass wherever from they can. "Iris, you have been absolutely amazing, hasn't she?" he asks everyone and I hear shouts of agreement which makes me laugh. "We never thought Seth would find that someone special in his life but he proved us all wrong," he starts, Seth blushing red in embarrassment which I find incredibly adorable. "He found you and brought you here and I can honestly say no one's fit here more perfectly than you have. I know we've had some mishaps here and there but we've gotten past that. And you, young lady have made more than an impression on every one of us," he says, looking at me the entire time. "You have brought this family closer than ever before and I think everyone will join me in saying thank you," he says. I can't believe he said such nice things. If only they knew what they've done for me.

"Thank you," I hear in unison from everyone. I laugh when Ariana smacks Dean for joining in. He never wants to be left out of anything.

"We hope our boy keeps you happy cause if he doesn't then sorry Seth but we're disowning you and adopting her," Nick goes on to say which Seth labels as 'uncalled for'. "So can we please raise a glass to Iris, may you continue to be a light in others' lives," he says. I keep my emotions in check as I look around the room at everyone, all of them sending me loving gazes, smiles on their faces, nodding their heads.

"To Iris," everyone shouts in unison and this time Ariana hits Dean for not joining in. Them two make me laugh harder than any other couple I know. No other would be able to put up with Dean being so idiotic and no man would ever put up with being hit so much.

"And let's not forget the newest addition to our family, little Evan," Nick then says, gesturing to Evan who's still in Anne's arms. "You have no idea how happy you've made us by giving us Evan. So let's drink to Evan!" he says happily. I look at Evan and I don't know if he knows what's going on because he laughs and claps his hands together.

"To Evan!" everyone shouts again and I look around the room at everyone. At one point in my life I didn't think I would ever have a family but now I do. Along with my friends, I have Seth's family who've taken me under their wing as if I'm their own and I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative towards them. I've always questioned why I received the short end of the stick, family wise. But if I didn't, then I wouldn't appreciate everyone I have in my life right now.

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 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	64. Back on the Road

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Back with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)**

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 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Yep they are. Ah, you know me too well :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Cool! :) Xx**

 **Calwitch: I think most people did. But she was a loose end that needed to be tied up. Hopefully they don't need to worry about her now. Or do they? They could be in cahoots. But let's think about their goals. What Kane wants and what Andrea wants? Could they really coexist together? :)**

 **Paisley2: I think right now a lot of people have questions. But I like to keep you all guessing. I'm also planning on how things are going to come about because I want it to be epic! :)**

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 **CHAPTER 64:**

 **IRIS POV**

Needless to say it was sad saying goodbye to everyone. And they all wanted to know one thing, if we could stay a bit longer. But we couldn't. Unfortunately. I made sure to get everyone's numbers though. I think one of the saddest people to see me go was Macy. She kept looking at me as if her puppy died but I just told her to be happy with Nicky. She didn't really need me anymore. Everyone had accepted her and she was getting on really well with the family. Evan Angie.

"What are you thinking about Cutie Pie?" asks Seth from besides me on our flight out to Texas, that's where everybody is at the moment. I'm not sure if I've been quiet too long or if he just looked at me and thought I was thinking hard.

"Just how everything finally feels perfect," I answer him, moving to place my head on his shoulder. I am thankfully leaving Iowa in the same place I came, feeling content. Although, everything that happened made it seem like that never would.

"Not that perfect," comments Seth and I follow his gaze to see Ariana and Dean playing with Evan. I don't think we're ever going to detach that lunatic from our Evan.

"You guys need to stop this competition thing you've got going on," I say, resting my chin on Seth's shoulder and shaking my head. "So I guess I have a lot of packing to do when we actually go back to Chicago," I then say, diverting the topic to something that's a lot happier. Me and Seth moving in together.

"Yeah you do," says Seth, smiling from ear to ear which in turn makes me smile too. "I still can't believe this is happening," he admits to me. I don't think he thought I was going to agree, considering we got together just over two weeks ago. But it feels right. And you should always go with your feelings.

"Why?" I ask him.

"You took so long making the decision I thought for sure you were going to say 'no'," he answers. I was taking so long to make the actual decision because I didn't want to mess things up. But then I realised, they can't be messed up because I'm sort of used to living with Seth already.

"How could I when you asked me so nicely?" I challenge him. I don't think he planned it till the very second he asked me to.

"True," states Seth, making us both chuckle. "Remember our flight here? You were so nervous to meet my family," he reminds me. I was so worried at that time, I kept asking him how my hair looked. I can't believe he put up with that though.

"Yep, I was so worried I'd mess up and do the wrong thing," I say, not being able to believe that was just over 2 weeks ago. It feels like we were staying there for a lot longer.

"But you did wonderful, as always," says Seth, leaning down and pecking my lips. "You even brought Angie around which I thought wasn't going to be possible". Winning Angie was one of the hardest thing I had to do but I kept reminding myself it was for Seth and our family. That got me through the whole thing.

"You didn't think I could win her over?" I ask, sitting up in shock. He did tell me it would be difficult but he never told me he thought it was impossible.

"No, I just didn't think you could melt her heart made of ice," jokes Seth and I shake my head hitting his arm. He can laugh all he wants now, if Angie ever hears him say that he is a dead man.

"Wait till I tell her this and then we'll see how you're laughing," I say and that does the trick because he looks at me in alarm. I do have her number after all. I could just give her a quick ring or drop her a message, that would do the trick.

"Wait a second, y-you're not seriously going to tell her are you?" questions Seth, looking worried. He should be as well, laughing at people behind their backs.

"Well yeah," I say as if it was obvious. "Unless…" I trail off for suspense and because I find it quite funny that he's squirming in that seat. I've not done this in ages, it's so much fun.

"Unless what?" asks Seth a little too eagerly. He looks like he'll do anything right now as long as I don't go and babble to his sister. Which is actually very funny because we didn't used to get on.

"Unless you make it worth my while," I finish with a suggestive look. He looks surprised at first and I knew he would be.

"What exactly are you saying Miss Buckley?" asks Seth, a small smirk playing on his own face as he continues to look at me with an unexplainable look on his face. I think that look in his eye is lust.

"I'm saying," I start and then lean over so that my lips are closer to his ear. "That I want you Mister Rollins, all of you," I whisper seductively and give him a wink once I've moved back. That should do the trick.

"Don't do this to me now," groans Seth with his head back on the seat as I giggle. "We'll definitely need to make some time for ourselves tomorrow night," he then says. He always wants to do anything as quick as possible. He's not even thinking about his plans for tomorrow night.

"You're working tomorrow night and I'll be a terrible girlfriend if I made you work any longer," I say. He's been on two weeks' vacation after all, getting back into the ring and working the whole night will do a number on him. Especially as well since he's not been going to the gym as per usual.

"Believe me no matter how tired I will be I want this," says Seth with conviction, as if trying to make an argument for a case. "You know just how long I've waited to be buried deep inside of you?" he whispers in my ear making me blush as my eyes lock with his. "How long I've wanted to hear you scream my name?" he goes on. If he keeps it up at this rate, then I'll have my way with him in the bathroom and become part of the **mile high club.**

"Seth," I whine, feeling incredibly turned on right now, especially when he talks to me like that.

"What?" he asks me innocently but I know he knows full well what he's doing right now. "I'm just telling you how much I'd love to be going down on you," he says and my eyes close of their own accord, imagining what it would be like. We've had sex before but this time it'll be different. There's love.

"Damn you Rollins," I say when I open my eyes and see him sitting there wearing a smug smirk. He's worn me down and now I'm actually considering the idea of letting him go to work on me tomorrow night. "Fine, you can have me tomorrow night if you can keep up. Any hint of you being tired and it's a straight 'no'". That'll be hard to do though because as soon as he takes off that top, it's game over for me.

"Don't worry, that's not going to happen. If anything I'll be more energised," says Seth, resulting in me giggling once more. Tomorrow night it is then. Are we actually doing this though? Finally. After the whole Isabel-watching-us thing. That's still gives me the shivers.

"What about Evan?" I then ask him, remembering about our son. We can't have him around for anything like that. I am not having sex in the same room my son is sleeping in. It's weird and disgusting. Maybe to others it might not be but to me it is.

"We'll just give him to Dean," says Seth, shrugging his shoulders. I cannot believe him. He constantly complains about Dean spending too much time with Evan then hands Evan over to him anyway when it's convenient for him. "It'll make sure he's cockblocked for once!" he says with an evil laugh. So there is another underlying cause too.

"You're so bad," I comment and then lean in to place a soft kiss on Seth's lips which he responds to. I feel one of his hands move to my thigh as one of mine makes is way to the nape of his neck.

"Children please!" exclaims Dean, both of us pulling apart instantly. For goodness sake! He didn't need to startle us both. Or shout so loud that some people actually turn to look at us.

"Do you hate me? Is that it?" questions Seth as I place a hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh. Another time where Seth was close to getting some action and Dean Ambrose messed it up.

"Dude, chill," says Dean, one hand in the air. "Thought you might want your kid back," he explains his reason for coming over here and interrupting us. "But if you'd rather me take him-" Dean gets cut off by Seth who immediately reaches out for Evan.

"Nope!" Seth quickly says and takes Evan off of him. Dean goes back to sit next to Ariana when I realise the deal. First of all, Dean never gives up Evan willingly. Second, if he does then it's usually due to one particular reason.

"Seth," I say and gesture for him to bring Evan closer to me. I smell and realise the situation we're in. It was the second one. "And I think someone needs a nappy change," I announce, grabbing the bag with all the stuff in it for Evan.

"Dean," seethes Seth and looks over to Dean who smiles and waves, blowing a kiss in the process. I wonder what he's going to do when he has his own kid, hand him to Ariana and then run off down the road?

"Hand him to me and I'll go," I say, holding out my arms.

"Nah, I got him. You just sit there and look pretty," says Seth, pecking my lips before getting up to leave. I decide to use that time wisely and go over to where Dean and Ariana are, taking a seat on the arm of Ariana's chair. Maybe Dean needs a telling off since it's been a while.

"Why do you have to push his buttons?" I ask Dean who gives me an innocent look and shrugs his shoulders. "I mean it Dean; you have to stop this. Alright?" I know right now it's all light-hearted and a joke but it could turn serious very quickly.

"But it's no fun then," complains Dean but that stops once I give him a stern look. No wonder Ariana is the way she is when Dean's around, he needs a constant babysitter sometimes.

"Hey Roman," I say his name and look behind them at where Roman is. "Is JoJo all set to come down?" I then ask him, remembering what he said about her joining us for a short period of time. The I'll be the babysitter which means I might have to take on Dean at some point too. I know what Seth would say to this 'It's good practice for the future'. Haha.

"Yeah, she's really looking forward to it," answers Roman. I think he's looking forward to it more than anything because it's been a while since he last saw her.

"It'll be great to see her, I remember last time we met we did each other's nails," I say excitedly. Surprisingly, she was very good at doing it all. She even picked the right colours and everything. "Can't wait to see what we do this time, it'll be great. As long as Ariana joins in and stops being so prissy," I comment. She had a face on the entire time JoJo did her nails even though I was sending her subtle gestures to put a smile on her face at least.

"Listen, your idea of a good night in might be doing nails but it's not mine," Ariana makes it clear. I understand that but she could have at least been a bit more enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Why can't you be a girl for once in your life?" I ask of her. I thought the wedding might bring it out of her but nope, that hasn't done a damn thing. Maybe dress shopping will. My friend is a girl underneath it all I just need to find the thing that will get her all excited for it.

"Why can't you not be such a girl for once in your life?" she counter argues. I've done that many times before. Like when we watched straight up actions movies, full of pure violence for a whole day. It's another thing that I actually got into them but if she showed the same initiative, maybe she would enjoy the so called girly things I have her participate in.

"Alright girls, let's keep the claws in," Dean gets involved but we just shoot him glares. He should know better than to stick his nose in it. "Sorry, trying to help," he says with his hands up in surrender. Maybe he's learnt from last time when both me and Ariana turned on him.

"Why can't we just go and do something normal? Like bowling?" suggests Ariana. We can do that too. JoJo is a kid after all, I'm not going to make her run around in the mall for clothes. She is seven years old after all.

"Hmm, that's not such a bad idea," I say, actually thinking about it. "We could go to the arcade afterwards and then find a nice place to eat as well," I say, already planning out what we would do. Although this is more of what Ariana will agree to do rather than what JoJo might want to do.

"See? Normal," says Ariana but I just ignore her. She acts as if I'm abnormal or some sort of alien from outer space.

"What about you? Are you going to start working as a stylist again or go back to wrestling?" asks Roman, a question I've been asking myself too many times. Not to mention my option of just staying at home and giving Evan a normal upbringing. Something Seth wasn't too keen on. I guess it would be hard on him, not seeing us both days on end. My, my, so many decisions.

"I'm still deciding, obviously I can't just go back to wrestling because I haven't done it for a whole year," I point out to him. There will a lot of training and gym time required which will be difficult to do since I have Evan now. "Maybe for now I could do the stylist thing and then make a decision later". I really have no clue what I'm going to do and I don't want to discuss this with Seth because I know what he wants. He won't be objective or practical, he'll let his heart make the decision on the advice he gives me. I go back to my seat pondering it over but I don't get much time because Seth comes back.

"I think someone's hungry," says Seth and I smile up at him. I go through my bag and get Evan's bottle out, handing it to Seth who then starts to feed him. I am so lucky to have these boys as my family. When the flight lands we make our way to the hotel and separate into our rooms.

* * *

"Hey, you manage to get Evan down alright?" I ask Seth, coming into the bedroom part of our suite. Seth gestures to the bed and sure enough there is my baby looking all cute as he sleeps. "Nice job Mister Rollins," I say, putting my arms around his torso from behind as we both look at our son.

"Yes but I'll feel much better once the hotel staff manage to bring a crib up here that he can sleep in," says Seth with a serious look on his face.

"Why? Hate sharing your bed with a few months old baby?" I ask him amusedly. He better not be thinking about having his way with me tonight.

"No, he could fall off during the night," says Seth and just like that 'Protective Dad Mode' is on. He sounds serious too. "I know before it wasn't a problem, I'm a light sleeper. But coming back to work again, if we're both too tired and he manages to get to the end of the bed or something then we'll have a flat pancake for a son!" he explains, making me laugh. A flat pancake? That sounds like something Dean would come out with.

"Oh, calm down Seth," I tell him, nuzzling the back of his shoulder. "Nothing like that will happen," I reassure him. Although it should be the other way around, me worrying and him doing the reassuring. But I think he's just not used to caring for someone this young and every little thing worries him,

"That's what the Mother of the 6-month old said and she ended up eating her own words," he tells me and I let out a sigh because he keeps on doing this. I swear he picked it from Dean since Dean kept telling me about women giving birth in toilets during Evan's birth.

"Have you been googling stuff again?" I ask with my head tilted to the side which gives me enough scope to see the guilty look on his face. "Seth, will you quit looking at others kids and start focusing on ours?" I say to him, shaking my head. It's like he goes on the internet to specifically find something new that he can use and say it happened to we should be careful.

"Alright, alright," says Seth with a sigh. I place a kiss on his cheek and then start to unpack as quietly as I can. Seth helps me but goes to answer the door when someone knocks on it. I see the biggest smile on Seth's face when he comes back in and that can only mean they brought up the crib. Seth looks around and I'm guessing he's judging where he's going to put it. Once he's done that he brings it in and we both make it suitable enough for Evan to sleep in it. Then Seth does the difficult job of actually putting Evan into it and I have to say I'm impressed because Evan doesn't wake up. After unpacking we both lie down on the bed. My head resting on Seth's arm and my hands intertwined with that arm's hand.

"You ready to go back to work tomorrow?" I ask Seth curiously, glancing at him. It might have been two weeks but it felt a lot longer. Plus, he stopped his daily exercise. Chasing the twins around the house wasn't really part of his exercise. Maybe he should have coming running with me and Rose.

"Yeah, I guess," says Seth absentmindedly so I know something's going on. He's worried about something and from the looks of it he's only started to think about it now.

"What's wrong?" I ask and I know he's about to deny something is up so I say, "There's no point in not telling me Mister Rollins because I'll find out eventually". All I have to do is either look really sad which will break him or I have to send a quick message to Dean who will then break him.

"What are we going to do?" asks Seth, looking down at me as I send him a confused look. "A-are you going to go back to Chicago and stay there with Evan?" he asks me, sounding insecure. It's probably a worry because we've only just become a proper family.

"Oh," I say, realising he's in the same situation as me. I have to make the decision and that's been worrying me but Seth has to live with that decision and that's worrying him. "I haven't really thought much about it," I tell him truthfully. I'm trying not to think about it, it just adds on to the pressure.

"S-should I take that as a good sign?" asks Seth hesitantly, his gaze having returned back to the ceiling. I turn on my side and put my arm around his torso, snuggling into his chest.

"Seth I," I start, unsure of what to say that could put both our minds at ease right now. "Having Evan grow up in Davenport isn't such a bad idea," I say, reminding us both that we are moving in together. Plus, Seth grew up not too far away and he turned out great. "He'll have a school, friends, grandparents who are only 20 minutes' tops away from him, everything he needs. But he won't always have his Father," I say, not knowing where I'm going with this. Maybe I'm listing a pros and cons to him.

"You've really been thinking about this haven't you?" asks Seth and I nod my head silently. It's hard not to. But every single time I look at Evan I'm reminded I have to make this big decision for him.

"You'll miss out on important stuff in his life, like his first word, first walk, first day at school and I don't want to take that away from you," I explain to him with a sigh. It's also linked with my job. Can I just forget the passion I've had for wrestling? I know I've taken all this time out, but only because I had to. I don't have to anymore. But I don't want Evan always being stuck with someone else, like a nanny because that's not much of a childhood.

"It's not your fault Iris, I knew when I set out to do this job that having a family with someone wouldn't be easy," he states. I think we both knew that. But since neither of us were taken when we started our careers, it never really mattered. And neither of us found anyone we could put over our career.

"I don't want Evan to not see his Dad a lot of the time," I state with conviction. I didn't have my Dad in my life, that wasn't my choice. But this is a choice. Evan can have his Dad around. "I don't know Seth; I can't even make up my own mind. I'm useless at this". I've always felt like I know what to do when a problem arises but this is too much of a delicate situation.

"Hey," says Seth in a soft voice, placing his other hand on the side of my face and getting me to look up at him. "It's a tough decision Iris and not an easy one to make". At least he understands. He gets that I can't just make this decision quickly; I'll need some time.

"What do you want me to do?" I ask Seth desperately, maybe I should just ask what he wants. "Whenever I've had a problem your advice always comes useful. What do you say this time?" When I needed him during my pregnancy he gave the right support. Maybe I'm wrong and he won't be biased.

"I can't give you an answer Iris," says Seth which makes me frown. I wonder why. "Or advice because it'll be biased. I want you and Evan with me and that's what I'll tell you to do but that's selfish on my part. It won't be because it's good for your or Evan but because it's good for me". I'm glad he's not just told me to stick with him at work, it lets me know he's taking things seriously.

"We're all allowed to be a bit selfish once in a while," I tell Seth with a small smile. That is true. There isn't anything wrong with that.

"We can't when we've got a son to think about," Seth counters. He's right too. Our priority should be Evan and what he needs. What does he need though? I can't even think straight.

"This sucks," I say, closing my eyes and snuggling into him further as I feel his chest vibrate in a chuckle. He may find that amusing but I know it's his sentiments exactly.

"We'll figure it out Cutie Pie," Seth tells me and I nod my head. It may take a little longer to make the decision but we'll hopefully get there.

"I love you," I tell Seth with a yawn, jetlag getting to me now. I'll do more thinking tomorrow when I have the time and energy.

"I love you too," I hear Seth say and at that point I feel content enough to doze off. The next time I'm awake I hear voices talking. "I don't know dude," I hear Seth say. I wonder who he's talking to. "I love Iris, I do but what if something happens and I mess up? What if she not being here reminding me how lucky I am leads me to be unfaithful to her? I can't do this to her again". I frown at what I hear and move around. I open my eyes and rub them, sitting up. Seth comes into my vision standing next to Evan's crib. "I'll talk to you later," he says as soon as he notices I'm up. "Hey, how was your nap?" he asks me, changing the subject and trying to get me to talk about something else. Or maybe he thinks I didn't hear.

"I heard that Mister Rollins," I say, getting straight to the point at which his face falls. He thinks if I make the decision to stay in Davenport then he'll cheat on me.

"I…" Seth trails off, trying to think of an excuse. He can't though. I heard him with my own two ears.

"So you think if I decide to stay at home and raise our son you're going to cheat on me?" I ask, getting up and out of the bed, feeling angry. How could he even think that for a second? Would he not think about me and Evan before even getting into that kind of a situation? Is he going to forget me?

"No that's-" I don't let him speak though. I can't believe he's even thinking about something like this.

"Just because I won't be available to give you sex you're going to start going to others?" I question. He's not complained about sex once since we've been together. Now it's suddenly going to be a problem? "We've gone this long without sex and now you think you'll cheat on me because you can't keep it in your pants? That is the biggest bullshit I have ever heard!" I nearly shout.

"Ssh, Evan's still sleeping," Seth comes over to me but I put a hand up. I'm only speaking the truth.

"Don't touch me," I warn him, not feeling in a good mood right now. "Do you think our love; our relationship is that weak that a little bit of distance is sure to mess it up?" I say and the silence is what upsets me because my eyes start to water. He hesitated. Which is the worst thing he could do.

"Iris, I just meant," starts Seth but I walk out of the bedroom, not wanting to listen to a single word. I don't want to listen to him tell me he doesn't think we can survive this. It shows me just how little faith he has in his relationship.

"We have been through so much Seth, so much," I begin, grabbing my phone and keeping it in my hands. "Yet you have no faith in us whatsoever!" I shout, turning around to face him. If he told me that before then I would have hold off on even agreeing to move in with him. Not if he thinks we're going to go South.

"Iris, you're completely taking me out of context," Seth tries to reason with me but I just scoff. He's trying to come up with excuses but it isn't going to work.

"It doesn't matter Seth; you obviously don't think much of us if you think you're going to cheat on me again!" I shout in anger. What we've been through obviously means nothing to him. He didn't cheat with Isabel but now all of a sudden he thinks he might? "Who are you going to go off with? Eva Marie again? Or are you going to find someone new?" I go on to question as he stands there looking angry but I don't care. He's upset me and he should know how hurt I am. "Or better yet are you going to look for someone that looks remotely like me so you can show her how much you miss me?" I think that's the final straw because all of a sudden I'm pushed up against the wall with his hands holding onto my arms tightly.

"Why the hell would you think that?" asks Seth in a low and deadly tone. Since when does he have the right to be angry? "Do you not understand that I love you? Or are you thinking I'm the same guy from last time?" I never said anything like that. Now he's taking things out of context.

"Y-you're the one that said it, not me," I remind him of his phone conversation. "If you think you might cheat on me then how can you expect me to think you're someone different?" I feel his grip on me tighten but it doesn't affect me because right now I want to know what is going through his mind. Why he's thinking like this. What he's not telling me.

"Iris," says Seth, looking like he's getting annoyed. "Yeah I have reservations but that doesn't mean I need you hounding me on top of that. It's my problem, not yours," he reprimands me. That's funny. I thought there was two of us in this relationship.

"Your problem?" I question in disbelief, letting out a sigh. "This is a relationship Mister Rollins not a wrestling show where you're the star. There's 2 of us in this relationship, not just you. That means they're not **_your_** problems, they're **_our_** problems. And I thought you understood that," I explain, shaking my head in disappointment. How can he even say something like that?

"Why can't you just not make a big deal out of this? Why do you have to turn it into such a drama?" he questions me which does nothing but fuel my anger.

"Drama?" I ask and now I struggle against his grip because I have had enough. "You think our relationship is a drama? Well excuse me for actually caring about our relationship. I'll make sure to care less in the future. Heck, why don't I go sleep with someone else too?" I take it too far because he pushes me against the wall, his grip even tighter now. I probably shouldn't have made that last suggestion.

"Say that again, I dare you," he says with a menacing look in his eyes. "You're only mine," he says possessively and crashes his lips to mine. I waste no time in responding and kiss him back with as much passion. His arms move to my waist as mine make their way around his neck. He deepens the kiss and we eventually pull apart for air. We both stare at each other, unsure of what just happened. I quickly push him off of me and run out of there, fleeing the hotel room. I know exactly where to go and once I do I knock on the door.

"What are you doing here?" he asks me, looking surprised that I'm here considering we're not meant to be seeing each other till later. "Iris what's wrong?" he asks, looking around alarmingly as tears fall down my face.

"Seth Rollins is a major ass," I state and see him visibly sigh. He moves to the side and lets me in as I walk in and wipe the tears from my face. Everything was going just fine but Seth had to make those comments. Now they're imprinted in my mind and the only thing I can think about is if he's going to go off with some other girl right now. Damn you Seth!

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 **Reviews are more than welcome! :)**


	65. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Oh by the way, I may only be able to update once the coming week because I have family visiting. If I can, I'll do my usual updates but you'll know why if I don't :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: And I love giving you drama! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I don't think you'll be surprised when you see who it is :)**

 **Calwitch: Oh I like that smack on the head! Haha! He shouldn't even be thinking something like that after what's happened in the last two weeks right? But I think at the end of the chapter we'll get an understanding of why he said what he did :)**

 **Paisley2: It's actually not useless. Considering what we get out of it :)**

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 **CHAPTER 65:**

 **IRIS POV**

"What did the fucker do now?" asks Dean, pacing the room back and forth as I stay seated on the end of the bed. I pick up another tissue from the box of tissues Dean set besides me and blow my nose into it. "Iris, you tell me right now or I'll go and beat the shit out of him," he warns me. I don't want him to do that.

"He's going to cheat on me!" I exclaim, not being able to help the way it came out, fresh tears making their way down my face as Dean stands there looking confused.

"Iris, we all decided Seth isn't that person anymore," starts Dean, coming over and bending down in front of me as I shake my head. "I know girls tend to get insecure, god know how many times Ariana's accused me and then ended up looking like an idiot," he says, making me chuckle. That's different. It's one thing for me to have doubts but when himself has doubts? How can I then not doubt his love for me?

"Dean…" I stop and wipe my face again, taking a deep breath. "This is different," I say and Dean places his hands on top of mine. "He…he said he was going to," I reveal to him and see red flash though his eyes.

"The fucker said what?" he asks, well more like shouts. I knew he wouldn't be happy about this. But I also thought Ariana would be here. She's not and Dean is. But I'm sort of glad because he's my protective older brother.

"I heard him on the phone," I start to tell the story. Dean nods his head as I continue to tell him what I heard and then what followed. "It ended up in a big fight, we were just shouting at each other and I couldn't take it anymore…so I…" I trail off sobbing once more, not being able to complete it. But I know that he knows what I mean.

"You ran off," finishes Dean for me and I nod my head. "That little shit is going to get it," he states, standing up and walking over to the door. I wanted to talk, not have people start to interfere. Seth isn't going to like that and I don't want that either.

"No wait!" I shout, stopping him at the doors of the bedroom before he can get to the door of the actual whole room. "Just leave it for now. I need a friend Dean, not someone who'll go beat the hell out of my stupid boyfriend," I explain, my hand on his arm. I need to keep him calm. All he'll do is go in there all guns blazing which will help nobody.

"Iris," starts Dean, turning to stand facing me. His phone starts ringing and he answers it. "Hey babe. Nothing why?" he says into the phone, obviously its Ariana. "That's fine. What do you mean? I am acting normal. Dude, just get back here with my beer already," he says and then laughs. Who calls their girlfriend dude? "Ok, love you too," he says, hanging up. Aw. What? Dean Ambrose telling his girlfriend he loves her is cute. "Ariana is stuck in traffic after going out to get some chocolate. And she may have been getting me some beer too," he explains quickly, gesturing to his phone.

"You're lucky you have each other," I state with a small smile through my tears. They've found their niche. Whereas me and Seth haven't. Ariana and Dean understand each other a lot better which is why they're getting married. They don't have any major issues. Maybe a couple of fights here and there but that's normal with every couple.

"Yep, I'm lucky she puts up with my shit. Kinda surprised she said yes to marrying me but glad she did," Dean jokes which makes me laugh. I wonder if he's ever serious about what he just said. "Now, come here," he says and puts his arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. This is nice. "It's alright little sis, big bro is here". Ok, now he's made it weird. Well not weird, but not really reassuring.

"You suck at this," I criticize him at which he just laughs. I think he's used to people saying that by now. I remember when I was pregnant and needed chocolate so I started to cry. Even though Ariana was right there he panicked and told her I was crying.

"Ari says the same, apparently I always put my foot in it," he lets me know. I can easily see how Dean would manage to do that.

"Sometimes, other times you manage to talk sense," I say, closing my eyes. At least he gives good hugs. "Like when I was upset during my pregnancy and you came and talked to me? That was a pretty mature conversation and you cheered me up too!" I remind him. I wasn't opening the door for anyone but then Dean knocked on and he said the right thing. I let him in and we talked like normal people.

"Only because we were both hating on Rollins," states Dean. That is true. I think the fact that we both felt betrayed just helped us connect more on a different level.

"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" I ask him, glad that I don't feel like crying anymore. Not exactly hating, but sort of disliking what he's doing.

"Nope, you're avoiding problems and I'm being the protective older brother," answers Dean, sounding more than sure of himself. "But yeah, we both hate him right now. The douche. I can't believe that fucker is one of my best friends!" It's amazing how as soon as I need Dean he'll turn on anybody because of how much he cares about me.

"Me either," I say with a little giggle. There's a knock on the door and Dean pulls back, strokes my cheek and then goes to answer it just as the knocking becomes more heavy. Who the hell is so impatient that they feel the need to break down the door? I'm sure Ariana has a key so it can't be her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I see Dean ask and stay in front of the door. That question and that voice can only mean one person. Seth Rollins. How did he know that I was here? Crap. What do I do now? I don't want to speak with him.

"I don't have time to explain but me and Iris got into a huge fight and she's took off," I hear Seth's voice, my eyes stinging with tears once again. Dean glances over at me and I quickly shake my head. I can't stand to face him right now; I need some alone time. I need to think about what I want to do next. Do I need to completely rethink moving in with him?

"Well she's not here," states Dean through clenched teeth, trying to keep his anger in check. He can't let Seth know that he knows what's going on otherwise Seth will know that I'm here.

"You sure?" asks Seth and Dean lets out a loud sigh, acting annoyed. Annoyed is better than angry because anger is a dead giveaway for Dean.

"Obviously, it's my room and I know who's in here and who's not!" Dean all of a sudden shouts which makes me jump. He honestly does scare the bejesus out of me sometimes. "Did you think she can sneak in here without me noticing or are you stupid?" he goes on to say which I find a little uncalled for. But at the same time I find it funny.

"Dude chill, it was only a question," says Seth, sounding confused. Dean is going to give me away if he continues like this. "Are you feeling alright? You're angrier than usual," he points out. Shit. He's going to figure it out isn't he?

"So now I need to give you a reason for acting the way I do? You're not my Dad!" Dean goes on to say and I slap my hand against my forehead, not realising what I've done because it was a reflex. I do that whenever Dean does something incredibly stupid that he could have avoided.

"What was that?" Seth asks quickly, having heard the noise. Now Dean will have to come up with an excuse.

"My cat," answers Dean immediately as I stand there with my arms flailing about. Seriously, cat? He couldn't think of anything better to say? Except for cat? How does a cat even make sense in this hotel?

"Dean, you don't have a cat. And last time I checked this hotel didn't allow pets," says Seth as I wonder what I'm going to do now. I can't handle seeing Seth and talking about this right now. I just want time to think about my next move. I look around trying to think about what I can do to avoid seeing Seth. It then comes to me.

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 **DEAN POV**

"My cat," I answer immediately and then kick myself internally. Damn it! I'm great with wrestling or doing promos on the spot but I can't come up with a decent excuse. Fuck! I notice from the corner of my eye that Iris's arms are flying everywhere, she's probably cursing me right now. Ariana does the same when I can't hold it together.

"Dean, you don't have a cat. And last time I checked this hotel didn't allow pets," says Seth and I know he's going to get into this room one way or another. How do I get out of this one? I know, I need to confuse him.

"When did I say cat as in animal?" I say, confusing the heck out of all three of us. I don't even know what I mean and Seth gives me a confused look. That quickly changes to one of he's-figured-it-out though.

"She's in there isn't she?" asks Seth and barges his way in before I can stop him. He walks over to the bedroom and slides the doors open but then stops. I walk up behind him and sigh in relief at seeing a figure underneath the covers. She's completely dived into the bed, her face covered in the process. I can't believe she did that knowing me and Ariana sleep in there. That is bravery I tell you.

"Unless you wanna wake up my fiancé and have her bitching in your face for the next 2 hours I suggest you leave," I say to Seth with a glare on my face as he continues to look perplexed at the anger he's on the receiving end of. He should be used to it by now though, I'm Dean Ambrose. I'm unpredictable. I don't make any sense.

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 **IRIS POV**

"I thought Ariana was awake?" asks Seth, sounding so sure of himself, like he knew for definite that she should be.

"Well I gave her sex and wore her out like usual. Now shall I give you details about it or are you going to stop disturbing others?" says Dean rudely. I feel bad for Seth but at the same time it shows me how much he cares about me. He's always arguing with Seth for me.

"Fine," I hear Seth say and cannot believe my luck at how close that was. Thankfully he didn't decide to look underneath the covers. Eugh, I can't believe I'm in Dean and Ariana's bed right now. I'll totally need a shower afterwards. "If Iris comes then please let me know," I hear Seth say and lift the covers up from me to see his back walking out the room. I get out of the bed and he's on the other side of the door to the suite.

"Fuck no, if you've upset my sister then I'm telling her she's well rid," Dean argues and I shake my head. Why can't he just let it go? I understand that he cares about me but taking it out on Seth will not help the situation at all. Especially since Seth doesn't understand why Dean's mad at him.

"How can I apologise or set things right if I don't know where she is?" questions Seth, sounding quite frustrated. Well I'm frustrated too at the stupid situation. "You know what, I'll talk to you when you've stopped PMSing. My guess is Ariana's holding out so you're acting pissy," he says after which I hear footsteps indicating he's walked off. Dean slams the door closed and turns to me. I bet that last comment wasn't one Dean appreciated at all.

"Way to keep your emotions in check (!)" I comment with my arms crossed over my chest, looking at him from where I'm stood.

"Says the girl who was sobbing a few minutes ago," retorts Dean and I look at the floor. Crying is a reflex when you're upset, no one can help it. "Sorry, didn't mean it," he says and I look up to see him standing directly in front of me now. "You going to be alright?" he asks me, both his hands on the side of my face. I shrug my shoulders as a response. "Ok, wanna spend time playing some board games?" he asks and I nod my head enthusiastically, I need a distraction. Before we can do that though we hear knocking on the door again. "Fuck sakes!" shouts Dean before going to answer it as I let out a chuckle. I think he hates the way people knock on the door, as if they have a right to be let in no matter what Dean thinks.

"What the hell is going on?" this time its Roman and he barges in unlike Seth with Evan in his arms. He notices me and says, "Oh come on!" I think he knows everything judging by his reaction and the look on his face.

"What?" asks Dean, not getting it one bit.

"Seth is looking for you everywhere," Roman tells me. He should tell me something I don't know. "And apparently he came here too," he says, glaring at us both and we both avoid his gaze. Guilty.

"I can't see him right now Roman," I explain, shaking my head. Seth should know that I'm a big girl and that I can keep myself safe. He doesn't need to worry about me. Maybe he should instead think of who he's going to sleep with when I'm gone.

"What exactly has happened? All I know is you and Rollins had a fight and now he can't find you so he gave me Evan so he can go look for you," Roman explains his view of things. Oh, so he doesn't really know everything. Do I have to tell him now too?

"Do you wanna tell him or shall I?" asks Dean and I nod at him to explain. As Dean tells him everything my eyes start to tear up. By the end we're all in the bedroom, on the floor in a circle. My eyes on the floor as the boys talk between each other.

"Iris, you can't blow up at Seth for something you hear, alright?" says Roman in a calm manner which I guess I can understand. But why was he even talking about something like that in the first place? Before I have a chance to respond Dean does so for me.

"Why not? He shouldn't have been talking about her behind her back!" Dean defends me and sometimes I think my life just may be easier if I didn't bring the guys into it. I'm not even getting a chance to speak, all they're doing is talking one after the other.

"Dean, come on. Sometimes there are things that you can't talk to your girlfriend about, you should know that because you've done it plenty of times when you first started to date Ariana," explains Roman, still talking calmly but all Dean does is raise his voice when he talks. Dean doesn't say anything this time because he knows what Roman is saying is true. "I can't believe we only just landed a few hours ago and you've already had an argument," Roman then says. It's not the best way to start off things is it?

"Me either," I say, focusing on Evan who is in Roman's lap playing with his hair. "Rome, we understood from our time in Iowa that we can't tell each other everything. I get that ok? But it hurts how little faith he has in us, in our relationship," I explain, looking at him through teary eyes. I thought he loved me as much as I love him but does he really if he can think about cheating but I would never even dream of it?

"Maybe it's not about how little faith he has in your relationship but how little faith he has in himself," Roman points out to me. What he says sparks my interest though.

"Stop spewing crap Roman," says Dean at which Roman sighs. His anger always blindsides everything, especially when the situation concerns someone he really cares about.

"Dean for once in your life will you please focus on patching people up rather than letting them separate and brood?" questions Roman, looking at Dean now. That is kind of true. Dean's always more than happy to get involved and take Seth down a few notches.

"Like as if I can let it go after the way he's talked to Iris," says Dean, looking mad still. "How can we trust him with her if he's going to make her cry over every single thing?" he then asks. One of the promises Seth made to me was that he'll try and make sure I never cry. That's looking impossible since he's managed to do something that's upset me.

"We don't, we trust him to put things right and wipe her tears!" Roman argues back. I think that's probably a more of a realistic view.

"He shouldn't be putting them there in the first place!" Dean retorts and I roll my eyes, trust them to start arguing over this and take it personally. "And if he's going to cheat on Iris then he shouldn't have asked her to give him a chance!" Is this how it's going to be? These two arguing with me and Evan looking between them both?

"Oh get your head out of your ass man," comments Roman, looking annoyed. Now you know Roman's really annoyed when he comes out with something like that. However, my tolerance level starts to decline.

"Say that again, I dare ya!" says Dean, both of them looking worked up. I cannot believe they're arguing at a time like this?

"Will you both shut up?" I snap and their heads turn to me. They're supposed to be helping me, not making things worse. Or have me deal with a new headache. "This is not your problem, its mine and Seth's. All I wanted was some support and advice on what I should do but all you guys are good enough for is yelling at each other and making me feel worse. Well congratulations, you've accomplished that!" I say and they both look down in shame. They should too! This is supposed to be a civilised discussion, not a yelling match.

"Sorry," I hear in unison from them both and I nod my head in appreciation. Imagine that, me telling off both Roman and Dean.

"Go on Rome, what were you saying about Seth?" asks Dean and Roman gives Dean a small smile before returning his gaze to me. It's a good thing he said that because it's what I want to know more about as well.

"It was Seth that messed things up last time, none of us had any faith in him and it took him a while to restore the trust between us and him," Roman starts to explain as I nod my head. Which he managed to do. "But how would he restore his faith in himself? Iris, I don't know what he's feeling right now but maybe he can't trust himself. Maybe the past is affecting him more so than anyone else. Maybe he's worried he'll break your heart again and he doesn't want to," he explains and I start to feel really stupid for yelling at my boyfriend. Is he really not over what happened in the past?

"He did say he had reservations," I state, nodding my head. But why can't he just talk to me about it? I suppose he didn't want me doubting him or something.

"See? The reservations aren't about your relationship and how strong or weak it is. They're about himself and how strong he is, he obviously doesn't think much of himself right now in relation to this," Roman continues to explain. Maybe I need to show Seth just how much I think of him. I thought that much was obvious when I refused to believe Isabel over Seth.

"Well he does constantly say he doesn't deserve Iris," Dean pitches in, his head resting against one of his hands.

"He does?" my ears perk up at what Dean said.

"All the damn time," says Dean, nodding his head. He thinks he doesn't deserve me? "He's always telling us how lucky he is to have you, how he didn't deserve a second chance but you gave it to him and how he doesn't deserve someone as 'wonderful' as you. His words, not mine," he further explains to me as I feel a flutter within me at the mention of all that.

"H-how am I supposed to trust him if he doesn't trust himself?" I question aloud to no one in particular. I know how I feel about him but what he thinks of himself affects our whole relationship.

"Trust the person he is now; do you think the guy you love could ever cheat on you?" Roman asks me and I shake my head instantly. Not my Seth, he wouldn't. I don't believe he would. Like I said before, I believed him over Isabel. I was right to do so as well.

"Then you've answered your own question right?" asks Dean and realisation hits me. if I don't believe he'll cheat on me then that means I trust him.

"If you trust him, maybe he'll learn to do it for himself," says Roman and it's as if I had an epiphany because I instantly get to my feet. I think I'm ready to face him and talk things through again.

"I'm going to-" I get cut off by both Roman and Dean.

"Find Seth," they both say in unison, smiles playing on their faces. Well since they've somehow done a good job and managed to make me see things in another light, that much was obvious.

"Will you-" I get cut off again though.

"Take care of Evan? Sure," they both say again at which I let out a chuckle. I bend down and place a kiss on both their cheeks, thanking them for their help. I was really regretting my decision to talk to them about it before but not right now. I'm glad I could count on them both.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Dean shouts behind me as I put my hand on the door knob. I turn my head to look at him, not being able to believe I was just about to say this.

"That's just it, you would," I state and see him raise his eyebrows before I leave the room. I walk down the hallway and make my way back to our room. I stand outside for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. I open the door gently, not knowing what I'll be faced with when I get inside. However, it seems like I didn't need to worry because no one is there. "Great (!)" I say to myself as I stand in the middle of the suite unsure of what to do. It's not like I have a tracking device on Seth that I can use. I'll probably just have to hang about and wait for him.

"Yeah I'll let you know," I hear a voice as well as the door. I turn around and see Seth's come back in the room. As soon as he hangs up he glances at me and then looks away but then quickly looks back. Before I know it I'm enveloped in a bone crushing hug, curtsy of Mister Rollins.

"Oh my god, you're ok," says Seth and starts kissing me all over as relief washes over his face. He kisses my cheeks, my forehead, my nose and my lips and I have no choice but to let out a giggle.

"What did you think I left to do?" I question, not being able to understand his deep concern. It's not like I was in any danger, I left to sort my head out.

"I have no idea but I was so fucking worried," says Seth, holding me close once more. We stand like that for a good few minutes before he finally pulls back and says, "I'm sorry". I chuckle and shake my head, he shouldn't be apologising. No one can help the way they feel.

"No, I'm sorry," I tell him, surprise overtaking his whole face.

"Wait what? Why are you apologising?" he questions me, looking on confused. I'm his girlfriend, I should have seen something like that but I didn't. I don't know if it was because I was incapable or because he wouldn't let me.

"For jumping to conclusions, for not hearing you out and for turning everything into a big drama," I list all the things that I'm sorry for. If I'd just stayed and talked with Seth, maybe things would have turned out differently.

"You don't have to be sorry for all of that and I'm sorry for the whole drama thing, I should be glad you care so much," says Seth, placing both his hands on the side of my face.

"Explain it to me," I say the words and can tell in his eyes that he doesn't want to talk about it. "Seth, I know it'll be really hard but I wanna know and I won't judge you," I tell him. He should know by now that he can talk to me about anything and he doesn't ned to be worried about what I think.

"Alright," says Seth and takes my hand leading me to the couch. He takes a seat and I sit down next to him, smiling at how he's keeping a tight hold on my hand. "I love you Iris, so much," he starts and I nod my head, not doubting that for a second. "And we have a good thing going. I've never been so happy in my life but I just can't let you down," he begins to explain to me. How could he let me down? He's been perfect. "Long distance, it won't be easy. I couldn't stay faithful to you when you were here so how am I going to be able to do it when you're away," he goes on to say and I know in that moment Roman was well and truly right. Seth has no trust him himself.

"Who was on the phone?" I ask him, curiously. I want to know who he could talk about this with that wasn't me.

"Ariana, I didn't know what to do about all this so I called her to talk to her," explains Seth and I nod my head. Of course, talking to my best friend would smooth things over. I'm curious as to why he didn't call Roman or Dean. "I thought maybe she could give me advice on what to do since she knows you best," he explains. He doesn't give himself enough credit, he knows me too. Otherwise he wouldn't tell me he loves me.

"You don't trust yourself, do you?" I ask Seth and his silence answers my question. Roman was definitely right. A question then pops into my mind that I know I have to ask. "Seth?" I say his name and he turns his head to look at me. "Have you forgiven yourself?" I look deep into his eyes, searching for an answer. I want to know if he's forgiven himself for everything he did in the past. I have a feeling that might be playing a big role.

"No," reveals Seth and suddenly it all makes even more sense. I move forward and put my arms around him, smiling when I hear him sigh in content. So that's the root of the problem. He hasn't forgiven himself and therefore doesn't trust himself. I don't know how I didn't see that before. But now that I do, I can help him get through it like a girlfriend should.

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 **Reviews would be awesome! :)**


	66. Sleepy Rollins

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! First of all, my apologies for having been sort of AWOL this week. I'm the only one out of my family at home and my cousin was visiting which means I was subjected to shopping trips beyond relief which left no time for updating. Secondly, I have decided that for the next month at least I will be updating once a week and it will always be a Sunday. I'm having some family issues and more family is visiting to resolve the issues going on so I'm going to be busy. Plus, I did mention I needed a week off to gather where I'm going to go with the story. Originally, I intended for this chapter to be the last after which I'd do another story but I don't see the point of that anymore, therefore I'm going to be carrying on with this one a bit longer. I need time to think about how I'm going to go about things so hopefully I can think about that by updating once a week. Thank you all for being so patient and lovely. PM me if you have any questions or queries :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Aw, that's so nice to hear. They are aren't they? Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Guest: Wow, it's a good thing it's not you. Lol. I think what everyone forgets is that've only been together just over 2 weeks. But what makes it difficult is that they already love each other and have been through a lot. But there's still underlying issues that will take time getting resolved. I think for Seth the main problem is he doesn't want to repeat what happened last time and a part of him believes the old Seth is still in there somewhere. Thanks for the review, I appreciate it :)**

 **NudeFitsLipsandPumps: You finally caught up! Great! Well maybe he didn't think about them till now. Or maybe they were always there and he only just started to realise them. But since he's so serious about Iris now, even the littlest doubts he had may be worrying him to no end. I think he went to Ariana of all people because well, Dean is Dean, obviously. Haha. And while Roman does give good advice, Ariana is the one that knows Iris the best out of everyone. I think so too. It's just about getting past the doubts. I actually think Seth is just a little bit scared about the possibility of something happening rather than it actually happening because he doesn't want to disappoint Iris :)**

 **Paisley2: People react different in different situations. The reason this was not addressed before is due to the fact that only now it's sunk in, the possibility of having to make a go of a long distance relationship. I think after reading throughout this whole way you should have realized that I like to having things spread out over chapters which is why it took 2 chapters to resolve. I don't I've had anything ever sorted out in one chapter so surely that can't be a criticism now, at this point :)**

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 **CHAPTER 66:**

 **IRIS POV**

"I hurt you so much," Seth tells me with our arms interlocked as we continue to sit side by side on the couch. I never had any idea he still felt so guilty. Why didn't I see it before? But if we forgave him, why is he still feeling like this?

"And I forgave you, we all did," I point out to him, not wanting him to be so hard on himself. There's a reason he earned our forgiveness, he deserved it.

"I just…I don't feel like I deserve it," Seth admits to me, looking down on the floor. I rest my chin on his shoulder waiting for him to talk some more. "I put you through hell, even Evan," he goes on to say which confuses me. He's been great to Evan; I don't understand why he would even say something like that.

"No you haven't you've given him so much love since he's been born it's unreal," I disagree with him. Evan couldn't have had a better Father if he was picked out of a catalogue.

"And what about the first 5 months he was inside of you?" questions Seth. Those months were hard but Evan was still fine. "What about his first ultrasound? I missed those parts of his life". He might have missed out on all that but he was there for the rest of it. That matters.

"Seth, he won't remember any of that plus he only started being more active once I came back to all of you," I explain to him, biting down on my lip to stop a smile from spreading on my face at Seth's adorableness. I know he's upset but it's the things he's upset over. They're making me feel even more love for him than ever.

"But I will," Seth counter argues. It's not like he can forget it, but the situation was like that at the time. "Because of me you didn't have the support of a real Father during your pregnancy and no matter how hard I try I can't just forget everything that I did to you and everyone else," he says, making me realise this is bigger than I initially thought.

"I know I can't make you forgive yourself," I start, knowing how hard it was for me to get past everything in the first place. But I managed to do it. "But I trust you Seth and I have complete faith in you, that you and me together, we'll make this work," I say, nodding my head encouragingly when he looks at me.

"I hope so," says Seth. I hope in time he can find it within himself to look past everything and just move on at least.

"No, you know so. We're going to make it Seth, its real this time around. It's different," I say and place a hand on the side of his cheek. "I hope in time you can get past this because I know I have. Till then I'm going to stick by your side and support you in every way possible". I wish he'd told me this before, it's probably not been good for him to just have kept it inside, letting it brew.

"Thank you," he says and I move forward and claim his lips in a slow and soft kiss. We both smile at each other when we pull back and I hug him once more. I never thought out of everything this would be the problem. But at the same time I never really thought it would be a problem. I just hope he can forgive himself one day because it must be killing him on the inside feeling like this.

* * *

"Iris!" I hear a squeal and see Nikki making her way over to me with one of the biggest smiles she can muster. I wave at her from where I'm stood with Seth and Evan.

"I'll leave you to the vultures," mutters Seth and I chuckle at his comment. He kisses my lips and then leaves to go to the locker room to get dressed for the show. I was supposed to be dropping him off then heading to all the ladies.

"Oh, he's gotten so big since the last time I saw him," comments Nikki and looks up at me for silent permission to hold him. I nod my head and she undoes the belts to take Evan out of the baby carriage. "Hello," she coos, bouncing Evan up and down who seems to be looking at her interestedly. "How've you been?" she asks me. He's probably trying to remember her. Maybe thinking 'was she the woman whose nose was so delicious?'

"Great thanks, how about you?" I say and she nods her head. Considering everything that happened, I am great. Things have managed to turn out fine despite others not wanting them to and I am very grateful for that.

"Good, how was the meeting with the parents?" Nikki grills me at which I laugh. It Was pretty bad wasn't it? I guess it could have been worse. Who knows.

"Better than expected, some ups and downs but overall great," I tell her, deciding no one needs to know exactly what took place over there. Although I could have done without it to be honest. "Seth's parents are the nicest in the world and everyone else was too. I've made a lot of new friends," I explain. I'm really going to miss Macy, I think we connected on a different level compared to everyone else.

"It's surprising isn't it?" she tells me and I nod my head. "When I first met John's family I was so incredibly nervous. I never thought I'd get through the night but that all went down the drain as soon as I met them," she talks about her own experience. I think I've even caught it on Total Divas. Why did I watch that you say? I have no idea.

"Where's Brie?" I ask her, finding it weird that I'm seeing one and not the other. They both normally pop up at the same time and if not the other one follows a few minutes after the other. I wonder if their twin minds have some sort of a GPS system.

"My sister is taking a week out to spend some quality time with her husband," says Nikki, sounding annoyed at the idea. So that means Brie' back home with Daniel. No wonder Nikki looks sad. You always have that one girl you're hanging out with and when she's not here, things seem a whole lot duller.

"And leaving you here by yourself? The nerve (!)" I mock. But since Daniel's been off for a while recovering it makes sense for Brie to take time off to spend with him.

"I know!" exclaims Nikki and then laughs along with me. "It was a last minute thing so I'm kinda annoyed. I don't have a problem with her spending time with Bryan but she could at least let me know. John's off doing some work with kids and I didn't go with him because I didn't want to leave Brie alone but…" she trails off with a sigh. Now that makes a lot more sense otherwise I would be calling her insensitive at this moment in time.

"You got left alone instead," I finish for her and she nods her head. "What about Natalya? Or Paige? Or Naomi? Or AJ? Have they all ditched you to be with their guys too?" I tease her. There are plenty of people she can hang out with instead.

"Funny, no its just different with them. Like, Brie is my twin and my best friend. I can't connect with anyone else on a similar level," she explains to me and I nod my head in understanding. I have the same thing with Ariana. It's a sister thing I think. "Let's forget about the betrayer and talk about you, how are things with Seth?" she asks me as we begin to walk down to the Divas locker room. Obviously that'll be something they'll all interested in now.

"Good," I say with a smile. What he told me yesterday was personal and no one but the both of us is going to know about it. I just hope I can help him work through everything. "He's absolutely amazing. He loves me and Evan. Treats us like royalty. He's there for us and that's all I want," I go on to explain. Words don't do Seth any justice, he's been great. "I swear he's changed Evan's nappy more than me because he's always offering to do it," I comment, thinking back to all the times when I'm going to do it and he offers to do it himself.

"Wait a second, a guy is offering to change the baby's nappy? What backwards world are you two living in?" she goes on to ask me at which I just laugh, shrugging my shoulders. It's not the best job in the world but he always offers to do it.

"Like I said, he's amazing. He's truly committed to us both," I say with a proud smile. I don't even need to worry about Seth not being there for us like I thought when I found out I was pregnant.

"I'm glad things are working out for you two," Nikki says with a genuine smile of her own. At least she's not asking a gazillion questions but I think everyone else will more or less make up for that.

"Thanks," I say to her and she puts Evan back down into the baby stroller, tying him in properly as I look over. It's a Mother thing. I have to always see for myself that he's in securely.

"I have to go shoot a promo so you guys carry on without me," instructs Nikki and I nod my head as she leans forward and gives me a one arm hug. "It's lovely to see you again," she says and then bends down poking Evan's stomach. "And it was great seeing you again little man," she coos before standing up and leaving, waving as she does so. I continue to make my way to the Divas locker room when someone comes in front of me. One guess to who it is. Out of everything, this is the last thing that I needed. I still haven't told Seth anything but it seems I will have to soon. Still, he doesn't need the added stress on top of how he's feeling at the moment.

"Iris, you're back," says Randy with a glint in his eye. My smile drops instantly and just like that my mood is ruined too. "Looking…beautiful as ever," he compliments, his eyes going up and down me which I find most uncomfortable. If I could puke right now, I totally would. Too bad I haven't eaten anything yet so nothing would come out.

"And you're looking as assey as ever, excuse me," I say and push the stroller forward as he jumps to the side, probably shocked I didn't wait for him to move out the way first. The only person I can't do that to, Seth, even when I was mad at him.

"Now wait a second, I've done nothing to receive such hostility," he says, walking besides me. Randy is like a cancer. Something very hard to remove because he can't seem to leave any one of us alone.

"So trying to break up my best friend and her boyfriend is nothing to you?" I question him, not looking at him and still moving as fast as I could. Ariana is like my sister and Dean is great friend, my brother. I care about them both very deeply so anyone that's unfriendly to them can go can honestly just piss of.

"I apologised and left them alone," defends Randy which I can't argue with because that part is true. It doesn't mean we can forget everything he did though. I have a feeling Randy is up to something. I'm just not exactly sure what.

"Then why won't you leave me alone?" I question him, sparing a glance in his direction but he doesn't say anything. Just a smirk covering his lips as he continues to look at me. I look away and relief washes over me when I see the Divas locker room. "Unless you want to get your ass handed to you by a bunch of girls I suggest you stop right there," I say and he realises just where we are. I never realised just how important having separate male and female rooms were.

"Until next time," states Randy with a smug smirk, standing there watching me. I hurry inside and as I close the door he's still looking at me. Once the door closes I let out a sigh, that was beyond weird and creepy. I certainly did not like the way he was looking at me. I go into the locker room and find Ariana there, the rest of the girls huddling around Evan and giving him all their attention.

"You alright?" asks Ariana as my mind keeps going back to the encounter with Randy. Is he the one that did everything? It would make sense, he did try and break up Ariana and Dean. Now he's trying to break up me and Seth? Why though? Because he's suddenly developed an interest in me? Doesn't that mean he's taking it too far? Then again, he did the same when he wanted Ariana.

"Fine," I answer her with a smile that doesn't reach my eyes. If it is Randy, then we can't let him anywhere near us. But this could also be my imagination running wild.

"Best friend remember?" asks Ariana, letting me know that I can't just shrug it off. She knows when something's wrong, vice versa. So it's always hard to hide things from one another.

"I just…you know the guy that was trying to split up me and Seth?" I ask her, thinking maybe I should tell someone about Randy. I mean, Angie knows but she can't really do much since she's not around. Maybe it'll be useful if I tell Ariana. Seth would kill me though if he finds out.

"Look, you need to forget about him," Ariana explains to me, not realising that I needed to speak more. "We don't know who he is but he should be out of our lives now that you've left Buffalo. We've left that mess behind as well as Isabel. He can't play with your lives anymore," she explains to me, sounding sure of it. But there's a big question to be answered still, who he actually is.

"What if…what if he doesn't reside in Buffalo? What if he's around here?" I question aloud, my heart beating fast at the thought of telling Ariana about Randy.

"Wha…do you know who it is?" asks Ariana, narrowing her eyes and I find myself chickening out. I can't do it. She'll ask me all sorts of questions and I can guarantee there'll be a disappointed look at the end of it.

"Kane?" I suggest, Randy having flown from my mind. "Or anyone else that possibly hates the idea of me and Seth being together or just hates us full stop. What if we haven't left our problem behind but brought it with us?" Ariana's looking at me with a look I can't fully describe. Like she knows something I don't or something.

"Then you'll deal with it as usual," says Ariana after thinking about it for a good few seconds. That's what we've been doing so far, dealing with it. It's not ideal though. "There, you had no clue of who's doing what. But here? This is our turf Iris and we'll be damned if we let anyone mess with us around here," she explains, making me smile in the process. She is right. We have home field advantage here. Lots of people who could help us if things were going wrong. "Besides, you have me, Dean and Roman here too. We'll take care of you guys, don't worry," she says, putting an arm around me, giving me a tight squeeze.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say realising it doesn't matter whether this person is Randy, Kane or anyone else. I'm not going to let them separate me and Seth. "So, wanna baby-sit Evan tonight?" I ask her and see her give me a curious look.

"Why?" asks Ariana with a teasing look but I know she can already guess. She knows exactly why I have asked her for that.

"So that I can have some alone time with my boyfriend," I mutter in response and look away from her gaze knowing I'm red right now, I can feel it. I think it's kind of obvious what me and Seth will be getting up to if we don't want Evan around.

"Ooh," says Ariana and I elbow her ribs. She sure loves to tease me. "Someone wants some alone time; gee I don't know. What if I wanted some alone time with Dean?" she then says which annoys me very easily.

"You guys have enough alone time it's our turn," I quickly say and then burst out laughing at how bold I was. Ariana laughs with me and nods her head, keeping her arm around me tighter. It will be fun.

"Well then, I believe I've just been ordered," says Ariana, sending a wink in my direction. "Alright girls, Godmother coming through," Ariana says as she gets up and goes over to the stroller, swatting the other Divas away like flies. She picks up Evan and holds him up, making silly faces to get him to laugh. She's right, as long as I have them around I don't need to worry. About anything. We'll be just fine.

"Yeah, that's Daddy," I say to Evan as we watch Seth's match in the back on the screen. Evan's always watching Seth's wrestling intently, like as if he understands what's going on or something.

"And there's Daddy on his ass," says Ariana and bursts out laughing because Seth got thrown out of the ring by Ryback. I give Ariana a glare and shake my head which doesn't really seem to bother her. "What? It's true. You don't want me lying to a kid now do you?" she goes on to say. She always finds a way to get around most things.

"You and Dean always have your way around things," I voice my thoughts, shaking my head. I wonder if Evan should continue watching this stuff as he grows up. Kids do think it's real and I don't want him to be traumatised or anything. But then it's not like other kids are.

"That's what makes us a great couple," says Ariana with a smirk. They're both annoying as hell sometimes too but obviously I don't say that. "Speaking of, my wedding in 3 months, when are you planning on boring me with bridal magazines and crap?" she asks. Hmm, it sounds like the girly side of my friend is beginning to come out.

"Anyone would think you'd actually want to do that stuff," I comment with a smirk of my own. She can deny it all she wants to she's totally excited for all aspects of the wedding.

"Well I am a girl and I guess it's not the worst idea in the world to have a little wedding talk," she says, trying to act indifferently but I can tell that she does care. I don't understand why she tries to make it seem like it's not a big deal. She actually reminds me of Dean when he tried to make it seem that him and Ariana being boyfriend and girlfriend wasn't a big deal when in actual fact, it was.

"Is the great Ariana actually excited for wedding planning?" I tease but don't get a reply. However, that tells me everything I need to know. Finally, I know for sure that I have a girl as my best friend and not a guy. "Oh look, Uncle Dean's gone super crazy!" I exclaim, sticking my tongue out at Ariana. If she can beat down on Seth, I can do the same to Dean.

"Touché," comments Ariana, narrowing her eyes at me. The SHIELD win their match and both of us decide to go a little crazy ourselves and start to cheer like mad, laughing as we do. What can we say? We get like that about our guys.

"Whoo, I could go again!" we hear and see the door open to reveal the guys coming in from their match, all sweaty, adrenaline pumping and bouncing up and down. "Ari, want a hug?" Dean asks her and then starts to chase as she tries to evade him, not wanting to get all sweaty herself.

"There's Daddy," I say to Evan who starts flapping his arms about. I get up and walk over to Seth who gives us both a hug. "Eugh, Seth you're all sweaty!" I complain but laughing along and not really minding. It's actually kind of a turn on. Hmm, maybe that's why Ariana's avoiding Dean.

"I don't see the little man complaining," says Seth, placing a kiss on Evan's cheek who giggles because of Seth's beard. He always finds it quite ticklish and ends up giggling or laughing because of it.

"Because he can't talk," comments Roman and leaves to go take a quick shower.

"Go on, go take a shower," I order him and after pecking my lips he goes. The same can't be said for Dean who chases Ariana out of the room in an attempt to give her a hug. I guess Roman will have to take care of Evan for tonight then. After a full 15 minutes though they both return to the room and Dean has a victory smirk on his face. He goes to take a shower and Ariana is putting up a façade of being annoyed but I can tell she really isn't. I wonder if they made out at the end. Knowing my friends, they probably did.

* * *

"And make sure to call us if you need absolutely anything," Seth instructs Dean who's nodding his head but doesn't seem to be listening. He should though, it's not like he has a child. "Evan can't sleep without this blanket," Seth informs him, taking it out from the overnight bag we're giving them. "Unless he's really pooped. And if he cries it will be for milk, nothing else. If his nappy is a problem the little guy won't let out even a grunt," he goes on to explain to Dean who gives off a look of disdain about the nappy part. Well, he always sends Evan back to his parents when he needs a nappy change.

"I know, I was there helping you take care of him for the first month of his life, jeez!" says Dean, rolling his eyes and focusing his attention to Evan. Evan's needs have changed since then but Dean obviously doesn't care. He just wants to play with him. I hope Ariana's listening to everything though.

"And then he complains when he can't handle it," comments Ariana, shaking her head at her fiancé. She takes the bag from Seth and I thank her for doing this before giving her a hug. I really do appreciate them taking him for the night.

"Thanks," I tell her after pulling back. I give Evan a few kisses before finally letting them leave our room and go to their own. "Make sure to call first thing in the morning to let us know how he's doing!" I shout to them as they leave.

"Iris, stop worrying we're only next door!" Ariana vents, sounding annoyed. They may only be next door but it doesn't stop us parents from worrying one little bit.

"Well when you have your own kid then complain!" I shout back and just get a slammed door in response. I really wish I wasn't so nice sometimes just so that I could kick her ass. She and Dean can be very rude sometimes. "Whoa!" I yelp when I feel arms around but relax knowing its Seth. He's working quickly isn't he?

"We're alone," states Seth, his chin in the crook of my neck. We haven't been alone in a long while. I'm actually excited because this will be nice.

"That we are Mister Rollins," I say and turn around in his arms, placing my arms around his neck. "What's the plan?" I ask, moving my lips dangerously close to his. I think we both know where we're going to end up, but how are we going to get there?

"Dinner and then a lot of calorie burning," answers Seth directly, making me chuckle. He's not even trying to hide anything, letting me know exactly what he expects.

"I like that plan," I say and place a soft kiss on his lips. We order some food and cuddle together to watch some TV whilst we wait for it. Once the food arrives we eat and talk and for once everything feels normal. Like I'm not worried about anything massively and I don't have to keep looking behind my back for something to happen. I feel relaxed.

"That was some good food," comments Seth as I walk over to him on the couch after clearing everything away. "Now for dessert," he says and grabs my wrist, pulling me into his lap and making me giggle. He crashes his lips to mine and I place my hands on his shoulders as we kiss. I feel his hands dig into my hips and change my position so that I'm straddling him. I smile when I feel him against me and kiss him harder.

"Bloody hell Mister Rollins, you're literally and figuratively taking my breath away," I comment as we pull back for some air. We go back to our make out session and it feels so good to have Seth's hands go all over me. He moves so he can stand up but at the same time lifts me up and takes me to the bedroom. I land with a gently thud onto the bed and we resume our kissing. Seth moves his lips and starts attacking my neck.

"God, you're so beautiful," he mutters and I can't help the grin that spreads itself onto my face. He kisses his way back up to my lips and stares deeply into my eyes. "I love you," he tells me, my heart melting at those words.

"I love you too," I say and then mentally slap myself when I realise I'd forgotten something. I quickly change positions so that I'm on top of him and lean down, placing soft kiss on his neck, eliciting moans from him which turns me on even further.

"Fuck Iris," I hear and giggle at the effect I'm having on him. He has the same on me though so it's only fair.

"I have to get something, I'll be right back," I say, moving to get up but he keeps his hands on my hips to stop me from leaving. "I'll be quick, I promise. Plus, I think you'll appreciate it," I say in excitement and get off him. "Just lie there and I'll be two minutes," I instruct him, running into the bathroom and reaching down behind the sink. It's a good thing I stopped before things could go any further.

"Can't this wait?" I hear Seth ask and roll my eyes. Men care so impatient sometimes. Whilst we were at the taping I left Evan with Nikki for a couple of hours and brought some really sexy lingerie which I think Seth will appreciate. I hid it down here in case Seth came back and found it. I wanted it to be a surprise.

"No, it can't!" I call back to him. Once I get it out I take off my clothes and put it on, smiling at my reflection in the mirror. "Ready," I say to myself and then head back out with a big grin which falls when I look at the sight before me. Mister Rollins has fallen asleep and I know that for definite due to the small snoring sounds coming out from him. I shake my head with a small smile on my face, not being able to resist how cute he looks right now. I knew he'd be too tired but he insisted. I left him alone for literally two minutes, he must have closed his eyes and immediately dozed off. He's so tired I don't even have the heart to wake him up.

I walk over to the bed and pull down the covers around him as gently as possibly without waking him up. I then put the covers on top of him. Ironic how the only time we do get to do this we can't. I grab one of Seth's shirts and put it up over me, climbing into bed with him. I put my arms around him and snuggle into him, smiling even more when I feel his arm go around me and tighten despite him being asleep. I don't think life could get any better. I have my friends, my son and my wonderful boyfriend. I'm very thankful for them all. I place a kiss on Seth's chin and close my eyes to fall asleep myself. This is going to be interesting to explain in the morning.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	67. Disappointment

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I hope you're all well :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks. It means a lot. Thanks again! I know, he is isn't he? :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: :D**

 **NudeFitsLipsandPumps: I know! Those will be the days! Sorry! I couldn't help it! Plus I thought it would be hilarious! Thanks! That means so much because that's what I'm always aiming for so it's nice to hear that. Only possible to be that close to Seth in your dreams ;) Well I'm trying to figure out how to make things come about because I want it to be epic and explosive! Thank you so much lovely! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 67:**

 **IRIS POV**

I wake up the next morning and see Seth is still sleeping. I decide to stay with him for a few moments longer. I wonder what he'll say about last night. He'll be very disappointed. I am kind of disappointed too. We've been waiting for a while to get so close to each other again and it's just not happening.

"You guys done fucking each other yet?" I hear a loud voice as the door to our suite opens. Seth shoots up straightaway, looking everywhere. He looks at the window where the light is coming from and then at me as I lie there in his shirt. Dean can be so crude sometimes.

"Please tell me I didn't get drunk and forgot everything," says Seth instantly and that would probably still be better to tell him than the actual truth.

"You didn't," I say and then move the covers back as I head over to the doors. "I'll see what the kidnapper wants," I comment, sliding the doors open a little and then closing them. I see Dean is standing in the middle of the room by himself as well. "Where's Evan?" I ask, having thought that's why Dean was here first thing.

"He's with Ariana grabbing some breakfast," answers Dean, shrugging his shoulders and then he looks me up and down. "Someone was naughty last night," he comments but I don't say anything. I doubt Seth will appreciate me blabbing to everyone exactly what happened, especially since he's not too sure of it himself yet.

"What are you even doing here then? And how did you get in?" I question with my hands on my hips. I swear this lunatic has nothing better to do most of the time so he just winds up here to annoy us.

"She said to call you guys for breakfast," answers Dean, as if that'll get him a free pass to come and behave the way he is.

"Call as in come and get us or call as in ring us?" I ask Dean, because I have a feeling he took it the wrong way. There's no way on earth Ariana would tell him to come here and get us when she knows why we wanted alone time together in the first place.

"Uh..." says Dean and that tells me everything that I need to know. I go forward and hit him on the head because he just ruined mine and Seth's morning. "Ow! What was that for?" he asks, rubbing the back of his head as I stand there in front of him.

"For being silly," I answer without hesitation. This boy seriously needs to learn some manners soon otherwise he'll get into a lot of trouble one day. "Apologise and go back out the way you came," I say, pointing to the door as he looks on at me in disbelief.

"You're serious?" asks Dean and I narrow my eyes at him to show him my seriousness. "Wow, having one night of sex and suddenly you're Miss Bossy Boots," he comments, my mouth opening in shock at what he said. Luckily for him he leaves before I can even say anything further to him. I let out a sigh and look back to the bedroom, Seth standing at the sliding doors.

"Hey, everything ok?" I ask him and he continues to stare at me as if trying to figure something out.

"What happened...last night?" Seth asks, leaning against the doors. He can obviously tell it's not something great because he looks kind of upset. I suppose I better tell him. He probably didn't even realise he fell asleep.

"Right, well," I start, thinking about how to break the new to him gently. "We had dinner and started to make out, ended up in the bedroom," I explain and Seth nods his head, remembering all that.

"Then you went to the bathroom, what happened afterwards?" asks Seth, looking genuinely confused which is why the next part is going to hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Well I was getting a surprise ready, I can't have been more than two minutes," I say, already justifying myself. I guess I'm scared he'll blame me for our night being ruined. It's no one's fault though, things happen. "But then when I came back out...you...you were...uh...knocked out?" I finish saying, cursing myself for letting it come out like that.

"What? Like asleep?" asks Seth for clarification and I nod my head hesitantly. "I fell asleep?" he asks again and I nod my head, unsure of the kind of reaction to expect from him. He looks at me and realises I'm telling the truth. "Fucking great (!)" he comments and then goes back in, the sliding doors being shut with a lot more force than needed.

"Fucking great (!)" I comment myself as I wonder what to do about my boyfriend. Leave him be so he has time to come to terms with everything? Or talk to him and reassure him it's ok? I think **_I_** need some reassuring right now that everything will be ok. Taking a deep breath, I open the doors to the bedroom to see Seth moving around the room, gathering his things. "Seth, it's no big deal," I comment lamely because even I know how important last night was for him. For us both.

"I fell asleep Iris," states Seth, the anger evident in his tone. I don't know if he's angry at himself or me. What do I do to get him to feel better? To stop him from being angry? Ooh, I know! It's going to take a bit of ushering and authoritativeness on my part but I can get it done.

"Seth," I say his name and move to stand behind him. I place my hands on his shoulders to direct him to sit down.

"Iris, what are you-" starts Seth but I cut him off because I know he won't listen to me unless I act like I own him.

"Ssh, sit down," I say and he does as I say, very unhappily though. I sit down behind him, using my hands to massage his shoulders in an attempt to relax him. "I know last night was important for us both," I start, hearing a sigh from him. "But it just wasn't meant to happen. There's no need to be angry," I go on to say. I mean I'm not complaining at all. Yeah it was a shame but we'll get another chance. Neither of us are going anywhere.

"I'm not angry," says Seth in an unusually calm voice. "I'm just disappointed with myself," he says and I realise he just needs some cheering up. It's not like we can turn back time and change what happened. And it's not like its life and death.

"Well I'm not," I say, placing a kiss on the back of his neck in an effort to get him back into a happy mood. "You. Are. An. Amazing. Boyfriend," I tell him, placing a kiss on the back of his neck with every word. He turns his head and grabs a hold of my hands, directing me to sit on his lap. "We'll get another chance, promise," I say with a small grin.

"How can I even stay upset when you smile like that," says Seth, both of us chuckling. He places a kiss on my lips and then says, "You look hot in my top". Oh if only he knew what was underneath it. I guess he's going to have to wait a while to find out.

"Thanks," I say, kissing his lips once more. Although that was the wrong thing to do because he keeps a good hold of me and deepens the kiss. Before I know it I'm lying on my back with my boyfriend ravishing my neck. "Seth, we...uh...we kinda have to...to go," I say breathlessly, trying to suppress the moan that's threatening to spill over my lips. Damn his lips are magic.

"Mmhmm," says Seth as if planning on finishing what we started last night today morning. I feel him undo a couple of buttons before we're interrupted because my phone starts to ring. I gently push him off of me and pick up my phone to answer, Seth letting out a groan before flopping down on the bed.

"Hey Ariana, what's up?" I ask my best friend, having looked at the caller ID. She's probably just reminding us to get out butt's downstairs for breakfast.

 _"Nothing, I wanted to say sorry for my idiotic boyfriend_ ," says Ariana and the way in which she says it lets me know that Dean's probably sitting right across from her. _"Apparently people can't follow instructions (!)"_ she comments and I shake my head.

"It's fine Ari, I kicked him out," I inform her and hear an approving sound on the other end of the phone. She's probably smirking at Dean right now; I can just see it.

 _"Ok, we'll see you soon at breakfast,"_ says Ariana before hanging up. I smile as I put my phone away and then try not to laugh at Seth's antics. I move to climb on top of him, Seth looking very excited about that because he places his hands on my hips, ready to go.

"We have to get ready for breakfast," I state and just like that his smile falls. I bet he always expects me to give him bad news.

"That's not very hot," comments Seth as I suppress a laugh. It isn't but the idea isn't to say anything to encourage him to do anything at the moment. "You know, we could just skip breakfast and see where the morning takes us," he suggests but I shake my head. As much as I would love to do just that, we can't.

"No, we have to go see our baby. Now come on," I say, getting off of him and he lets out another groan. Anyone would think that I'm torturing him. I go around the room and pick up some things on the floor, smiling at Seth who goes into the bathroom. He comes out using a towel to dry his face just as I've finished packing Evan's bag for the day. "I'm gonna go take a shower," I tell him, moving around the bed.

"What's that?" asks Seth, looking at me curiously. I follow his gaze and realise it's on my boobs. I roll my eyes at his behaviour, he's such a guy.

"They're called boobs Seth," I inform him with a laugh. He opened a couple of buttons and now he's going to have to live with the agony of catching a glimpse.

"No, what's that?" says Seth, coming over to me and I look down realising he's caught my lingerie. Damn it. There goes the surprise. Unless I can get out of it. What to do so I can still surprise him the next time we have some alone time together?

"Nothing you need to concern yourself about," I say, making quick work of my hands and buttoning up the shirt properly. I move past him and he grabs a hold of my arm, pulling me back into him.

"Unbutton the shirt," orders Seth and my mind immediately tells me that now I'll need a cold shower. I love it when he gets all commanding on me. It's a huge turn on. But I'm going to have to disappoint him. I turn around in his arms and look up at him innocently. Ok, he thinks he's got me. I then push him back without warning and run into the bathroom, closing and locking the door. "Oh come on! Iris!" he says, knocking on the door before I hear his footsteps go elsewhere. I open the door and stick my head out.

"That was your surprise sleepy Rollins," I comment cheekily, quickly shutting the door when he's about to come for me again. I laugh and start to strip, hiding the lingerie away like I did the other day. I take a shower and get dressed. Luckily, I had some clothes already in here. If I went out there in a towel, then no one could have stopped Seth from having what he wanted. I grab a comb and get out of the bathroom, not seeing Seth in the bedroom. I go through the sliding doors and he's sat on the couch, all ready. I quietly walk up behind him and lower my lips to his cheeks. "Hey," I smile sweetly at him and then put my arms around him. "Still grumpy?" I ask him.

"I'm not grumpy," denies Seth and I think the fact that he's realised what my surprise was going to be has dampened his mood. But once he'd see it I couldn't hide it or keep it from him because he would have just questioned me till I told him the answer.

"Don't worry Mister Rollins, plenty of more opportunities," I say, letting go of him and grabbing the bag from the bedroom quickly. I come back and he's stood up, sighing as he looks at his phone. "What happened? Is Dean sending you more pictures of him and Evan?" I ask with my hands on my hips. He kept doing it last night but it didn't bother Seth as much because it was going to be worth it. Right now is a different story.

"No, he keeps asking me how great you were last night," answers Seth and I keep a hand on my mouth to stop myself from laughing. "I'm a dead man when he finds out what happened," he comments and I walk over to him, happy to help him out in this. The solution is very simple.

"Then we won't tell him what happened," I say, putting my arms around Seth's torso who gives me a questioning look. "They'll make their jokes and tease us but we'll let them think whatever they want. If they ask, then I'll let them know you were a bull in bed, how's that?" I ask and he lets out a laugh before putting his arms around me.

"And that's why I love you," says Seth, pecking my lips. He takes a hold of my hand and we head downstairs to grab some breakfast. Once we get to the ground floor we get out of the elevator.

"Oh shoot, I need to go to the ladies. How about I meet you there?" I suggest and he nods his head telling me to make sure to hurry up. I go to the ladies and do my business. As I wash my hands I look at myself in the mirror. I can already feel things going back to normal. I mean, as usual I can't stop smiling. I leave the ladies and head over to the restaurant.

"Iris?" I hear my name and look to see Randy a few feet ahead of me, looking at me shocked. "When did you get back?" he asks, walking over to me as if he has a right to know anything about me.

"Why does that matter to you?" I ask him, Randy being weird as always. I'm still trying to come to terms of him hitting on me before I left. It just doesn't make any sense. Why do these boys now like me after I've gotten pregnant and come back? They never noticed me much before. Although in Seth's case I don't mind. Randy's, I very much do.

"Come on Iris, what's with the cold shoulder?" asks Randy and I feel weird. There's something that's not sitting right with me. Why do I have a feeling he knows something I don't? "It's not like I've even done anything," he points out which is true of course. But with Randy Orton, it's only just a matter of time.

"Yet," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "Randy, just leave us alone. I'm happy with Seth and Ariana's happy with Dean so for once can you please just back the fuck off?" I say and then walk past him quickly. Like I said before, no more people interfering in our lives. No more sitting back and taking shit from people. Enough is enough. If I don't even let little things slide, then there's no chance of it developing into anything further.

"For the last time Dean, stop it!" I hear Ariana snap at him as I approach the table. I notice Seth's got Evan on his lap and he's smirking. I take a seat next to Dean who looks annoyed.

"Aw, what happened?" I ask him, placing a hand his arm and rubbing it up and down soothingly. I do think Ariana needs to control her temper sometimes. She goes a bit far.

"He's being told off for swearing," answers Seth instead and I look at him. He's totally enjoying this right now. Now I'm thinking maybe she wasn't too harsh. Dean and his swearing is appalling.

"All I did was call that dude a bas-" Dean stops when he glances at Ariana who looks like she'll explode if he even thinks about saying the rest of the word. "A, you know. And she's yelling like crazy," he comments, sitting back in an annoyed manner.

"Why is he a, you know?" I ask, deciding to get to the bottom of this otherwise Ariana will be in a bad mood all day and Dean will be no less.

"He was checking out her ass," says Dean and Ariana rolls her eyes at him. So that is what the real problem is? Someone checking out Ariana's ass?

"He was not!" Ariana defends some stranger sitting a few tables away from us.

"He was too!" insists Dean, both of them sitting up now. I swear I am not in the mood to break up a fight. "How would you even know if he's looking at you from behind?" Dean goes on to ask her which shuts her right up.

"Dean, whether he was or not doesn't matter, you shouldn't have said that word so many times in front of Evan," says Ariana which I agree with. Once he starts talking I don't want his first words to be something like 'Fuck you'. Although I have a feeling that's exactly what Dean's kid will say. "Right Iris?" she asks, bringing me into it. I kind of did that myself when I decided to play detective and asked questions.

"With the way he was drooling Seth would have done the same, right Iris?" asks Dean, both of them looking at me now. I should not have been brought into this.

"I can't believe you both are getting married," I comment, sitting back with my arms crossed over my chest. If these are the silly arguments they're going to have they might as well go to a marriage counsellor right now. We all start to eat our breakfast, me feeding Seth since he has Evan in his arms. Pretty soon, Roman comes and joins us.

"Hey guys," says Roman, finally having had spent enough time with Paige on a different table. I don't see why he couldn't just have invited her to join us all. I mean, we don't bite and we do like her. "What's up with these two?" he asks, looking towards me and Seth.

"Guy over there, Dean says checking her butt but Ariana says he wasn't," Seth briefly explains and Roman looks back at the guy before turning to us all once more, letting out a laugh.

"He was totally checking you out, even Paige was saying he needs to stop drooling," says Roman in amusement, Dean giving Ariana the I-told-you-so look. But she just rolls her eyes and continues to eat her breakfast. We need to do something to have them make up. But what can we do? Ooh, I know! When neither Dean nor Ariana are looking I hold Roman's gaze and nod my head at him, gesturing to them two. Roman nods his head at Seth who then nods his head at me.

"I think you should get rid of Dean, he's a useless waste of space," comments Seth, directly putting himself in the firing line as he keeps a good hold on Evan.

"Dude, like really?" says Dean, not speaking in an angry tone but more of a confused one. Maybe because it's inappropriate to say something like that after what just transpired between the couple.

"Dean does leave his clothes lying around everywhere, expects you to cook for him, only thinks about sex 99 percent of the time," Roman lists and Dean gives him a look of betrayal. Hopefully by listing bad qualities we can get a reaction out of Ariana where she defends him and they make up.

"So do a lot of guys," comments Dean, obviously getting worried now because Ariana's not saying anything and listening intently to the boys.

"Plus he has terrible taste in music," adds on Seth and Dean's fist clenches as he mouths unspeakable words. "And can you really expect him to put you before his career?" he goes on to ask. My boys are wonderful; I can tell Ariana didn't like that.

"And when you have a baby, he's not going to be at home is he? He'll probably not even want you travelling with him," says Roman, Dean looking like he wants to murder both of them. He'll thank them soon enough I'm sure. "And Dean's kid? It'll be a little maniac running around that doesn't listen to you and doesn't care because that's exactly what it's Father does," he explains further. Uh oh, I can feel Dean trying to control his anger from besides me. Maybe it's enough now. I shake my head at Roman and then do the same to Seth.

"Let's not forget he controls your every move around other guys, it's like he doesn't trust you. Should you be getting married to someone who doesn't trust you?" questions Seth and I use my foot to step on his underneath the table. Seth puts on a tight smile on his face, giving me a questioning look but he knows exactly why I just did that.

"I can't believe you guys are supposed to be my best friends," says Dean through clenched teeth. I'm surprised how much self-control he has right now.

"Me either, have you been taking drugs?" asks Ariana, looking confused between Roman and my boyfriend. "Everyone has bad qualities but I love Dean for the good and the bad. He might leave his clothes lying around but when I ask him to, he helps me clean up. He might expect me to cook for him but again, he helps wherever he can. Or he does something else to make my life easier. And he may think about sex most of the time but he's thinking about it with me and not others meaning I'm always on his mind," she starts to defend him as I sit there with a smile on my face. I love it when a plan works.

"And I do not have terrible taste in music," adds in Dean as I try not to laugh. Out of everything he wants to defend that?

"As for putting his career before me, he was supposed to be getting a push for the Intercontinental title around November but he made sure Hunter held off on those plans because it was close to the time we're supposed to be getting married and going on our Honeymoon," Ariana continues to defend her fiancé. Maybe now she'll remember why she keeps Dean around and why this silly little incident doesn't matter.

"Wow," I say, not having realised just how much Dean does for Ariana. Obviously she knows but forgets at times when they argue like cats and dogs.

"When the time comes, Dean will be an excellent Father. He even said he's going to be part time during the first few years because he doesn't want his kid to get confused," explains Ariana and I swear my heart just swelled times ten. "As for trust, Dean trusts me just fine. He just doesn't trust other guys and it's not a surprise after everything Randy did. And sorry Seth, but you too. He has a right to feel the way he does but it doesn't mean I shouldn't marry him," she successfully defends Dean completely and then takes his hand in hers.

"Ok, cool," says Seth and gestures for me to feel him some fruit. I place a raspberry in his mouth and then one myself too.

"So what are you guys up to tonight?" asks Roman nonchalantly, both Ariana and Dean looking at the boys as if they've grown a third head.

"Oh you assholes," Ariana and Dean say in unison once they realised what just happened. I send Ariana a wink and get on with breakfast, handing Seth Evan's milk when he starts to act restless. Soon, conversation turns to me and Seth moving in together.

"If you need any help at all, just ask us. I mean me and Dean will gladly sort you out with anything you need," explains Roman, Dean looking shocked at first. Probably because it doesn't sound like fun in any way, shape or form.

"For Iris," says Dean begrudgingly after which Ariana nudges him with her elbow. "And Evan of course," he adds on, sending him a little wave. "He waved at me!" exclaims Dean, putting his arms in the air, sticking his tongue out at Seth.

"No he didn't, he flapped his arms about like he usually did," argues Seth, shaking his head at Dean. I still don't get why these boys are so competitive when it comes to Evan. They both act like little kids. Dean acting like the littler kid.

"You both need a life," Roman tells them both, me and Ariana nodding our heads. "JoJo is coming in a few days, if you guys keep this up then she's not staying around you guys," he says, sitting back in a relaxed manner.

"He started it," says Dean but then immediately looks off to the side somewhere when Roman shoots him a glare.

"Calm down," I say to Seth, patting his leg because Dean clearly threw him right into it.

"I bet that's what you said last night when things got a little heated right?" asks Dean in a teasing voice, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Seth lets out a sigh and I send him a wink. I totally have this.

"Actually I told him to giddy on up," I comment, sending Roman an apologetic because he looks disgusted. But Dean needs to be put in his place and this is a way of doing that. "But he didn't need words of encouragement, we were at it all night," I go on to brag, Dean's eyebrows rising of their own accord.

"I think I feel kind of sick," says Dean. I bet he was expecting me to blush and Seth to tell him to shut up but instead he got something else involving his sister and therefore, the reflux reflex.

"Then stop asking personal questions, not everybody want to talk about their sex life," Ariana tells him, shaking her head. She's right about that. I definitely don't want to talk about mine. Not just because nothing's happening but because it's private. Something Dean doesn't seem to understand.

"There's no point telling him, he'll do it anyway," comments Roman which is true. Dean doesn't have a filter quite a lot of the time. I think he just does it to make us laugh though.

"If he doesn't stop looking, I swear to god I will gouge out his eyes," says Dean, all of us looking at Dean and following his gaze to Randy who then looks away. Every time Randy is mentioned I feel bad for not telling Seth about him. I was set on telling Seth once we got back but he's going to be so busy with work that I don't think it's fair to unload it on him.

"Dean he's not doing anything, you can't attack him for looking," says Ariana, rolling her eyes. I think she just shrugs it off so it doesn't seem like a big deal. It's not for them. For me, it is definitely.

"Although Dean just might," comments Seth with a laugh. He hands Evan to me and grabs the jug, pouring some water in for himself.

"Iris, you know what Dean's face looks like when he's looking at Randy?" asks Roman, sitting forward with a smirk on his face. I shake my head and he coughs. "The way Seth's looks when he sees you with Dolph," he finishes, Seth choking on his water from besides me as I try not to laugh. Ariana though is shameless because she bursts out laughing. I pat Seth's shoulder, the smile on my face not going any time soon, as he uses a napkin to clean himself.

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	68. Poor Evan

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

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 **CHAPTER 68:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Dean? What are you doing here? It's 7 in the morning," I say sleepily, my hand on the door as I look at him through my droopy eyelids. I know these guys get up early to hit the gym but I like the extra sleep that I get. Especially since Evan's been restless all night.

"I want my day," states Dean, crossing his arms over his chest. Really? He woke me up with his incessant banging for this? "Today is my day," he then further states as I let out a yawn. Evan was being quite fussy last night; I don't know why. So I didn't as much sleep as I wanted and needed.

"Sorry Dean but no," I say, feeling worried for my little guy. I know babies do cry a lot but I just don't feel something's right with Evan. So I can't just hand him over to Dean. What if something happens?

"What's wrong?" asks Dean, not even fighting with me over why I'm not allowing Evan to go with him. Instead he's asking if everything's ok which is his protective side. Or maybe it's the look on my face.

"Evan's been up a lot of the night, I don't know why, I think it's best if I keep him with me," I say, Dean pushing past me and heading straight inside. I close the door and point to the bedroom, following Dean there where Evan is sleeping. I finally managed to get him to sleep a couple of hours ago and he seems ok since. But I'm still kind of worried. I feel as if something's wrong and it's not called Mother's intuition for nothing right?

"He looks ok," says Dean, as if trying to reassure me. "Mind if I pick him up?" he asks and I shake my head. I don't think it will wake him up, he's been up and crying so he's bound to be beyond tired. Kind of like me.

"Seth said he's probably started to act like a normal baby now," I say with a smile, getting a chuckle out of Dean. He gently picks up Evan as I watch on carefully. When the time comes, he'll be a great Father. I just hope Ariana knows what she's in for. It's not going to be easy with a child and Dean Ambrose.

"Iris, is he supposed to be this hot?" asks Dean, alarm bells ringing in my head as soon as those words come out of his mouth. "He's really burned up," he comments. I quickly place a hand on Evan's face and go into worry mode as I realise Dean's right.

"His temperature has sky rocketed," I state, panic settling in. It wasn't like this before. "I-I he was fine just a couple of hours ago!" I exclaim, grabbing a hold of his tiny hands which are hot we well. "W-what do we do? W-we have to get him to a d-doctor," I quickly say, worry at seeing my little guy like this.

"Iris, listen to me," says Dean in a strict voice. "He'll be fine. Quickly get ready and we'll take him, alright?" he says and I nod my head. I grab a random top and a pair of jeans, changing in the bathroom. I run a quick comb through my hair and then come back out, taking Evan from Dean. No, he'll be fine. This is me just worrying my pants off. What Mother wouldn't?

"Come on, we have to quickly see someone," I say, my concern for my son overtaking me in an instant. We head downstairs and Dean hails a cab. "Um, y-you have to call S-Seth," I say, he's Evan's Father and he should know that Evan's not well. It just doesn't make any sense; he was fine just a couple of hours ago when I tried to feed him.

"He's not answering," says Dean and eventually decides to leave a voicemail. I wonder what Seth is up to. I need him right now because I have no idea what's going on and I can't keep calm. He always calms me down, I need him. "He'll be fine Iris," Dean reassures me and puts an arm around me. I lean in to him and hold Evan close. I sure hope he's right. We head inside the hospital once we're there and explain the situation. I'm asked to fill in a form whilst we wait for a doctor to see us. Dean being the nice guy he is decides to do it himself. I just...I have to keep Evan with me.

"Evan Rollins?" says a man and I stand up along with Dean. I'm guessing he's the doctor because he's dressed like one. "Follow me please," he says and we do so, going into his office with him. "Please, take a seat," he then asks of us. Both me and Dean sit down opposite him. "You're Evan's Mother?" he asks me and I nod my head.

"Iris," I say, at least I managed to get my name out. I feel like I can't even speak or do anything right now.

"You're the Father?" asks the doctor, looking at Dean who shakes his head.

"Uncle," answers Dean and the doctor nods his head. I'm surprised he didn't boast about being the Godfather. Dean keeps a hand on my thigh and I realise I'm bouncing it up and down in nervousness and worry.

"Alright, my name's Henry. I've been told Evan has a high temperature," says Henry, looking at me softly. I nod my head, again, words not being able to come out of my mouth. But then I look down at Evan and I just want him to get better. I think that gives me some sort of strength because I start to speak.

"This morning, just under an hour ago. Dean wanted to babysit Evan for the day but as soon as he touched him, he was really hot. I don't understand, he was fine a few hours ago," I say, trying to keep my emotions in check as my eyes water.

"Ok, I'm just going to ask you some questions and I just want you to answer them. Is that alright?" asks Henry and I nod my head. What is he going to ask me? How I've been taking care of Evan? I thought I was doing a good job. Until now.

"Can she get some water first?" asks Dean and Henry nods his head, leaving the room. "Iris, stop worrying. Kids get sick all the time, he's not judging you," he says before Henry comes right back in. He hands me a glass of water and I take a couple of gulps.

"Right, so what's Evan been like for the last couple of days?" asks Henry. I go through my mind to try and think about what's been going on, if I found anything unusual.

"Fine, except for last night. He was being really fussy," I explain. I should have known something was up last night but I didn't. Does that mean I'm not doing a good job?

"In what way?" asks Henry, both he and Dean looking at me. I glance at Dean who gives me an encouraging nod. I can do this. He's going to help Evan get better and needs all the information.

"Uh, he was crying a lot more than he normally does," I say, that being the first thing that I found really odd. "He kept kicking his blanket off himself, acting very unsettled. I tried putting him to sleep but he would only take brief naps. He wasn't really drinking his milk either. He had a little bit but around 5 this morning he didn't have anything. Then he fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I thought it was good thing because he finally looked like he'd settled," I explain to him and Henry nods his head.

"Let's check him out on the examination table," says Henry and I nod my head. All of us get up and I place Evan down gently. He's still sleeping and I don't want to wake him. I keep a hand on his head, his temperature is still up. "Would you mind?" Henry then asks and I shake my head. I stand a little back, Dean placing his hands on my shoulders. I keep one of my hands on his and look on. Please be ok. Once Henry finishes I pick up Evan and we sit down again.

"Is everything ok doc?" Dean decides to ask the questions as we sit there silently with Henry tapping away on the computer.

"It will be," says Henry and then stops what he's doing. He keeps his hands on his desk as he looks at me. That's meant to be reassuring right? That nothing serious is going on. "Mrs Rollins, I can assure you Evan will be just fine. We have many parents that come here and they're scared to think they've not been taking good enough care of their children. I've checked Evan over and he's completely healthy. You're doing a good job," he says, never once removing his eyes from mine. I guess he could tell what I was thinking. I just want Evan to be as healthy as possible.

"Then why is his temperature so high? And why won't he drink his milk?" I question. Evan obviously isn't as healthy as I'm being told right now. But I doubt that he would lie. I just need some answers first. I won't take any risks where my son's health is concerned.

"Evan just has a fever," Henry informs me and Dean. A fever? He's saying it as if it's no big deal. "I've checked everything and he seems fine. There could be many reasons for why he's got it but right now, that's all it is. He'll be right as rain in a couple of days, ok?" he says and I nod my head. He'll be fine. I don't think I'll stop worrying till he's all better though.

"What can we do to help him?" asks Dean, sounding more like Evan's parent than me. I didn't even think to ask that. But I can't even think straight at this moment so no wonder.

"First, I would say to make sure to keep him hydrated. Give him lots of milk or water," starts Henry which is a flaw in itself since Evan won't take any of it. "I know he's resisting at the moment but he's going to feel hungry and when he does, he'll have it. But to get him more comfortable till then make sure he's lightly dressed. Room temperature is very important; he shouldn't be too hot or too cold. If you feel he's too hot, open a window. Make sure not to wrap him up too much. If he's kicking off the blanket, leave it. Don't force it on him," he instructs me and I nod my head, taking in every single piece of advice.

"And he should get better after that?" asks Dean eagerly. He's just as worried as me. I didn't even think. But he's family so of course he is.

"Most fevers last 2 to 3 days. Check his temperature regularly and if things are going worse, then definitely come back. Or even if things haven't gotten better," he tells us. So the next 3 days will be very crucial. I think I'll keep Evan in the hotel room. It's the best way I can make sure to control his temperature and that of the surroundings. "And ensure he gets plenty of rest," he adds on. Ok, I think I got all that.

"Will you give anything to help us?" I ask, speaking about medication. I mean, we can't just wait it out can we?

"Yes, don't worry. I'm going to write you a prescription and just follow the instructions. I'm sure Evan will be fine, I don't see how it could get worse," says Henry which is more than reassuring. Dean pats my leg and sends me a wink as I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," I say, both me and Dean getting up to leave. Dean holds the door open, the prescription in his hands. We walk out of the hospital and I feel relaxed when I see Seth coming over to us. "Hey," I say, probably sounding like I'm dead at the moment.

"Hey," says Seth, taking Evan out of my hands and I let him. I can tell he looks panicked when he feels how hot Evan is. "Is he ok?" he asks, holding him close, instinctively.

"He's fine, just a fever," says Dean as we stand there. Seth gives Evan a couple of kisses who then starts to wake up. I think he's had enough of sleeping at the moment. "I'll get the meds and you guys go back to the hotel," he tells us. I nod my head and get a cab with Seth.

"Is it really just a fever?" asks Seth and I nod my head. I am so relieved it's nothing much worse. I know this is just the start, kids get sick all the time. I still have the chickenpox, colds, coughs and all sorts to deal with. But this, this nearly killed me. How am I going to get through the rest?

"Yeah," I answer Seth, nodding my head. "The doctor said he'll be fine. We just have to give him the medication and follow some simple rules. He should be fine in 2 to 3 days," I explain briefly, deciding I'll tell him more afterwards. I just need some thinking time at the moment. Once we get back to the hotel I close the windows and keep the blanket I normally put on Evan off. I watch as Seth puts Evan in the cot after having fed him. He drank a little bit, not a lot. But at least it was something. My phone starts to ring and I leave from there, not wanting Evan to wake up again. "Hello?" I say into the phone.

 _"Hey, it's Ariana,"_ says my best friend on the other end. I walk out to the balcony and lean forward on the railing. _"How is the little guy?"_ she asks me. I'd rather not talk about it right now but I also know she's family and has a right to know. It's just...the whole thing sucks.

"He's fine now. Just a fever," I answer and hear a relief on the other end. "The doctor said it should go away in a couple of days. So, hopefully," I say, not speaking much because of how upset I am of the whole situation.

 _"That's good news. Me and Roman really wanted to come down but then we were needed here and we also didn't want to bombard you,"_ Ariana somehow feels the need to justify why neither her or Roman came down. But I understand. All I needed was Seth though they managed to get him there.

"It's fine Ari, I understand. It would have been pointless for us all to go there since it wouldn't have helped the situation," I say to her. Because she's my best friend and Evan's Godmother she feels like she should be here for us all the time. In reality, that's not always possible. And it's not the ideal outcome either.

 _"How are you holding up?"_ asks Ariana but I just stay quiet. At the moment I'm just trying to come to terms with everything.

"Scared," I answer in a soft whisper. I'm really trying to hold it together for Evan. He needs me right now. "I just...I thought after I bring him into this world, that's it. No more problems. But when I realised he was ill, it was like the rug got pulled out from underneath me," I explain and then stop because my eyes water up.

 _"That's completely normal Iris,"_ Ariana reassures me as I take a couple of deep breaths. _"This is the first time he's come down with something, it's your natural instinct to assume the worst. You can't help that. But you're doing a good job and I'm sure he'll get better,"_ she assures me which I appreciate. I think I really needed to hear that. _"Alright, well I have to go but if you need anything then let us know. Oh and is Dean with you?"_ she asks me.

"He, uh, he went to get Evan's medication," I answer and Ariana tells me to ask him to call her which I agree to. "Oh and thank him for me. I was a right mess and he kept me in check," I quickly say before I forget. If Dean wasn't here today I don't know what I would have done. He really stepped up as he does in these sorts of situations.

 _"I will do but you know what he's going to say? What are big brothers for?"_ Ariana imitates Dean which makes us both laugh. She hangs up and I put the phone down.

"Everything alright?" I hear Seth's voice and turn around to find him standing there. I nod my head and look away as he walks over to me. "What's wrong Cutie Pie? Ever since I got to the hospital, I've noticed you don't look like yourself," he points out which is probably an understatement. Instead of answering him I just put my arms around him in a hug.

"I'm just scared to lose him," I say, Seth keeping a tight hold on me. I think that brief chat with Ariana helped. What I feel isn't going to go away anytime soon.

"Me too but we'll take care of him, alright?" says Seth and I nod my head. I just hope Evan doesn't get any worse. "How about you tell me everything the doctor said?" he then says, pulling me away from him and making me sit down on one of the chairs.

"Can we go inside? I don't want to be too far away from him," I tell Seth and he takes my hand leading us inside. We sit down and discuss everything, kind of reassuring each other. I know Seth was probably just as scared as I was. Especially since he had no idea what was going on.

* * *

"Seth, you have to go," I say later on in the day. He's refusing to go to a house show tonight saying they don't really need him. I had enough problems to deal with and now I've got another. My boyfriend refusing to go to work.

"No I don't. They don't need me, you guys do," says Seth, Evan in his arms who continues to cry as if we're torturing him. Nothing seems to be stopping him but I think it's just because of the fever. We've tried cooling him down, feeding him and everything but nothing seems to be working. "How can I leave him when he's like this?" he asks as my heart breaks at seeing tears run down Evan's eyes.

"Seth, I know you're Evan's Father and you're concerned. But we've been off just over two weeks. You can't afford to miss shows," I explain to him, his job being very important. We just can't keep asking Stephanie for favours time and again. I then take Evan off of him and try to settle him myself. "Neither of us are going anywhere and Evan's actually drank some milk. I can handle him for a few hours," I try explain to him. Children get sick all the time, he can't just leave everything and stay here with us whenever that happens.

"All by yourself?" asks Seth and even though I know it would drive me crazy I would do anything for him. For him and Evan. Just like he would do for us. It's a no brainer.

"Ok, how about I call one of our friends? I'm sure out of everyone on the roster someone will be free to come and help me out at least?" I suggest, that being one way I can actually get Seth to go. Obviously it depends on who's free and wouldn't mind popping an eardrum.

"If someone's free then sure," says finally relents, I think he was just looking at the pleading in my eyes.

"Don't worry Seth, we're not going anywhere. And if things get worse then I'll ring you," I assure him, looking at Evan whose face is red. "It's ok Evan, Ssh," I continue to try and soothe him, it working little by little. He stops crying but then sniffled quite a bit, crying once more. But he does it more if you put him down so I'm just keeping him with us. "Go get ready," I tell Seth, walking through the suite with Evan. I give someone a call to come up here as Seth gets his stuff together.

"Alright, I'm off," says Seth, stopping me in my stride. He comes over to us, rubbing Evan's back who's resting his head on my shoulder. I think the poor thing's all worn out from the crying. "I'll be as quick as I can," he tells me, leaving but not before giving me a kiss on the lips.

"Ok, it's just us baby," I say to Evan, sitting down and rocking him back and forth. A few minutes later I hear a knock on the door. That must be the help. I get up gently and go to the door, opening it to see him standing on the other side.

"What's up sexy?" says Dolph, immediately putting a smile on my face as I shake my head at him. I turn around and he follows me in, closing the door behind himself. "How is he?" he goes on to ask as I take a seat on the couch once more.

"Alright, still fussy," I answer and Dolph nods his head, leaning down and placing a kiss on Evan's head. He takes a seat on the other end of the couch. "Can you please hand me that bottle?" I ask him, pointing to the table where there's a small bottle filled with water.

"Sure," says Dolph, picking it up and handing it to me. I keep Evan cradled in my arms and try to feed him the water. To my relief, he accepts it and continues to drink it. "No offence, but you look like you're dying," he says which is always a nice thing to hear (!)

"Thanks (!)" I say, not amused by it but Dolph seems to be. "I've just been up all night with Evan and then worrying about him all day," I explain, letting out a yawn. This is what Motherhood is though. And I definitely wouldn't change it for anything else in the world.

"Yeah, he looks rough. But from what I've heard the doc has been positive?" says Dolph as if wanting to clarify it with me at which I nod my head. I wonder how he found out about it.

"How have you heard this?" I ask Dolph, voicing my thoughts. Me and Seth have been here all day. Which reminds me that Dean hasn't come with the medicine yet. He's been gone for hours. I wonder if everything's ok.

"AJ. Ariana was telling the girls I think," says Dolph, not sounding too sure about the whole thing. "Dean was having trouble finding the medication at local stores when he rang her so I think everyone just bombarded her with questions," he goes on to explain which gets me worried again.

"He can't find the medicine?" I ask, my eyebrows raised in concern, Dolph looking like he just shot himself in the foot. Why didn't anybody tell me? "How don't I know this?" I ask, completely baffled at the moment. If there's a problem, then I should know about it.

"Probably so you don't act like that," says Dolph, pointing at me and I understand why. I'm dying in worry here and that would just make things worse. "Although, now you know so I'm sure my ass is going to get kicked," he adds on.

"I won't tell anyone if you give me a status report," I bargain with him. If Dean can't find it, then where is he now? And what is he doing? How is he going to find the medicine?

"I'll call AJ in a while and see what's going on," says Dolph, not having a problem with being a spy for me. It's nice to know he has no morals and only wants to save himself. But then if he wasn't like that how would I get what I need?

"Speaking of, how have you two been getting on since finally naming your relationship?" I ask, deciding I can't do much more than what the doctor has told me. I haven't even talked to Dolph since I left so it'd be nice to know how he's been getting on.

"It's going good surprisingly," says Dolph, a shy sort of smile on his face. It's cute how he gets when it comes to AJ, you'd think he'd have done something about it sooner. But no, these guys kept tiptoeing around each other. In a really obvious way. "We actually have quite a few things in common," he admits to.

"Like denial?" I ask in a teasing manner. "It's nice to see you happy Dolph, finally you're settling down," I go on to say. He's settling, Dean's already settled and Seth has too. All of these womanisers are meeting their matches I guess.

"Well, unless you become free again. I think I'd make an exception," jokes Dolph, wiggling his eyebrows at me and making me laugh. He really needs to mend his ways with me, I cannot get through five minutes without him hitting on me. He does it as a joke of course.

"I wonder what AJ would say to that," I comment, Dolph's smirk not dropping one bit. I bet he's great at poker.

"I think she'd be up for a threesome," comments Dolph and I shake because I'm laughing so much. We spend a while talking to each till Dolph finally decides to ring AJ to see what's going on. I look down at Evan in my arms and smile, he's finally settled after having his water.

"So?" I ask him when he finally gets off the phone. He was on there for such a long time that I'm starting to think Evan will never get his medicine.

"Oh, he got it," says Dolph, sitting back down but his phone still in his hand as he taps away at it. Have I just entered a different universe? Because I am so confused right now.

"It took you twenty minutes to find that out?" I ask, a puzzled look on my face. All he needed to do was greet his girlfriend, ask her what's going on and then put the phone down. How hard is that to do?

"No, it took me two. The rest eighteen minutes were spent telling my girlfriend what I'm going to do to her tonight," answers Dolph and I wish I had never asked. I didn't need to know that, like at all.

"You and Dean should start a club," I suggest to him, thankfully Dean's on his way with the medicine. "Is he coming here to drop it off?" I then ask, I just feel like I need to give Evan some medicine, just at least once for him to feel better within himself. It'll probably help to stop him from crying so much or help him drink a little more.

"Yeah," answers Dolph and I let out a sigh of relief as I feel myself automatically relax even more. I need to hear good news more often. "You know Iris, you need to stop worrying so much," I get advised but I just roll my eyes.

"When you're a Dad, you'll understand partially how I feel," I tell him. The worry you feel for your child is the absolute worst. It's a feeling that doesn't go away. And whilst I'm more relaxed now, I won't be fully happy till Evan's completely recovered.

"Only partially?" asks Dolph. It would be funny to see these guys try on a woman's pair of shoes for at least one day. Then they'd know about all the crap we go through. If we were in a parallel universe, none of them would survive.

"No one gets as worried as much as a Mother does," I state, I've never been in such a stressful role and right now I'm feeling the pressure. Especially with Evan not being well. But that's not in anybody's control. He was going to get ill sooner or later, he's not exactly immune to everything.

"How was everything with Seth's family? It all go down ok?" asks Dolph, changing the subject. If only he knew about half the things that went down, the most recent being my Mother, he would not even raise the subject.

"As ok as it could be I guess," I answer, deciding I don't want to go into detail about it but at the same time I'm not going to lie to Dolph out of all people. "There were some ups and downs but we left everything on a good note," I explain a little more. A while after. Dolph decides to go grab some dinner for us. I wonder where Dean's got to. There's a knock on the door and I open the door to see Dean standing there with a bag in his hand.

"Medicine!" exclaims Dean with a smile as I move to the side to let him in. he goes inside and immediately goes over to Evan who's sleeping on the couch. "Aw, he looks a little better," he says, careful not to speak too loudly so he doesn't wake him up. Unlike Dolph who accidentally put the TV on full volume.

"Is that everything?" I ask Dean, grabbing the bag off of him and looking at the medicine, reading the instructions so that I know what I'm doing. Right, so twice a day and he should be fine. "What took you so long?" I then ask him, fully expecting him to lie to me and say he got distracted or something.

"Actually, I couldn't find the medicine in any store that I went to," starts Dean, both of us stood opposite each other. "I even rang Ariana and she asked the Divas but no one could think of any place. So I googled a few things, rang around and after going on a 6-hour drive, I am finally here with it all," he finishes, falling down on one of the other couches.

"You went around driving to get his medicine?" I ask Dean in disbelief.

"It took 3 hours to get to the store and 3 hours to get back, my legs are officially dead," complains Dean, hitting them both a couple of times. He did that for Evan? Dean looks up at me and frowns. "Iris," he says my name as I try to control my breathing.

"I'm fine," I say in an unusually high pitched voice. I can't believe he did that for Evan. I place a hand on my chest, trying not to let myself feel affected by what he's done. However, I'm not so good because the next thing I know I have tears in my eyes.

"Are you going to...cry?" asks Dean, looking at me closely. I shake my head but then a few seconds later I actually do start sobbing. All I've ever wanted was for Evan to get love like I never got it and with Dean doing what he's done, I'm seeing that come true. "Come on Iris, don't be like that. Ariana isn't here," he says, making me laugh in between the crying. He gets up and puts his arms around me, me sobbing into his chest.

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews guys and keep them coming! :)**


	69. Seth vs Dolph

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you're all well and enjoy this chapter. I know it's a bit shorter than my usual but it'll have to do :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: He is! I think out of everyone, I love writing him the most! :) Xx**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: I have no idea what to say except no one's reviewed so much in such a small amount of time. So thank you for each one :)**

 **Calwitch: Hey buddy! Not heard from you in a while :) I was thinking that's how someone would react when their child first gets ill. Like they've done something wrong. But hopefully she doesn't continue thinking like that and just focuses on getting Evan healthy again. I don't think Dolph annoys Dean as much as Seth. They're cool. :)**

 **Debwood-1999: I know, but thanks for saying that. I know it all seems like a filler but I think they're some much needed thing that I didn't want to miss out. Plus, since I've decided not to do a third story I'm just amalgamating everything, sort of. I know the big reveal is important to readers but I also know the small moments are important to others as me. Believe me, I am trying to quicken my pace but I'm not someone who can just put it out there without anything else if you catch my drift? Haha. I'll try to blow you off your shoes! It's fine to be impatient, I know I would be. But like I said, I'm still trying to work some kinks out. It's annoying to me as well.**

 **Ayesha: Hi! I am great! Oh, good you've caught up. Hope things are well with you :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: I know :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I know. Good thing he's there for her though right? :)**

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 **CHAPTER 69:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Are you feeling better?" asks Dean, five minutes later and I nod my head. I've managed to stop sobbing but the tears are still there. I can't help it; I'm just so touched by it all.

"A little," I say, taking a deep breath to calm myself more. I guess I got caught up in the emotion. I wasn't expecting him to say what he did. The only person I expect something like that off is Seth and the fact that Dean went above and beyond just really touched me.

"Here, sit down," says Dean, moving his hands to the side of my arms and guiding me to sit down on the couch. He bends down in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he then asks, able to know that something's bothering me.

"I never had that," I say, shaking my head. I can't believe I'm actually jealous of my own son. "Someone to do something like that for me. Mom," I pause and let out a bitter laugh. "You know what she's like. She never cared about me as much as you've just shown me how much Evan means to you," I explain to him, looking into his blue eyes.

"Of course I care about him, Godfather remember?" says Dean, pointing to himself and I nod my head, sniffling. "And, even though your family was just your stupid Mother," he says, making me chuckle at the way he says it. "You have us all now. What I just did for Evan I would have done for you too, no doubt about it," he explains. I tilt my head to the side and bit down on my lip.

"Really?" I ask. I feel like he would but sometimes it's nice to have that verbal confirmation that what you're feeling is right, it's not an illusion.

"Big brother remember?" says Dean and I move forward, putting my arms around him in another hug. "Ok, what's wrong with you? Are you pregnant that quickly?" he asks me, still cracking jokes. I shake my head and pull away, placing my hands on his shoulders.

"No, just happy I guess," I reply, shrugging my shoulders. "Thanks Dean," I tell him in a soft voice, leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek. He laughs and ruffles my hair, getting up and placing a kiss on my head. There's a knock on the door and Dean offers to go and open it.

"What's up Dean?" Dolph asks, walking straight in with a couple of bags in his hand. "Iris, I don't have enough for 3," he then says, putting everything down on the table.

"I was going to leave anyway, I have to be at work," says Dean, sending a nod in my direction. "What are you doing here anyway?" he then asks, crossing his arms over his chest and starting to look amused.

"Iris called me over," answers Dolph happily, leaning down to unpack all the food. "I'm surprised she remembered I was still alive," he comments absentmindedly as Dean throws me certain looks.

"Hmm, interesting," says Dean and I swear he's up to something. I can tell when wheels are turning in his head. "I'll head off then. To work. Where Seth is," he says which gets my attention. "I'll let him know both Iris and Evan are in good hands," he says, quickly rushing off just as I stand up to get him.

"Don't you dare!" I shout but only get a door closing in response. I swear that boy goes from sweet all the way to assey in the space of a few seconds.

"Is there something I should know?" asks Dolph, looking at the door then at me. He is a friend after all, it would only make sense for me to tell him. Besides, it's not like anything will ever happen between us. Not again anyway.

"Food first," I instruct Dolph. He finishes unpacking and serves us both. I wonder what he'll think of the whole thing. Stupid? Obvious? "Ok, so don't tell anyone that I told you. Especially not Seth," I order Dolph, pointing a finger at him and he nods his head, his mouth full of food. "Seth gets kind of jealous," I reveal to him and he raises his eyebrows. "Of you," I finish, digging into my own food.

"Why?" asks Dolph and it's as if after asking that question that he realises why. "Because we had that one night together?" he questions but I shrug my shoulders. I don't know when it might have started but Seth is never happy when Dolph is mentioned.

"I don't know, I mean, he's never happy when you're mentioned or around," I say, thinking about all the times Dolph is mentioned and Seth's face at that particular time. "And Roman made a joke the other day about Seth being unhappy when you're around like Dean is when Randy's around Ariana," I explain to him. That was funny because of both Seth and Dean's faces.

"I'm not that surprised, Seth is the jealous type like any of us guys and I have gotten pretty cosy with you once or twice," says Dolph and I think back to the club when he'd kissed me.

"But still, it shouldn't be a problem now that you're in a relationship," I point out. Should I talk to Seth? No. It's not that serious. He's like any other guy not wanting any dude to come close to his girlfriend. It's not a big deal.

"Believe me, AJ still has a problem with anyone that I've slept with coming anywhere near me," says Dolph. Do they talk about this all the time? "I think it's cute when she gets jealous so I do it on purpose," he explains resulting in me slapping his arm but he just laughs.

"Let's see how she likes that information," I say with an excited look on my face and Dolph starts to look really nervous. I wouldn't really do it. But he doesn't know that.

"Don't even think about it, otherwise your boyfriend will get told we've actually slept together," warns Dolph and I narrow my eyes at him. He wouldn't really tell Seth that, would he?

"How about neither of us tell anyone anything?" I suggest. Dolph nods his head and tells me he likes that idea. We spend the evening catching up and soon Evan starts to cry again. I hold him in my arms and even though he sleeps once more I still keep him there. I just feel like he'll sleep better if he's not constantly moved around.

* * *

"No, seriously, I-" Dolph cuts off and we both look to see the door open, Seth entering the apartment. "What's up man?" Dolph asks him, sending me a look as if he's going to wind him up on purpose. Seth looks at Dolph confused before looking at me.

"How was work?" I ask Seth and he closes the door behind himself, placing his things to one side. He won't be mad at me calling Dolph over right? He's actually a good friend to me, someone that I can trust.

"It was ok, Dean lost it as usual," says Seth, making us all chuckle. "How's the little man?" he asks, coming over and parking his butt on the arm rest, looking down at Evan.

"He seems to be doing a lot better, Dean dropped off his medication and he seems a little better after that. He's drinking more than he was last night too," I give Seth and update on Evan's condition. I think he will be fine; I can actually feel it.

"That's good," says Seth, placing a hand on Evan. I think Dolph senses he's not needed anymore or that he's overstaying his welcome now.

"I better get going," announces Dolph, standing up and letting out a yawn. "I told AJ I'll be in our room waiting for her when she gets back and if Seth's back then that means my girlfriend is probably planning my demise," he explains, making me laugh.

"Well thank you for coming up and sticking around, we appreciated it," I tell Dolph and he nods his head. He grabs his phone and puts it in the back of his pocket.

"Let me know how he fairs," says Dolph, referring to Evan and I nod my head. He leans down and places a kiss on my cheek saying, "I'll see you later". He also sends me a wink and then leaves from there, no doubt wanting to get Seth all riled up. I shake my head and put a hand on Evan's forehead, he doesn't seem to be as burned up as before which can only mean good things. I hand Evan to Seth deciding on cleaning up the mess Dolph made. Seth doesn't say anything which makes me think he's not bothered by Dolph being here. However, I think I spoke to soon.

"You never said Dolph was going to be here," says Seth after a while. And there it is. I know he's not accusing me of anything, if he did I'd just have Dean kick his ass to mars. But he's curious I bet.

"Yeah well I haven't talked to him for a while so thought, why not?" I say, tying the bag that has all the bits and bats from tonight's dinner in it, including rubbish. I keep it to one side and then sit back down.

"You know when you said you'd get someone over, I thought it'd be one of the Divas," Seth tells me. Does he only think I can only be friends with girls? Let's see where he goes with this anyway.

"Yeah well I'm probably going to be spending the most time with them at work anyway, not someone like Dolph. Plus, you call one over and the rest will bombard you with messages saying how could you forget about them," I explain, running a hand through my hair before using a hair tie to tie it up. I think I need to go for a haircut. It's getting too long for my liking.

"Oh, right, ok," says Seth and I hold in my amusement at his reaction to this whole situation. What am I going to do with Seth? I gave him the benefit of the doubt with Isabel. At least Dolph isn't a psycho out to ruin our lives.

"Seth?" I say his name and he looks up at me. "I love you," I tell him, feeling like he might as well hear it. Nothing anybody ever does would change that. Not even after what he did. My love for him is something that will always remain true.

"I love you too," says Seth, a smile overtaking his face. I knew that would make him happy. It always does. It does me too. I lean in to Seth's side and rest my head on his shoulder. He might always be jealous but I'm hoping it'll go down bit by bit as time goes on. As long as he doesn't start dictating who I can and cannot see.

* * *

"Hey," says Paige as I walk into the Divas locker room with Evan ins his stroller. He's probably the only guy that's allowed in here. "How is he?" she asks me immediately. After we took Evan to the hospital, the next day the hotel room was swarmed with people from work wanting to see Evan to make sure he was ok, including Paige. She, Roman, Ariana and Dean were the first ones to come. Before the gigantic swarm.

"All better, thank god," I say to her. It's been 2 days since we saw the doctor and Evan has been getting better. His fever's gone down, there's no more crying and he's drinking all his milk with no issues. Maybe it helped that Dean promised to get him a Mercedes for his 18 birthday if he stopped being so ill.

"That's good," says Paige, bending down and greeting Evan. Babies aren't her thing, I've noticed. But she is slowly warming up to Evan. She's even starting to use the baby voice everyone uses when talking to him.

"Yay! Evan is here!" exclaims AJ, running inside and coming up near the stroller, nearly knocking Paige to the side. "Oops, sorry," she apologises and bends down herself.

"Girl, there were people about to come inside that you knocked to the side," complains Naomi, walking in and laughing along with Natalya. They both give me a hug, all gathering around Evan.

"Where are the twins?" I ask, one of them normally being the first one I come across. Well, mainly Nikki anyway. It's like she has a baby radar because wherever Evan is, she pops up.

"They're doing some training in the ring, they'll probably be down here soon," says Ariana, walking through the doors herself. "Ok guys, back up!" she says in an authoritative voice. "My Godson needs some air," she explains once they all do what she says.

"Has Roman gone to receive JoJo yet?" I ask Ariana and shakes her head. JoJo is coming today and none of us can wait. Dean's probably already got a list of mischievous actions for them both to carry out. Me and Ariana already decided on bowling for our girls' night. Maybe I can convince them to go to a salon first to get my hair trimmed.

"He's setting off in a while. She'll probably get here during the show and then pass out from all the jetlag," says Ariana which is true of course. I think since we always travel we sort of get accustomed to it. Whereas JoJo is a little girl and probably will just pass out like Ariana said.

"Then she'll still be a little tired tomorrow morning which means we can make sure everyone has no lunch plans," I say, that being something we can all do as well as quickly catch up with her. It'll be great to see her and also she's not met Evan yet so that'll be fun.

"Are you still having to give Evan his medication?" asks Natalya and I nod my head. His temperature is still a little high so I don't want to take any risks.

"Yeah, it's just a precautionary thing till he's 100 percent better," I explain to her. Soon, Evan is getting passed around to everyone as we sit and just have our little chitchat. They all love taking pictures but I'm exactly the same. I want to capture the exact moment he does something funny or even laughs. "Ari, I'm just gonna go find Stephanie really quick to talk about my job. You ok watching over Evan?" I ask, not wanting to leave him and then her having to be somewhere.

"Sure, take your time," says Ariana, patting my leg. I get up and leave the room with a smile on my face. I don't even need to worry about Evan, everyone's there for him just like they were in Iowa. He truly is a lucky baby. I knock on the door when I get to the room, being told to come in.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"How are you handling everything?" I ask Seth, seeing him getting annoyed at not being able to find something in his bag. His tolerance levels just went through the roof because he started cursing. I think everything that's happened with Evan is really getting to him.

"Not so great," answers Seth and I feel for him, I really do. I am a Dad after all. I can't imagine to have do it as well as be on the road with the little one. It's a lot of pressure.

"Seth, talk to me," I tell him, sitting down opposite him. I can tell he needs to take a load off, even his leg is shaking like it's going to fall off.

"It's just the last thing I expected to happen ok? Evan getting ill," says Seth, the last part for clarification. I don't think any of us saw it coming. No one ever does. If we did, no kid would be sick because we'd stop it from happening. "It's heartbreaking hearing him just cry and cry and cry," he comments and I nod my head in understanding.

"It kills you even more when tears are going down his face right?" I ask, Seth nodding his head in agreement. "I know it's hard, but Evan will be fine and it's just for a few days. I was the same when JoJo first got ill, I still am. I can't stay away and it kills me not to be able to make everything better," I explain to him. It's worse for him because he's stuck between work and his family constantly.

"I just want him to stop...crying. To get better," says Seth and I move to sit next to him, patting his shoulder.

"We all do, but you have Iris with you. You're both doing it together and she did say he's improving," I reassure him, I don't think it's working a lot though because he still looks so worried. "Look, you can either sit around acting all miserable or you can get ready for the show and then take good care of your son with your girlfriend. Don't just sit around thinking all negative, it doesn't do any good man. Trust me," I tell him, patting his shoulder once more before getting up to change. I have a promo that needs doing.

"Hey Roman?" says Seth and I turn around to look at him. "Thanks man," he says. I send him a small smile and leave the room. A problem is Seth and Iris are alike in so many ways; they both panic to the limit which means one can't calm the other one down. I guess that's what they keep me around for.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Iris, hi," says Stephanie, immediately getting up and coming over to hug me. "How are you?" she asks, pulling away and gesturing for me to sit down. I sit down on one of the two seats near her desk and instead of sitting behind her desk she sits down with me.

"I'm good thank you, how are you?" I ask Stephanie and she nods her head, letting me know she's ok.

"Busy as usual," answers Stephanie, making me laugh at the tone she's using. "Actually, it's nice for someone to come in here so that I can have a break. How's Evan doing?" she goes on to say. She couldn't come and see him because of how busy she was but she did send over a nice card which I thought was very sweet.

"A hundred times better, thank god," I say in relief. It's nice to be able to say that, although the next time he gets ill it'll be panic and worry all over again so that should be fun. "He's sleeping, taking his milk. It's such a relief," I say and she reaches over and squeezes my hand.

"You're a new parent, it's to be expected," Stephanie assures me, having already got three kids of her own. She probably knows a lot more about it than me. "The first time any of my little girls got ill, I was a wreck. You can ask Hunter, he was on the receiving end of my yelling," she says, making me laugh. "It was just really frustrating because they're small and so helpless and then you feel so helpless too," she says with me nodding my head, that's exactly how I felt the past couple of days. It's been like a never-ending cycle.

"But we got past it," I state, feeling bad now about what I'm going to say next. "I know you wanted to have a break from work and everything but I was hoping we could talk about my job," I say to her and she nods her head.

"Don't worry, talking about a job with you will be less stressful than having to deal with creative today," says Stephanie. I'm glad I'm the less stressful part of her job. "So, what's up? What can I help you with?" she goes on to ask. I still haven't made my decision to my request will seem a little weird. But I have a feeling she'll understand.

"Well, obviously I've had Evan and everything," I start, Stephanie nodding her head. "I'm not sure whether I do want to carry on with wrestling or stay at home and be a Mom," I go on to say, a look of understanding on Stephanie's face already. "I mean, wrestling's always been in my life in one form or another. The only thing I love doing more is being Evan's Mom," I say. I don't want to make it seem like it's one or the other but it may just have to be.

"I get that, I do. My decision at being back at work is hard on my girls too," says Stephanie, somehow making it work whereas it will be difficult for me. She's not always around here, sometimes she's at HQ and she's at home whereas travelling constantly will be a burden on Evan. "Are you telling me you haven't made a decision or...?" she trails off trying to read me probably.

"I haven't made a decision on that front, yet," I inform her so we're on the same page. "But what I have decided is that for the first year of Evan's life, I'll happily continue working as a stylist for you. If you'll have me of course," I explain to her and she sits there considering it.

"Iris, I have no issues with that, honestly," says Stephanie, a smile overcoming my face. I don't know why I was so nervous; I did at one point think she might say no. "You've been great at both jobs so having you in either one of them is a good thing. I guess I'll get someone to work out a new contract and obviously change the old one so that we can account for you having Evan around," she goes on to say and this time I'm the one sitting there and nodding my head. "Of course keep me posted on your choice and what you're thinking. Or if you need to talk to someone about what you're going through, then I am here for that," she also says. Of course I know that though.

"Who else to better understand my situation than you huh?" I ask her, already thinking about what decision I want to make. I didn't even talk to Seth about this one. I was with the Divas and just thought of it so came and did it. I should probably go and find Seth now, tell him what I've done.

"If there's anything else, you know where to find me," Stephanie tells me and I nod my head before getting up to leave.

"Thank you," I say, leaving her with a smile on both of our faces. After leaving her office I figure I might as well see Seth before getting back to Evan. I have my phone with me in case Ariana needs me as well. I walk down the hallway, looking at my phone because I have a new message from someone when I turn the corner and nearly bump into someone. I look up, about to apologise when I realise who it is. It's not someone. It's something. "Kane," I say his name, shocked at finding him standing there. I thought he was suspended. What is he doing here? He doesn't look too happy either.

* * *

 **Thanks for reviewing guys, I appreciate every single one :)**


	70. Old Foe

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this next one. Just to give you an update, it will be one chapter a week until further notice. It just worksbetter with my personal life at the moment :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I thought it might, haha! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Thanks, glad you loved it! And yep, Kane :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: They do, don't they? They're one lucky couple :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 70:**

 **IRIS POV**

I stand there, still awestruck at what I'm seeing. Or is it because I'm scared? No. I'm not scared. Standing in this hallway. Where there's nobody around. Ok, maybe I'm a little scared. He glares down at me as he usually does when he sees me. Does the man never smile? Like an honest-to-god real kind of smile that actually shows us he's a human being? And what the hell am I thinking?

"Watch it," says Kane and I don't know if that's a warning, threat or advise. I try to say something, anything but I feel myself lost for words. It's like I've forgotten to speak. How can I though, when I'm faced with someone who very brutally attacked me before? I break his gaze and glance behind him to see Dean walking down the corridor. He stops, his eyes bulging out of his head when he sees where I am and with whom.

"Iris," Dean calls my name, Kane glancing behind before shoving roughly past me. I stay as still as a statue wondering if everything that just happened was real. "Iris, you ok?" Dean asks, snapping me out of my trance. I manage to nod my head and he puts his hands on my shoulders. "Come on," he says, guiding me away from there, we end up in the SHIELD's locker room.

"And then he said-" I hear Roman stop mid-sentence as soon as me and Dean enter the room. "Why does she look as white as a ghost?" he asks, my mind replaying the image of seeing Kane standing there over and over again.

"Iris," says Seth, coming over to my other side immediately. They both get me to the couch and I sit down. I don't know why I'm so fazed by him. The nightmares stopped. Maybe it's because it's the first time I've seen him after everything he did. "What happened to her?" Seth demands from Dean who lets out a sigh.

"She...she saw...Kane," Dean finally manages to get out and I have an eerie feeling that he knows exactly why I'm gobsmacked right now.

"I thought he was suspended?" asks Seth and this time I look up at Dean too. The look on his face tells me that this is something they hid from us.

"He came back to work when you guys were in Iowa," explains Roman, having Dean's back in some sort of a way. This was inevitable I guess. Kane only got suspended, not fired. He would have come back sooner or later.

"And we're only finding out about this now?" asks Seth, sounding shocked more than anything. I think he expected them to tell us but I didn't.

"We didn't want to worry you," Dean defends them and I nod my head. I understand. I probably would have done the same had the situation been reversed. It's all about protecting your friends and the people you love.

"But then we forgot to tell you when you came back," says Roman and it surprises me that Seth didn't manage to find out Kane's back, especially with him spending a lot of time at work. He didn't once hear about him or see him. That's odd. Then again, what idiot would willingly mention Kane in front of Seth? "Is she going to be ok?" Roman asks as if I'm not here but on another plane.

"I'll be fine," I manage to say, sort of going back to my normal self I guess. it was just that initial shock. But does this mean I'll have to constantly watch mine and my family's back because Kane's around?

"Don't worry so much," says Dean, sitting down right next to me and placing a hand on my leg. "We talked to Stephanie and Hunter, they both told us that if Kane so much as even harasses us, he can kiss his career goodbye," he explains which sort of helps me feel a little bit relaxed. It's my own stupid fault, I decided against pressing charges when everyone clearly wanted me to. But it was a different situation back then. I thought by pressing charges, he would be even more angry and might end up taking it out on Evan and everybody else once I was gone. Of course now things are different because I'm still around.

"Really? They both said that?" asks Seth, sounding intrigued by the whole idea. He better not even be thinking what I think he may be thinking.

"We already tried that, didn't work," says Dean, sitting back on the couch. Why does it not surprise me that he's done something like that? I glance at Seth and he looks like a kid whose candy has been taken off of him.

"It'll be fine," I state, trying to reassure them and myself I guess. Kane being here is another reason for me to just stay at home and look after Evan. For some reason, when he sees me it's like as if he gets provoked. Me not being around would change that. "Would you guys mind if I talked to Seth alone for a moment?" I then ask both Roman and Dean. They quietly leave the room, Seth taking my hands in his.

"We'll be fine," says Seth and I nod my head. It's become like a mantra whenever something goes wrong. Kane is a big problem but we can either just live out our days in fear or trust that things really and truly will be fine. At least I know he's around. If I didn't know then I'd be careless and unknowing of such a threat.

"I know," I tell Seth and I think it surprises him that I'm not panicking. We have so many issues that we've worried about and things ended up ok. I'm that will happen this time too. Kane's too stupid to try anything since everyone knows what he's like now. "The reason I ran into Kane was because I went to Stephanie's office, to talk about my job," I inform him, his eyebrows rising.

"You've already made a decision?" asks Seth and I nod my head seeing the panic in his eyes. He's afraid he'll lose me if I decide to stay at home. That's the problem. "Why didn't you tell me?" he then asks, looking disappointed.

"Because I haven't made a firm decision," I answer his question. "I've asked her to let me continue being a stylist for at least a year and then I can come to a decision about whether or not I want to stay as that, start wrestling again or stay at home," I go on to explain. It's going to be difficult to make that decision but it's got to be done. "Sorry for not talking to you first," I then tell him but he shakes his head.

"As long as I'm up to date I don't mind," says Seth and I lean in to hug him. "Cutie Pie, you know where I stand on what I want. But I just want you to think about what you'll be giving up. I mean, you've loved wrestling since forever, it's why you got on bad terms with your Mother, you fought to be here. Are you really ready to give it all up?" he says and he does have a point. All my life I've worked towards being here, to wrestle day in and day out. I haven't done it for like a year now and I do miss it.

"I would for my family," I answer, closing my eyes. I would do anything for Seth and Evan. I know for a long time wrestling was the only dream I had and I achieved that dream. But when I met Seth, I found a new dream. One in which I'm bringing up a family with him.

* * *

"Hey, where have you been?" asks Ariana as soon as I get back. I was gone for a long time and I'm not known to leave Evan anywhere for that long, no matter what.

"After I met Stephanie I went to talk to Seth, ran into Kane," I comment nonchalantly and Ariana nods her head before her eyes look like they're bulging out of their sockets.

"Kane? What...?" Ariana trails off, letting out a nervous laugh which she doesn't do often which means she honestly did forget about him. Or maybe she was trying to spare me the horror. Should I find it insulting that they thought I was kind of weak? Then again, I was a total wimp last time we ran into him. What can I say? When you're carrying a baby you are like that.

"It's ok, Dean and Roman explained everything," I say, sitting down on a bench, glad that everyone else seems to have disappeared. I guess Evan isn't as interesting when he's sleeping. "What I want to know is why I didn't hear about this from you," I say and she lets out a sigh, sitting down next to me.

"I didn't want to worry you or have you run off for that matter," answers Ariana and I hope she knows I appreciate her honesty. "I mean he had you scared half to death last time. Your decision about what to do next shouldn't stem from his presence," she explains, that being very true. But I've decided he's not going to run my life anymore. I'm in control.

"I know and I want you to know that he won't," I assure her, putting an arm around her. "One thing that I've learned from my time with Seth's family is that bad things will always happen. It's how you approach the situation and I am done being so scared. From now on, anything or anyone that tries to even harm my family and friends will have to go through me," I state, Ariana letting out a chuckle and giving me a hug.

* * *

"Wow, it might have been a couple of months but you're still amazing," Brie compliments me once she looks at herself in the mirror. I thought I could start my job a little early, to see if I could still help everyone to the standards that are expected, turns out I can.

"I love how you've put on the red eye shadow," says Nikki, standing behind Brie but then moving around to look at it a little closer. "I want it the exact same!" she says, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Nikki! You can't have it exactly like mine," complains Brie with a frown on her face.

"Hello, we're twins! Of course we can!" argues Nikki, picking up a magazine to start going through. I stop myself from laughing and pick up the make-up, getting started on Nikki. Brie lets out a sigh and gestures to strangling Nikki when she's not looking. "I saw that," says Nikki absentmindedly, Brie's jaw dropping to the floor.

"Iris, Iris, Iris!" I hear Dean shout, making the three of us jump because he literally comes out of nowhere. I can't believe Ariana's letting him run wild again. "Look what Evan just did! He laughed for a whole 10 seconds!" he says excitedly, Evan in his arms and I let out a laugh. He gets so excited on the little things just like me.

"He must be having fun then," I comment with a huge grin on my face. You can always count on these two boys to brighten up your day.

"Beyond fun," states Dean, throwing Evan up in the air and catching him, Evan laughing loudly. It's a good thing Seth isn't here right now; he would not be ok with Dean doing that. But I know Dean would never let Evan fall, that's why I let him do it.

"Aw, that's such a cute laugh," says Nikki, opening her eyes and turning around as I let out a sigh. She does know how make-up gets put on right? Especially eye shadow?

"Nikki, if you want to get it done then you need to close your eyes and sit still," I instruct her with my hands on my hips.

"Yeah, good luck with that (!)" comments Brie snidely, earning a slap on the leg courtesy of her own twin. "Nikki!" yells Brie, rubbing the place where Nikki got her. These two definitely act as bad as Seth and Dean.

"Then act like my twin for once," complains Nikki, putting a pout onto her face. "Hang on Iris, I need to get this on video. Maybe it'll make John change his mind about kids," she goes on to say. I don't say anything and let her have it, any bit of hope for her is something she severely needs. "Dean, do it again," she tells him and the throws Evan up, Evan laughing as if there's no tomorrow which in turn puts me in a better mood. Seeing Kane again just...stirred up old feelings a little.

"See?" says Dean, looking at me once again and laughing himself. I swear he gets so excited on the little things, he's kind of like me in that aspect. I go back to work on Nikki's face, Dean making faces at Evan. "Oh by the way, I want my day," he says and I start to think about what that means. His day? Hmm. Oh yeah!

"Oh," I say, remembering I promised him he could hang out with Evan all by himself for a whole day when we got back from visiting Seth's family. "When do you want it?" I then ask him, figuring it would be a good chance for me and Seth to try out our alone time together, again. I still haven't told anyone that he fell asleep. If I did, there would be endless and not to mention countless jokes at his expense.

"Uh, tomorrow or the day after," says Dean and I shake my head immediately. That is a definite no.

"Sorry Dean but you do remember JoJo is coming right?" I ask him and he nods his head, apparently not getting the point. "So she's spending as much time with Evan as she can since she's not seen him, ok?" I tell him and he nods his head disappointedly. "But you can take him with the guys on our girls' night and then have him all alone for a day sometime later," I say, ensuring a smile stays on his face. What can I say? I like keeping him happy.

"Thanks Hot Mama," says Dean, placing a kiss on the side of my cheek, the girls letting out an 'aw' which makes Dean roll his eyes and I end up laughing. "What do you say Evan?" he then talks to my son who makes some gurgling noises.

"I think you can take that as a yes," I tell him, stopping what I'm doing for a second and looking at them both. "How's that?" I ask Nikki, picking up a small mirror and putting it in front of her face so she can take a look. I'm surprised I managed to do it in between her bickering with Brie and not being able to sit still for five seconds.

"I am in love!" exclaims Nikki with an excited look on her face. "Could you curl my hair a little if it's not too much of a problem?" she then asks me and I nod my head. At least she says please. Summer would always just sit down and expect everything. I let the other stylist handle her since they both had an attitude that stinks.

"Has Roman gone to get JoJo yet?" I ask Dean whilst getting the curler out to get started on Nikki's hair. Long hair suits her and she can handle it. However, I can't. I get irritated by it every quickly because there's too much of it. It's why I always keep mine quite short. Plus, I've had long hair before and I kept getting called Ariana's twin which was very weird. It annoyed the hell out of Ariana too. At least in a fight I know I'll get to keep my hair because no one will be able to get a hold of it so quickly, their arms won't reach.

"Yeah, he headed off like half an hour ago," answers Dean, sitting down on one of the chairs, on the left to Nikki. "He went off after hitting me too," he complains, putting a sad face on. He thinks I don't know what he's trying to pull but I totally do.

"What did you do?" I ask him, concentrating on what I'm doing instead of looking at him because I know I'll get distracted and burn hair, the last thing I want to do is burn Nikki's hair. She'll throw more than just a fit.

"Me? What makes you think I did anything?" questions Dean and I glance at him for a second, giving him the I-know-you look. "Alright, I may have teased him about Paige and JoJo meeting for the first time," he relents easily. He doesn't do that with the others though. It makes me feel special. Or maybe he knows I won't yell at him.

"It is, isn't it?" I ask, not having realised that. I wonder how Paige is feeling on that front. "Teased him? Dean Ambrose, please try to be a little nice towards your best friend? Is it too much to ask?" I go on to say, grabbing a clip and pinning a part of Nikki's hair to the side.

"Yes," answers Dean without hesitation, the girls laughing at how blunt he is. I could do without this but whatever. It gives me practice if I ever do have more kids in the future. If I can handle Dean then any kid will be a piece of cake to control.

"Ok, well you're going to be on your best behaviour whilst JoJo is around because if you're not then I will revoke your privileges with Evan," I threaten him, using a comb to brush through a part of Nikki's hair before using the curler to give it a wave.

"What kind of privileges?" asks Dean, wanting to push my buttons. I don't remember Roman teasing these guys so much about their relationships. He gets into one and Dean attacks him like a rabid animal. I feel incredible sorry for the Samoan.

"We'll start with holding privileges," I comment directly, looking at Dean whose jaw drops open. He uses his hand to help Evan's jaw along as well. "Stop forcing my son to look like you," I tell him off as I hold off on a smile, the curling wand in my hand as it's used to point against him.

"I'm not, he's shocked by the decision too," says Dean and I narrow my eyes at him. "Fine, no more stupid jokes. You hear that Evan? Your Mom is a party pooper!" he tells him loudly, my mouth opening in shock. The guy is completely shameless.

"Dean Ambrose," I start but before I can finish off what I was saying he hightails it out of there. "You'll regret that!" I call after him, the twins finding the whole thing hilarious by the looks of it. I finish Nikki's hair and do Brie's too before they both leave from there as do I.

* * *

"Iris," I hear and look up to see Randy approaching me with the world's biggest smirk on his face. "I haven't seen you around much since you've been back," he says and I actually feel bile rise up in my throat. Between him and Kane, I'll have my hands full that's for damn sure.

"Yeah, well here I am," I say unenthusiastically, moving to the side in hope that those are the only words we'll exchange today, however that's apparently turning out to be a dream. "What?" I ask, a hand on one of my hips.

"Nothing, you look good," says Randy in a really nice way which confuses the hell out of me. "I hope you stick around, the company could use someone like you," he goes on to say, making me feel even more confused than before. He then steps to the side to leave.

"What?" I say to myself at which point I turn around to look at him. He looks back at me as well as he walks off.

"Nice ass," compliments Randy, sending me a wink before completely disappearing. Ok, what the hell was that? That comment, totally Randy. The words that came before them, not him. Have I come back to some sort of a messed up world? That doesn't make sense.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"We should tell her right?" I ask Dean, watching him play with Evan from where I am sat on the couch in the SHIELD locker room. Yeah, Iris knows Kane's about. But now the bigger question is, do we tell her everything we found and what Randy told us?

"And have her swear at us along with her hair getting grey?" retorts Dean at which I roll my eyes. Roman had to leave so we couldn't bring this up and discuss it with him. Although now I'm thinking I should have left it till later because I can't have s straightforward conversation with my fiancé.

"Alright, alright," I say, shaking my head and placing a hand on forehead. I don't think we can come out of this having done the right thing in Iris and Seth's eyes. But we might as well do what we think is right. "Let's just hope he doesn't say anything to her himself. Like what he did with Roman," I say, Dean nodding his head.

"Which he still hasn't told us," says Dean, obviously having a hard time letting it go but I refuse to entertain him and let them argue about it once more. The last time was enough. If Roman doesn't want to tell us then we leave it at that.

"Don't be such an ass Dean," I tell him off and he stops walking around the room, staring at me with his mouth open. "Keep it open any longer and a fly will waltz right in meaning no woman will ever kiss you again," I let him know, Dean immediately closing his mouth.

"Mommy and Aunt Ariana are too mean," says Dean to Evan, even though I'm sitting right here in front of him.

"Because you're such a saint (!)" I comment, shaking my head at him. When we have kids I'm going to have to put with him always trying to turn them against me. "I think we need to make sure Randy doesn't come sniffing around. I don't fully believe his reasons for trying to help us with Iris," I say, my gut instincts telling me there's something more.

"I couldn't agree with you more," says Dean, throwing Evan up in the air and then catching him. He's been doing that all day, making Evan laugh. He's lucky he's great at catching and we all trust him not to drop Evan onto the floor. Although the same can't be said for Seth when he walks through the door.

"What are you doing?!" asks Seth, horror all across his face, which turns into something ten times worse when Dean looks at him and not at Evan. "Dean!" yells Seth but still doesn't look to see Evan but still catches him. I knew not to panic because he's been doing it all day, showing off actually. The no-looking thing he's been practicing.

"I'm just playing," says Dean as if it's no big deal. Seth grabs Evan off of Dean and calls him crazy resulting in Dean slapping the back of his head when Seth walks by. One day my fiancé will act like a grown man, I'm sure of it.

"I swear to god Dean I will get Ryback on you," threatens Seth, sitting down and holding Evan to him closely. "Do you even think before you do things? Evan just got well and already you're trying to make sure he gets ill again," he argues with him, their triple D taking over. Daily Domestic Dispute. It's never-ending too.

"Well I'll get Roman on you then," argues back Dean. I sit there hoping that I'm invisible because sooner or later they'll bring me into it and I'll have to kindly tell them both to fuck off. Iris never says anything but I have no problem telling them where they both can go.

"Roman will be on my side," says Seth, acting all cocky. Really? That's what he's going with up against Dean? It's like he never learns. Then again, neither does Dean. Oh look, these two dweebs are perfect for each other.

"Are you sure? I mean he's **_my_** best man," states Dean with a proud look on his face. He shouldn't be too arrogant either.

"Yeah, if I promote him to Godfather," threatens Seth and there it is, the only thing that affects Dean more so than me calling off this wedding. Not that I ever would. I have thought once or twice about doing it as a joke but somehow I don't think he'll ever see the funny side so it's on the back burner.

"There you are!" says Iris, walking into the room as she looks at Dean. She then looks over at Seth and I guess she was trying to find Dean to see Evan.

"He said I can't be Godfather anymore!" says Dean in an obviously upset tone as he points to Seth who shamelessly laughs. Iris walks in further and stands right next to Dean.

"Oh he did, did he?" asks Iris, crossing her arms over her chest, Seth's smirk faltering. "In that case he can go find himself a new girlfriend," she goes on to say and I sit there watching the whole thing unfold. This would be great with some popcorn or candy.

"You're going to break up with me because I told him he can't be Godfather?" asks Seth incredulously. Seth should know by now that there's something loveable about Dean that even if you don't want to take his side, you end up doing it anyway. Although, it's more true for us girls. I think it's the childishness in him. Whilst I've been learning to become immune to it, it works a whole lot more on Iris.

"We don't break promises in this family and that's not the kind of role model I want for Evan," states Iris firmly, Dean putting an arm around her and kissing the side of her cheek, whispering something in her ear which makes her laugh.

"I am not breaking a promise, I'm getting rid of the devil," says Seth letting out a big sigh. He hates it when Iris chooses to defend Dean, I suppose it's a natural thing of course. It's always been like that, nothing's going to ever change.

"Don't you dare call him that," snaps Iris, whispering something in Dean's ear and he laughs, Seth narrowing his eyes at them both. I'll have to ask Dean later on what they both said to each other, it's enough whispering to make Seth mad.

"Ariana, are you seeing this?" says Seth, showing me he's the stupid one by bringing me into this.

"Oh look, I don't give a shit (!)" I comment in a very sarcastic manner which I can tell he doesn't appreciate. "Dean's been throwing Evan around all day and he's not hit his head once, have some faith in your so called brother please," I decide to go to the very start of the argument, the reason they're both acting like a couple of children.

"That's what this is about? Come on guys," says Iris, not sounding the least bit impressed by any of this. Then again, it is Seth and Dean and when is she ever by these two idiots?

"He wasn't even looking when he was catching him," complains Seth, Iris's own mouth opening in shock as she looks at Dean. He's sort of fumbling over his words right now.

"Only...only because he was yelling. He should be glad I'm a master at what I do even when I'm not looking," says Dean, his hands up in the air. He's actually very right there. I can vouch for that in the bedroom definitely. Despite the blindfold, he did everything perfectly. If not, better.

"I..." Iris looks between the both as she tries to decide on what she's going to do or rather who she's going to side with. "Ariana?" she calls my name and looks at me. I nod my head letting her know Dean wasn't being dangerous and she asks him, "You've only not been looking with others around right?"

"Yeah, Ariana's been here the whole time," says Dean, pointing to me and I once again nod my head. My eyes have not left him since he's been doing that. Mostly he's been showing the no-looking thing off to me. I bet it's another way to impress me and get into my pants.

"Ok," says Iris, patting Dean's shoulder. Yeah Dean's a loose cannon sometimes, well most of the time, but he always has everyone's best interest at heart, especially when it comes to Evan.

"That's it?" asks Seth and Iris looks at him with a look of her own. He pipes down and just like that everything dies down. As long as I'm not the only one who has to deal with both these chumps at the same time, I have no complaints.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Here," says Seth, handing Evan over to me because they had a match they needed to get to. After running into Randy I've realised one thing, I definitely need to tell Seth. Before we were leaving so it didn't matter what he said to me. But now, we're back. Seth needs to know before he finds out some other way because then he'll be really hurt.

"Seth? I need to tell you something," I say, taking a deep breath. It's not something I should be hiding, not with Kane in the picture as well.

"What is it?" asks Seth, looking at me concerned, I guess it's because I look so serious myself.

"I...I'll tell you when you get back, ok?" I say to him, wanting him to focus on his match first. Seth nods his head and pecks my lips. "Good luck guys," I say to all of them before they leave the locker room. Roman called to let us know he'll be here in the next five minutes which is why Dean left with a sad look on his face because he wanted to be the first one to see JoJo. I message Roman to meet me near the curtains because there's a screen there so I'm going to stand there and watch the match.

"Aunt Iris!" I hear a little voice and turn around to see JoJo running towards me. I bend down and put an arm around her as soon as she gets to me, careful to keep Evan in place with my other arm.

"JoJo!" I say her name and place a kiss on her head. "Oh my god, look at you," I say to her, noticing how different she looks from the last time I saw her. She's gotten bigger as well. "Oh, I missed you," I say pulling back and receiving a kiss on my cheek.

"I missed you too," says the little girl after which she sort of freezes. I follow her gaze and realise she's looking at Evan. It's their first meeting after all.

"JoJo, this is Evan," I say, manoeuvring him so that his back is against my chest. "Evan, this is JoJo," I do a little introduction for them both as she continues to stare at him.

"He's so little, more than me," says JoJo, making both me and Roman laugh. "How old is he?" she goes on to ask me, keeping her gaze fixed on him as he stares at her in wonder too. He's not used to seeing her face.

"He's 4 months old," I state proudly after which I start asking her all sorts of questions about what she's been up to. It's been such a long time since we last saw her. I know this visit will be great, I can just feel it.

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 **Thanks for the reviews guys and keep them coming! :)**


	71. Training

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Firstly, I am sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter but I'm not feeling too well and haven't had time to go over it again. But I didn't want to miss giving you an update. Second, I know you're all eager to see who it is that's messing with Iris and Seth's lives. I want to thank you for being so patient. I'm hoping to get the story done and dusted in the next 20 chapters :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha, that it will! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Yeah, Dean and Evan are the epitome of cute. Lol :)**

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 **CHAPTER 71:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Jo!" exclaims Dean as soon as he comes through the curtains, being the first one. I won't be surprised to know if he tripped up Ariana and Seth to get here first. He instantly lifts JoJo up in his arms, making her giggle relentlessly.

"Uncle Dean!" says JoJo happily, Dean starting to tickle her as she tells him to stop it. Ariana and Seth come through moments later and judging by the looks on their face, Dean did something silly to get back here. JoJo greets Ariana and Seth, giving them extra-long hugs too.

"Now that JoJo is here, we can get to partying!" exclaims Dean, giving JoJo a high five who seems all for it.

"Actually, we're going to have a quiet night in because she'll get tired in a few minutes, I assure you," says Roman, which is true. When she first comes off a plane she is all giddy but soon she ends up getting knocked out. Roman doesn't need Dean riling her all up.

"Oh man," says JoJo, sounding very unhappy about it. "But I wanted to hold the baby," she goes on to complain which makes us all laugh.

"How about we meet up tomorrow first thing and you can get to know him a little bit better?" I suggest to her at which she nods her head. We all know what Roman's like so she knows that's the best offer she's going to get anytime soon.

"Yeah, and the first thing you need to know is, I'm the Godfather," says Dean, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to look all cool for JoJo. What can I say? He's amazing with the kids. Mainly because he acts like one himself most of the time.

"Cool!" exclaims JoJo, looking at Dean as if he's her idol. He's sort of is as well because every time she comes they both get up to mischief. Although, I think Seth will be mindful of the shampoo he's using this time. And Roman will be careful about when to take his naps. "Why couldn't I have had a cool Godfather?" she then asks her Dad who shakes his head and sends Dean a small glare.

"What do you mean? Uncle Jimmy is a great Godfather," says Roman, referring his cousin. Dean and Seth came into Roman's life a few months after JoJo was born so of course, neither of them were contenders for it. It ended up being one of the USOS.

"Then where is he?" asks JoJo at which Roman rolls his eyes and the rest of us suppress laughs.

"Do you want me to send you back already missy?" says Roman, JoJo shaking her head furiously after which she shuts up about the whole thing. "Guys, we just came to see you and now we're heading to the hotel. Maybe we could all have dinner together if this one is still up?" he suggests, all of us liking that idea for now. We all say goodbye to JoJo and go on to our separate ways. I head to the SHIELD's locker room with Seth, Dean and Ariana, waiting for them to get ready to go.

"Iris," says Dean, sitting down next to me as I hold a sleeping Evan. At least I know he'll be awake for dinner which Dean especially will love.

"What's up?" I ask, Seth in the shower and Ariana having gone to the Divas locker room to grab some stuff she left there earlier.

"Would you make me a godfather again?" asks Dean and I don't know if I'm part of some joke or whether this is him being serious. You can't tell half the time with him.

"Sure, but not right away. Roman needs the title next otherwise he'll bite my head off," I tell Dean, letting out a chuckle and notice he's not laughing. "Is this about what Seth said before?" I then ask him, shaking my head.

"I don't know, I sometimes don't think he trusts me at all," says Dean all serious like. So this is a genuine problem he's facing. Hmm, I know just what to say to sort his little head out.

"Don't pay no attention to Seth, he's just jealous at how great you get along with Evan. Even when I was pregnant with him," I tell him and I honestly do think there is a bit of jealousy there. "He is Evan's Father at the end of the day and maybe he feels like you should back off sometimes. And maybe you could but I'm loving every minute of it. You're always the kind of uncle I wanted as a kid so I don't have any problem with it," I explain, figuring I could use this to help Dean with this whole situation.

"So back off a little?" asks Dean and I realise I don't know how to answer that question.

"Only when Seth's around," I tell him in a low tone which makes him laugh. "You're doing a great job and I think you're showing Seth up so he's a little bit insecure," I joke with him, both of us laughing. "But I know Seth would rather have you like this than any other way. And you're doing a good job, he might not say it but it's in his eyes. We made the right decision about you being Godfather," I explain to him.

"Really?" asks Dean and I nod my head without hesitation. Dean cares so much for Evan, he is the definition of Godfather.

"Yeah and you know when me and Seth were deciding on who to put as Godfather we both said your name at the same time?" I decide to tell him something no one else but me and Seth know about.

"Fuck, seriously?" asks Dean and I hold in my laughter at the look on his face. I nod my head.

"Truly, Seth just doesn't want you to know how much he likes you," I tell him as if it's some big secret. But these boys like acting like kids' half the time anyway. "If he does, you'll be cockier which he probably sees as a threat for Evan," I add on. I don't know if what I'm saying is the truth but that's what I think.

"I am so glad he's not my best man, he'd probably try to make sure I burn right before I get married," comments Dean and I shake my head as I pat his leg. The bathroom room door opens and in walks Seth.

"What?" asks Seth as soon as he notices me and Dean sitting so close to each other. I think he knows we're up to something.

"Nothing," says Dean, a grin on his face. Seth looks at us both suspiciously before grabbing one of his bags and making sure everything is where it's supposed to be. "Would you have a big problem if I got him dragged around by a wolf on your wedding day?" Dean whispers to me and I burst out laughing. I don't answer him because I can't stop laughing, Seth looking curiously between us two.

"What did you say to her?" asks Seth but Dean shakes his head, not willing to answer his question. I think he's quite a bit curious because my cheeks have heated up at the mention of mine and Seth's wedding day.

"Guys are we ready to go?" asks Ariana, opening the locker room door and stepping inside herself.

"Yeah," I say, getting up and ready to head back to the hotel. Seth puts his arm around me before we leave, keeping it there which makes me smile. But I know why it's there. To make sure Dean doesn't whisper more things to me and Seth can only assume it's stuff against him. Once at the hotel we all retreat to our individual rooms to get ready to dinner.

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"What was Dean saying to you?" Seth wastes no time in asking as soon as he closes the hotel room door. I smirk to myself, placing Evan in his cot.

"Just something," I answer nonchalantly, knowing that this will push Seth's buttons. He hates it when me and Dean keep things from him as partners.

"It wasn't just something, you got all red and started laughing," Seth points out, sitting down on the bed and I stand up properly to look at him. These guys need to stop this rivalry thing that they've got going on.

"Because Dean's a funny man," I give my reasoning, grabbing a dress from the wardrobe. I go into the bathroom to get changed into it, hearing Seth mutter to himself which makes me chuckle. "Uh Seth?" I say as I get changed, figuring that I'd actually like to have some fun with this.

"Yeah?" says my boyfriend, I think he's packing some stuff so we can get going tomorrow after lunch with no problems.

"You love me right? Like, you're not going to leave me?" I ask, making sure to add curiosity in my voice.

"Unless you ask me to leave, why?" asks Seth, sounding even more curious now. "That's what he's been telling you? I'm going to kill him!" he says, sounding kind of angry. It's actually quite funny. "He's actually convincing you that I'm going to leave you or that I don't love you right?" he says and I stay silent because if I don't then I'll burst out laughing. I run a comb through my hair and open the door quietly, seeing Seth pace the room, muttering things to himself again. I lean my back against the door, watching him.

"You're going to burn a hole in the carpet," I point out to him, trying to keep a straight face.

"I can't believe he said that," says Seth, saying some things which are inaudible which is probably a good thing because I'm pretty sure he's swearing.

"He didn't say anything like that," I'm quick to jump in and say. Seth stops pacing and looks at me with his hands on his hips.

"He didn't?" asks Seth and I shake my head sending him a confused look. "Then why did you ask me all that?" he goes on to ask as I try to come up with an excuse for it.

"Just," I answer, shrugging my shoulders. "I was just making sure," I add on and he walks over to me, standing right in front of me, looking me deep into the eyes.

"You played me," he's managed to suss me out. I bite down on my lip and avoid his gaze. I didn't think he'd work it out that quick, especially since I've become a lot better in lying. "You played me," he says again, making me yelp when he puts an arm around my waist and presses me up against him.

"Just...a little," I say in a small voice, using a hand to play with one of the buttons on his shirt. I thought it was really cute how much he cares about me though. He made it seems like it was a catastrophe, him leaving me.

"Look at me," says Seth and I force myself to look into his eyes. Hot damn, I should not have done that. I see desire in them right now and my god we have to get to dinner. "You're never going to get rid of me," he states firmly, sounding a bit on the possessive side but that happens to be a great turn on right now.

"I'm not sure, Dean has a pretty good idea of how," I start and then get silenced by Seth's lips. The kiss lasts about a minute before he pulls away, keeping us as close as possible. "Ok, um, yeah. You can stay," I say dumbly, Seth letting out a laugh and kissing me again. "You know," I try to stop him but he's not having any of it, pressing me up against the door and not even allowing me to speak. I manage to pull away and put my hand on his lips. "We have to get to dinner," I say, causing him to frown which makes me laugh. I laugh when I feel his lips kiss my hand. I end up pulling away because he tries to talk and I can't hear him.

"One of these days Iris, I am going to get you alone, at a time when we have no plans and I'm going to show you just how much you've missed screaming my name over and over again," Seth says in a very slow and sensual way. Holy hell. Is it me or is it just getting hot in here? He leaves me speechless, backing away and grabbing his wallet from the nightstand. "We going to dinner or what?" he asks, seemingly amused at me standing here like a statue.

"Um, yeah, dinner, right," is all I can come out with. I pick up Evan and Seth grabs his bag, both of us exiting the room with Seth dialling Ariana's number so he can find out where they are. I think one of these days Seth is going to make me actually burst from all this desire building up in me. I really need that day for Dean to take Evan.

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"Roman not here?" asks Seth as soon as we get to our table, Ariana and Dean already enjoying drinks without us.

"Tidbit!" exclaims Dean and I hand Evan over. Dean always acts like he's never actually seen him in months even though he spent the whole day throwing Evan up into the air and then catching him. "What's up my little man?" he says, bouncing him in his arms.

"JoJo fell asleep right at the last second, since it's her first night he really doesn't want to leave her," explains Ariana and I nod my head. We all saw this coming, no matter how lively that kid looked just a couple of hours ago.

"Well at least we have lunch tomorrow," I say with a smile on my face. That'll be something. JoJo will be refreshed and energised and we'll get reacquainted with her very quickly. "Are you guys heading to the gym first thing in the morning?" I then ask them all, receiving nodding heads as a response.

"You should totally come with us, it's been a while," says Ariana and she's right. If I ever do want to wrestle again then I'll need to keep myself in good shape. I'm going to try to keep running every couple of days at least so stay in shape. It's a whole other thing that I may not wrestle again but I'll need to keep up with these guys anyway.

"I would but then what about Evan?" I say, gesturing to him. He needs me to tend to him and I can't just be working out at the gym. Who'll even look after him then?

"Nonsense, bring him with you," says Dean with a look on his face as if I'm being stupid. "Besides, he's all better now and we'll all be there so we can take turns," he suggests which is actually not such a bad idea.

"Some more than others," mutters Seth and I send him a look which tells him to behave and play nice.

"Then it's settled, you're coming in the morning," says Ariana, rubbing my hand and having some of her beer. We eventually place our order and receive our food, Dean using his food to make Evan laugh by making funny faces.

"So since you're both big on food, I was thinking I could see what's available in Las Vegas and then give you a list for each dish and you can pick out your favourite," I say, the conversation having turned to the wedding which I'm planning, consulting Ariana about everything even though she trusts me.

"Are you sure that's not too much trouble? Sounds like a lot of boring research," comments Ariana, making me laugh and I shake my head.

"People actually do this for weddings you know," I inform her, taking a sip of my wine. "Not to mention I have enough time. I'm only needed for house shows and RAW and SMACKDOWN so all the time in between needs to filled out somehow," I go on to say. When I was pregnant I didn't really get bored because I was so tired all the time I'd just take a nap. But the story has changed now.

"As long as the cake-" starts Dean but I cut him off because I know exactly what he wants.

"Don't worry, the cake is not even the problem, I found a bakery and everything but I'm just waiting closer to the time to actually place the order," I explain to him before he can go on another lecture about the cake having to be perfect.

"Go easy on him Iris, the cake is the most important thing," says Ariana and this is why they're perfect for each other. The cake is the most important to them both.

"At this rate you'll both turn into cakes," comments Seth, making me laugh. Their priorities make me laugh but at the same time it's cute. They want to be with each other and the cake. At least neither have said all they want is the cake, forgetting each other.

"So the cake wouldn't matter to you at your wedding with Iris?" asks Dean casually and I feel myself start to go red at his question. "Because it's the first thing you eat together as husband and wife," he then points out, all of us looking surprised at what he just said. "Oh yeah, not just a pretty face. There's sentiments in here too," he goes on to say, Ariana putting an arm around him and kissing his cheek.

"I think I love you a little more right now," says Ariana and I shake my head. He needs to stop finding ways to embarrass me like that.

"Strawberry cake," I hear Seth whisper in my ear, the redness on my face deepening even more. I think I know what he has in mind with that cake. I shake my head and use a hand to push his face away from mine.

"Ooh! Seth's whispering dirty things in Iris's ears!" exclaims Dean and I sit back bringing both my hands to my face. Yeah, these boys just love seeing me go red.

"Well it's probably a whole lot more romantic than the dirty crap you say to me," says Ariana, sending me a wink. This is why it's a good thing that Ariana is with Dean and not some other chick. It means she'll have my back when her fiancé acts like an idiot. "So, I'll see you in the gym first thing in the morning?" Ariana asks me after we get off the elevator to go to our own rooms.

"Yeah. Yeah you will," I say, actually looking forward to it. I give her a quick hug and we go back to our room. I'm actually quite excited because it's been a while since I went to the gym with the guys. We used to get up to all sorts of mischief when I was with Seth before and Dean was with Ariana. I once played a dare game in there with Dean and to piss Seth off Dean had me going around slapping other guy's ass. One of them included Roman and he did not appreciate it.

"So I was thinking we could go to your apartment in a few days' time and start packing things?" says Seth, sounding unsure of himself as I change Evan's nappy and get him ready for bed. Does he think I've changed my mind already?

"Yeah, that sounds great. I've actually got your guys' rota for the next couple of months to help us make the move," I admit to him which will no doubt make him happy. I glance at Seth and he looks surprised.

"Seriously?" asks Seth and I nod my head.

"Well we might as well do it when we can since you probably won't get off a lot of time soon since you've just come back from time off," I explain to him. Unfortunately, he's probably going to be worked twice as hard to make up for the time lost. So we're going to have to pack and move from days off here and there. And I'm sure our friends won't mind helping.

"That sounds like a plan," says Seth, sitting down on the bed and leaning against the headboard. I finish changing Evan and as soon as I put him in his crib, he's asleep. I'm just glad he's better, I couldn't take it if he continued to stay unwell. I get on the bed myself and lean my head on Seth's shoulder. "You know, things are going to be a whole lot more fun now that we're moving in together," he says and I can just hear that there's a smile on his face which makes me smile in return.

"Harder too," I tell Seth, thinking about all the things that can go wrong. I know, sue me. I can't help it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Seth and he shifts so he's sitting up straight and looking right at me. He looks upset, I think he took it too seriously.

"Just that we're probably going to be arguing," I tell him the truth. It's normal for every couple to anyway. "I mean people live differently and when two people start living together, their ways of doing things is different which equals arguing," I explain simply. It's not a bad thing. I think it's kind of healthy, not arguing means you're putting on a façade with each other.

"But we've been living in your Chicago apartment and didn't argue," states Seth, a look on his face as if he's winning this argument.

"That's because we were so focused on Evan and we weren't a couple. Besides, I couldn't even stay mad at you for anything like leaving the toilet seat up because I knew how tired you were between work and Evan," I explain to him and he starts to think about it. I hope I didn't hit a nerve. "Don't worry Seth, arguing does not mean you're going to break up. I mean, look at Dean and Ariana, they fight like ten times every day and it's seemingly good for their relationship," I explain to him, moving to lie down.

"I wonder what they were like when they moved in together," says Seth and I shrug my shoulders. Neither of us know because Seth was exiled for what he did and I left. I gesture for him to lie down and we go to sleep. The next morning Seth heads off to the gym and I tell him me and Evan will join him in a while. I make sure I have everything before heading down to the gym with Evan. I look around for my friends and shake my head when I see Dean too busy looking at Ariana stretching that Seth's about to drop the weights.

"Dean!" I snap and he jumps before realising what's going on. He quickly helps Seth with the weights and takes them off of him, putting them back. Seth gets up, breathing heavily. "Oh my god, are you ok?" I ask, bending down and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine...I...he's...asshole," is the only thing Seth manages to get out before lying back down. I stand up straight and look up at Dean with a small glare.

"Uh, truce?" asks Dean innocently and I shake my head signalling that I've got my eyes on him. "Ow!" he lets out when Ariana comes up from behind and slaps him over the head.

"Will you concentrate on what you're doing?" she asks him, coming over to me and taking Evan out of my hands. "Hi baby," she says to him and bounces him up and down in her arms.

"I can't help it if you've got a sexy butt," defends Dean which I swear is his excuse for everything. "By the way, if your boyfriend can't handle that much weight then he shouldn't be trying to do it in the first place," he adds on in a serious way, my eyebrows rising of their own accord.

"Oh really? What about...when you nearly...fell from the treadmill...because it was going...too fast and...I saved you?" asks Seth, Dean averting all of our gazes as he looks around everywhere. He's been had.

"I still say that was a prank set up by you," says Dean and we all let out groans, Seth lying down back down once again. This isn't exactly what we needed early in the morning. "Hey Roman, where's Jo?" he asks, looking behind Roman who stands where we are.

"Still sleeping," answers Roman which we all knew was going to happen. JoJo and jetlag are two common words you hear about.

"And you left her all by herself?!" questions Dean with a horrified look on his face and a hand on his heart. He acts as if all us parents are sinners.

"Relax Dad, we went over the rules. As soon as she wakes, she calls my number using the hotel phone," explains Roman, Dean shaking his head. JoJo is actually a smart little girl and that's something that's as easy as breathing for her. Plus, we all know Roman is going to go up every half an hour just to check on her. It's like a Dad routine thing he has going on.

"Maybe I should have done that with Dean," says Ariana, a hint of a smile on her face, Dean narrowing his eyes at her. "Come on Iris, let's get you back into training. We can do our old routine, hey!" she yells the last part when Dean all of a sudden rips Evan away from her.

"What? Guys stay with guys in the gym," states Dean, his head high in the air.

"Then don't even think about coming anywhere near my ass when I'm stretching ever again," Ariana points a finger at him and tells him before grabbing my hand and taking me away from them all. We start off with some stretching and I try not to laugh when Dean starts wolf whistling, seeing Ariana bend over. "Pervert!" Ariana yells to him, getting everyone's attention in the gym. Our co-workers laughing and those who don't know us, looking appalled.

"I was thinking I could start planning your wedding, properly," I tell Ariana, bending down to touch my feet with my hands. This one burns. I used to find it easy. Yep, this is what staying out of shape does to you.

"What do you mean?" asks Ariana, swearing underneath her breath when we hear Dean boast all about how her booty belongs to him. She can scowl all she wants; we both know she loves it.

"Well, since we know everything there is about where it's going to happen and the cake from you guys, with the theme from me, I thought we could get a little book together," I explain to her and see her rolling her eyes. It's not my fault she hates organisation. "Just to include the main parts. I mean, we need to write everything down, don't we?" I go on to say.

"Yeah, you're right," says Ariana, nodding her head which surprises the hell out of me. "What? Come on, you know how important the wedding is to me. Even if I act like I don't care as much sometimes," she says and that's the girl in her coming out!

"We'll need to start dress shopping," I tell her and she nods her head, a hint of an excitement look in her eyes. I didn't just imagine that. She's looking forward to planning the wedding a lot more than she let on.

"Ok, we'll hit a few stores and see what they have," says Ariana, standing up straight and stretching her arms up over her head. I follow her in what she's doing. "In this book can we please have a page for Dean where it has a picture of a suit and in big bold words it's written 'NO SHIELD GEAR'?" she asks of me and I can't help but allow a little chuckle to escape.

"Of course," I say, looking forward to what will happen as we go through the process of planning this thing. "You think he'll ever agree to wear a suit?" I then ask her at which she laughs.

"No, but he's going to anyway," answers Ariana confidently which I like about her. We get on with exercising and start on the treadmills, I'm glad I've still kept running on the side because now I don't feel as tired as much as I would have done had I not done any at all.

"Oh god," I let out the more we keep running and the less I'm able to keep up with Ariana. "I feel so stupid for not even being able to go faster," I go on to say, Ariana on the speed higher than me and seeming to have no problems whatsoever.

"It's not your fault, you've not been training and you've had a baby to take care of, you've done the most difficult job," Ariana says, the only one of us not sounding like she's been running for a whole day, whereas the same can't be said for me.

"Still...can't say...I'm not...enjoying it," I say, both of us laughing. I turn my head to look at the guys and see they're all playing with Evan. One minute Dean's using him as a dumbbell, the next Roman after which Seth grabs his son and glares at them both. They're not doing any harm and Evan's perfectly fine. I turn my head to focus on what I'm doing when I catch Randy's gaze. He nods his head at me as well as sending me a wink which I ignore. He is really annoying. Geez, no wonder Ariana was constantly in a bad mood when Randy wouldn't leave her alone.

"And stop!" Ariana announces, I waste no time in stopping the treadmill and getting off it, sitting down on the floor after having done so. "You ok?" she asks me with an amused look on her face.

"I feel like...I'm dying...all over...again," I joke, Ariana hitting my arm as she takes a seat down next to me. I suppose it could be worse.

"Maybe we should get in the ring soon and see how you fair on that," suggests Ariana but I shake my head. I need to make sure I own everything in the gym before getting back in the ring or else I'm toast.

"Nope...gotta get training...back to...perfection," I say, finally giving out and lying down on the floor. I also need to learn how to breathe again whilst I exercise because I swear I've not been breathing at all.

"Maybe you should train with Dean?" asks Ariana, getting me to sit up instantly as I shake my head rapidly.

"No fucking way!" I say immediately. I love Dean. He's the annoying big and protective older brother I never had but trying to train with him is madness. If there's anything he takes seriously in the world, it's training and keeping himself in shape. When I see Ariana laughing I realise she was joking and start swatting her with my hands. I lie back down only for someone to come interrupt us.

"Look Evan, that's Mommy dying," says Dean, as if he's showing Evan around the whole gym and I'm the most interesting artefact lying around.

"I will kick you," I threaten him, a challenging look on my face. Evan starts crying and I reach over to where my bag is, throwing the milk bottle to Dean to catches it in one of his hands.

"Dude! What if I dropped him?" asks Dean, acting like as if I'm a stranger who doesn't know anything about him and how he operates.

"Dean, if there's anything I know about you it's that you can catch anything with at least one of your hands even if you carrying something. Remember when you were holding Ariana but caught that beer bottle?" I remind him. It was back in the days and Dean wanted something to drink. He was carrying Ariana because they had a bet going on which he lost so he was stuck taking her everywhere. He somehow managed to twist and hold her so he got the beer and the girl.

"You should have left it Iris. It would have been another thing he can't get done," jokes Seth, Dean starting to swear at Seth with Roman yelling at them both before they stop it. They're like a couple of schoolgirls.

"Hey guys, is he supposed to be spitting it out as soon as he drinks it?" asks Dean, looking intently at Evan. I bolt up and reach over for Evan, Seth hovering over us. He's not going ill again is he? Seth wipes the corner of Evan's mouth and I try feeding him again. Thankfully, this time he takes it in and keeps it in.

"Maybe he doesn't like Dean," Ariana comments at which Dean sticks his tongue out at her, her jaw dropping in shock at his behaviour.

"Hey guys," we hear and see Randy's approached us, looking like he's on his way out. Hopefully he continues walking but that's just wishful thinking as usual from me. "How come he's being bottle fed? Did Seth get jealous that someone apart from him saw all the goods?" he asks with a laugh before walking off. Damn it. I bit down on my lip when everyone looks at me, confused. Seth then looks at me and I feel like the rug has been pulled from underneath me. After a couple of seconds, it looks like it's sunk in to everyone as I start to see it on their faces. Especially Seth's who does not look one but happy.

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	72. Mind Games

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you like this next one :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: They do! Thanks! I'm fully recovered now :D Xx**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Haha, wait no more! :)**

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 **CHAPTER 72:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Seth, I can explain," I start but he just puts a hand up. He looks at me and nods his head before leaving from there. I know that look. It means he will listen to me but just needs some time to himself so he can gather himself. I should have told him a lot sooner rather than putting it off because now my worst fear has come into play.

"He saw you topless?!" yells Dean which makes me jump all of a sudden as well as Evan. Why on earth did he need to do that?

"No yelling," Roman says in an authoritative voice, taking Evan off of me and bouncing him up and down. "Please tell me what Dean just said isn't true?" he then says to me but I can't now can I?

"No wonder he's been playing all nice with us," comments Ariana and I send her a questioning look. She waves a hand in the air and I look at Dean to see some sort of an understanding across his face. So Randy's been nice to them in my absence? That's really weird.

"So why exactly did he get to see you topless?" questions Dean and I swear sometimes this protective brother mode is a real pain in the ass. "And you apparently let him. What is this huh?" he asks and doesn't even leave time for me to answer.

"She's not going to say a thing, not a damn word," says Ariana, grabbing my wrist and getting me out of there. I guess that's the best thing to do. There's no way I can explain everything with all of them standing there like that. I quietly go with Ariana like a kid in trouble with the teacher and she takes me to a close by coffee shop. She tells me to wait at a table and I sit down. Next thing I know is she comes with two coffees in her hand. "Please tell me there isn't much to the story," she says because we both know if there's a lot more then things are real fucked up.

"Not that much," I answer and then proceed to tell her what happened about that day when I was breastfeeding Evan in Stephanie's office. I then tell her about what he's said to me since I've been back and the weird feeling I get when he's around.

"Son of a bitch," says Ariana as I take a sip of my coffee. "You do realise he wants you as his new plaything right?" she asks me and I nod my head slowly. I figured as much because his behaviour is just like when he was after Ariana. In Ariana's famous words, creepy as fuck.

"I just hoped the whole thing would blow over by the time I get back," I explain to her which was too naïve for me to even consider. "I didn't tell Seth or any of you guys because I didn't want it to be a big deal. But then when I came back and Randy made comments at me, I realised I needed to tell Seth. I tried to yesterday but didn't really get a chance," I explain to her, staring down at my coffee cup. "Seth is probably mega pissed at me," I state, knowing my boyfriend all too well. Especially considering when I saw Rick in Iowa.

"He'll calm down. Eventually," says Ariana with a nod of her head as she places a hand on one of mine. "I think it's probably more to do with you keeping it from him and facing it alone. I mean, remember when I was dealing with Randy? The only person I told anything to was you and sometimes not all of it. That didn't really work in my favour, especially when he tried it on with me," she explains and I remember those times all too well. Ariana acted on edge quite a lot and confused the hell out of me at times because she wouldn't tell me what had happened.

"And Dean was beyond mad that you didn't tell him any of it," I state, the same thing happening to me right now. You'd think I'd have learned from what happened to Ariana to never let it happen with me.

"He was livid at the fact that I didn't tell him so we could face it together," Ariana reveals to me, something I didn't know before. "Yes, he was angry I didn't tell him some weirdo was trying it on with me, the same weirdo who he really despised. But when I talked to him, it became clear that he didn't want me to have to deal with it all alone. He wanted to be there to hold my hand and protect me from it all," she explains softly, a little twinkle in her eye as she speaks about her fiancé.

"You know it's not been that long since me and Seth got together and we've gone from one problem to the next. I'm starting to think our whole relationship will just be us dealing with something or the other," I say to her, eliciting a chuckle out of her for some reason.

"Remember what you said when me and Dean first started arguing about every little thing?" asks Ariana and I tilt my head to the side, she still remembers all that? I thought she just present but not actually listening. "You said not having problems is not normal. Every couple has problems and issues to face, some argue, some ignore it, some let it destroy relationships. But the important thing is to stay right beside the person you love and get through them all together because if you can then it means you're a true couple. That you're meant to be," she says and I sit there, still surprised by everything.

"You remember all that?" I ask Ariana, genuinely wanting to know the answer as I ignore all my problems for a second.

"Of course, I might have acted like I wasn't listening but I was," says Ariana cheekily and I shake my head at her. "Ok, so you've had a bit of bad luck, don't let it get you down. Show the universe that you don't care whatever the fuck it throws your way, you're keeping Seth no matter what," she says, motivating me in a way because I nod my head and feel kind of energised.

"No more moping around feeling sorry for myself or others. No more why can't things be easier. No more questioning whether we're meant to be together. I want him and him only," I say and see the smile on Ariana's face which in turn makes me smile. "What do you think Randy will do?" I ask, trying to get a sense of what I should be prepared for.

"Who the fuck knows," says Ariana, an unreadable look on her face. She's thinking about something I don't know about. "But what I do know is, if Randy is going to try anything then communication is your lifesaver. I didn't talk to Dean about any of it, Randy used that to his advantage. This time round, you need to use talking to Seth as your advantage. Talk to him and tell him everything but make sure you keep him calm as well. Lord knows when these SHIELD guys get angry, they get ANGRY," she says, a sentiment I completely agree with. If me and Seth stand a chance against anything, we need to be open.

"I've always said communication is key," I say, remembering everything I used to say before, when I was so confident on what makes a good relationship. I was always advising Ariana; never thought I'd see the day when she'd be advising me. I just need to get into a different mind-set. What would old Iris do?

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"What do you think they're talking about?" I ask Roman, watching him change Evan on the bathroom floor. We worked out for a while longer before sensing Evan needed a change so we came up to Roman's hotel room to do that. I love the little dude but he's let off a bomb! We have to be quiet though because JoJo is sleeping like the dead still.

"How stupid you are to ask questions shamelessly," Roman answers and I narrow my eyes at him. He's too annoying sometimes. But less annoying than Seth. It's why I keep him around. "Seriously dude, something obviously is going on and instead of keeping your trap shut you just ask when Randy saw her topless?" he goes on to say, making me feel like I'm a kid who's in trouble with their parent.

"It slipped out like that, ok?" I defend myself, leaning against the wall. I suppose Iris didn't appreciate being asked something like that.

"Slipped out? If that's your excuse then it's a good thing you've never ended up in jail for anything," says Roman, acting as if people have time to think all the time and in every situation.

"Well I'm sorry if it wasn't surprising to you that that asshole has seen our sister's boobs," I say after which I feel a bit of bile in my throat. I would go over and beat the shit out of him right now but I know Iris won't appreciate that at the moment.

"Of course it was surprising, but I didn't blurt out the first stupid thing that came to my mind," he says, putting a new nappy on Evan and handing me the bag with the old one in it.

"This is so gross," I say, holding the handles and throwing it into the bin. I'm lucky that I never have to deal with poop when it comes to Evan. All I have to do is hand him back to his parents. "You know, I think we were all lucky because I never said anything in front of Seth," I then go on to say. That was a bullet we all dodged.

"Only because Seth left, that was lucky," says Roman, redressing Evan and then gesturing for me to pick the baby up, going over to the sink to wash his hands.

"It's a good thing you've already had a kid, we'd all be completely lost if it wasn't for you when Evan was first born," I say, remembering how Roman showed us all how to change nappies. I did it if it was needed otherwise let the other people do it. It's not exactly my forte.

"You mean you would have ended up with poop everywhere," comments Roman, underestimating me as usual. "What are you going to do when you finally have a baby with Ari?" he questions, drying his hands using a towel, an amused look on his face.

"Hire a nanny, duh," I say, making the both of us laugh. I'm joking of course. I'd like to think I would step up when it came to mine and Ariana's baby. Mainly because she'd be bitching about how much work I never do when it comes to the baby. We hear a knock on the door and leave the bathroom, Roman opening the door to reveal Ariana on the other side, not looking too happy. This can only mean good things (!)

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Oh, good you're both here. We were wondering where you disappeared off to," I say, walking into the room, closing the door behind me as I do so.

"We?" asks Dean but then gets who I'm talking about. "Where is she?" he asks, concerned as usual. Although the topless comment didn't help at all before. He really needs to think before speaking sometimes.

"She's gone to her room to talk to Seth," I answer with a sigh, according to her she does a lot of that. But at least she seems more willing to go with the flow of things. It of course doesn't help when bad things keep happening to them for who knows what reason.

"Ok, I'm going to be the first one to ask, was Randy just playing his stupid mind games when he wanted to talk about Kane?" questions Roman, something I don't even think needs to be asked. It's kind of obvious why he did that.

"Maybe and maybe not," I say with a reluctant sigh. I don't know if either of my theories are correct but one of them has to be. "Either he did that to somehow help Kane and waste our time or he thought that by saying all of that we would tell Iris and he'll be in her good graces," I explain to them both, crossing my arms over my chest. From all this time we've known Randy, he never does anything without a motive. He never does anything out of the goodness of his heart, that would be a fucking miracle.

"What? So he can get into her pants? Not happening," says Dean and I think that much is obvious. Iris is in love with Seth, always has been. After the breakup the only guy she slept with was Rick and only because she was binge drinking. Then there was Dolph but they never actually had sex.

"Even with you as a protective guard dog, Iris would still never do it," says Roman and I nod my head in agreement. I hope things go right with my best friend and Seth this time around but if they don't then I have a feeling she will swear off guys for a long time.

"Do you think we should tell them about Kane now?" asks Dean, looking at the both of us. I don't even know what to do anymore. Things just keep on becoming a mess.

"And freak her out about Kane being a creep?" questions Roman which answers Dean's own question. It's best if we let her think things are fine. She's got enough going on with Evan recovering from being ill and continuing her relationship with Seth. As well as planning to move in with him now.

"Guys, all we got at the moment is Kane was in Iowa, he had Evan's shoe in his locker and mentioned Iris and Evan's name on the phone, talking about some job. Now, in any court of law, that would all be circumstantial. We've got nothing to actually pin anything on Kane," I explain to the both of them. We need to think about this logically and realistically if we're going to get anywhere.

"She's right," says Roman disappointedly. We'll just then end up worrying everyone without the ability to be able to do something about it.

"So now we're keeping her away from Randy as well as Kane?" questions Dean and I nod my head. What else can we do? "Why have I got a bad feeling that we'll have to wait for something bad to happen before we can actually do anything?" he asks, something that scares me out of my mind. If something did happen then we could use that to turn Kane or even Randy over to the authorities, as well as get them fired.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

It seems nowadays I can't do anything without upsetting Seth. I try and do the right thing but then something goes wrong and everything blows up in my face. I should have just told Seth outright when we got back instead of trying to find the perfect time. These things never work out. I stay sat on the couch, Seth spending his time on the balcony. I'm just waiting for him to come back in so we can talk.

"Is that what you were going to tell me?" asks Seth, making me jump because he's inside all of a sudden. I get up from where I'm sitting, nodding my head. He comes over and takes my hand, sitting down and making me do the same. "Why didn't you tell me on that day when I got him away from you?" he then asks me.

"Because we weren't together," I say, shrugging my shoulders and he lets out a sigh. "Stuff like that I didn't need to tell you. Then when we got together I was scared that you might go after him, I don't want any more fighting," I explain to him clearly. It's what got us in a lot of this mess.

"But then you changed your mind," comments Seth and I nod my head. All the problems that me and Seth have, they're ours together. Whether the other person knows about it or not, which is why I felt like I needed to tell him.

"When I came back, I thought Randy might be over it," I start, not having initially planned on telling Seth anything at all. "But the way he talked to me and looked at me, it felt off. So I made the decision to tell you. I didn't want you finding out like this but it happened anyway," I say, glad Seth isn't his usual mad self and is just taking his time listening to me. "Are you mad?" I then ask him in a small voice.

"Furious," answers Seth and I keep my gaze on the floor. "At Randy. Not really mad at you. I knew there was more to it that day but I knew not to ask because you clearly didn't want to talk about it," he goes on to say and I look up at him.

"What do you wanna do?" I ask Seth, deciding he can make the decision. That's the reason I wanted to tell him this. He taught me a long time ago that asking for help doesn't make you weak and that's going to stick with me forever.

"Break his mouth for making those comments," says Seth first of all and I don't know if I should laugh at that or just stay quiet. "But we have a kid to think about so I can't be going around doing that either," he says, obviously making a joke towards me about that punch I gave to that slut months ago. "Since we have to be adults, we take this to Hunter and Stephanie and hopefully they can just sort things out, keep him at bay," he says, talking like an adult.

"I'm glad you're so understanding," I say, this being a recent change in Seth. Whenever he's gotten mad he yells or leaves and then stays angry, right now he's cleared his mind and is thinking logically. That's what me and Evan need from him.

"Only on your part, I get why you did it. And I don't blame you considering how I keep blowing up at things," says Seth, he must have thought a lot harder than I gave him credit for. "Now I'm glad Evan's on bottled milk, I wouldn't be able to take the chance of it happening again," he says and I lean in to peck his lips.

"You're the only one that gets that particular show," I whisper to him, pecking his lips again. "So shall we talk to them tomorrow?" I ask and he nods his head.

"If we tell them now then if he tries anything later we have something to back us up," explains Seth and I'm in total agreement with him. That's the best thing to do.

"Ok, well I'm going to take a shower before we get ready and head off to lunch. Why don't you see if you can retrieve our son?" I suggest to Seth, that being a particular fight that I don't want to be a part of.

"Dean has him doesn't he?" asks Seth and I give him an innocent look, shrugging my shoulders. "Fine, I'll go save Evan from that lunatic," he says. I get up and he pulls on my hand, ensuring that I land in his lap. I place my arms around his neck, sending him a questioning look. "If he tries anything, you'll let me know?" he asks and I realise he's concerned. Considering everything Randy did with Ariana, no wonder he is.

"Pinky promise," I say, hoping to god that nothing more happens. That Randy leaves us alone, especially since the others would kick his ass as well as my boyfriend.

"I love you," says Seth before claiming my lips with his own. He tries to deepen the kiss but I pull away because we need to get going otherwise we'll be late.

"I love you too, only you," I say kind of breathless. I get up and holds out my hands, Seth taking them and pretending he can't get up because I'm not strong enough. Then he gets up a little bit, still crouched down. Deciding I've had enough I let go and he falls right back down on the couch. "Help yourself," I say with attitude and then get into the bathroom.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I smile watching Iris head into the bathroom. Roman messaged me to let me know Evan's in his room so I head there. I can't say I'm thrilled about everything Randy did or is doing or whatever, but Iris was going to tell me and that's the important thing. How can I not be understanding though? I didn't tell her about Isabel till it was too late and she still believed me over anything else. Randy's just trying to mess with us all and if he really is interested in Iris then he's run into some bad luck because she loves me and is with me. He'll have to accept that. I know he made that comment to cause a rift between us both but I refuse to let that happen.

"Sorry, we don't allow beggars into our hotel room," says Dean at the door and push past him to get inside. Only he would joke at a time like this.

"Where's my son?" I ask, standing with my hands in my pockets. I'm actually very surprised Dean isn't the one holding him. I see Roman sitting down on the couch, phone in his hand.

"Relax, he's here," says Ariana, coming out from the bed area. "Rome, that girl sleeps like the dead. You're going to have to jump on her big man," she says, shaking her head. That's something she's inherited from her Father I'm sure.

"Well what do you know? She sleeps just like her Dad," comments Dean with a grin, voicing my own thoughts, Roman hitting his head as he walks past him.

"Here, he's a bit squirmy so I think he's hungry," says Ariana, handing Evan over to me. He flaps his arms about and gets a smile on his face upon seeing me.

"I'll do that and then we'll all meet downstairs in the restaurant for lunch?" I say and she nods her head. I have a feeling she wants to ask me something, sure of that when I see Dean looking at me too. "Things are ok guys, me and Iris are going to sort it," I assure them both.

"So when do we go to kick his ass?" asks Dean and I shake my head. That's his first reaction to anything and everything that's a threat to the girls. It would still be my reaction if I didn't have a family to think about.

"We're not, me and Iris are sorting this out ourselves," I say and leave from there with Dean yelling behind me that it's the shittest plan he's ever heard of. He should try having a family then he'll understand where I'm coming from. At least Roman will probably set him straight. Once I get back to the room I feed Evan and get him dressed, just in time as well because Iris then comes out, ready.

"There's my guys!" exclaims Iris and I can tell she's just that little bit happier now that we've talked about Randy. I knew something was on her mind from when she said she needed to tell me something and now she looks relieved if anything else. "Did Dean let him go without a fight?" she asks me and I shake my head.

"He didn't even put up a fight, he was too busy discussing something else," I tell her, grabbing one of my bags and looking through it to find some clean clothes to wear.

"Which was?" asks Iris, lifting up Evan from our bed and bouncing him up and down, trying to get him to laugh. He makes the cutest little noises.

"Randy," I answer, Iris's face falling slightly. I guess she was hoping Randy wouldn't be brought up again. "He was wanting to go and break Randy's face, of course I said no and then that set him off," I explain to her, eliciting a chuckle from her.

"Yeah well Dean is crazy," states Iris, placing a kiss on Evan's forehead. "Just as long as nobody actually goes and does it, I'm fine," she says. I let her know that I'm taking a shower and going to get ready. Maybe we can actually have lunch without anything occurring and everyone having fun for once.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Alright Ari, we get it. We're late, we're coming," I say to her and hang up on her before she can say anything else. I know I'll get berated for hanging up on her when I see her but she just kept yelling. Well it's a normal voice for her but for me it's yelling. Evan had an accident, one that leaked out of the nappy. Me and Seth had to get him out of his clothes and give him a bath before redressing him.

"You should have just told her," says Seth, putting shoes on Evan. I shake my head not wanting to have turned everything into something huge when it's not.

"And have her and the rest of the team come up here when things are sorted? No thank you," I say, only being able to imagine the kind of fuss Dean would have had. "Besides, we've handled everything and done our jobs as the parents," I remind him, standing behind him and putting my arms around him.

"Well neither of us screamed like Dean did when he first accidentally ever touched Evan's poop," jokes Seth making us both laugh. I grab Evan's bag and Seth sets our son into the stroller. We leave the room after making sure we have everything in hand.

"I bet they're making jokes about us getting it on," I tell Seth, knowing exactly where Dean's mind will first go at us being late, especially since I love being on time for absolutely everything.

"I don't mind them thinking that," says Seth and I giggle as I keep my hands on his arm.

"What's up guys?" asks Randy, stepping into view, the smiles on both of our faces dropping. Why can't he just leave us alone? I know all he wants is to provoke Seth, much like he did with Dean a while back. "You look nice Iris," he says, specifically targeting Seth's anger. I look at my boyfriend and see he's trying to maintain his anger.

"She does, doesn't she?" says Seth, a fake smile on his face as I wonder what happy pills he's been taking. I mean, did he really just say that?

"Seth," I say his name but he just looks at me and laughs. He places an arm around my waist and holds me close to his body, keeping his other hand on the stroller.

"But she looks better with her top down," Randy continues on, making it obvious he's trying to get a reaction out of Seth. Knowing my boyfriend, that comment will do it. Especially since I can feel him tense up.

"I agree, she does. Too bad I'm the only one that gets the privilege of enjoying that show, sucks to be you Orton," says Seth, gesturing with his head for us to go. He pushes the stroller and I stick like glue to his side. I can't believe he just said that to Randy.

"Did you really just say that to Randy?" I ask Seth, wondering if I'm dreaming because seeing him punch Randy would have been more realistic than what I just saw. Not that what I just witnessed wasn't amazing.

"Yep," answers Seth, sounding pretty proud of himself. "You're not offended are you?" he asks a little cautiously, turning his head to look at me. I stop walking and he stops too.

"No," I answer, leaning in close to him. "If anything, I'm turned on," I tell him with a raised eyebrow, laughing when I see the look on his face. He pulls me in close, placing a soft kiss on my lips. We pull away and head into the restaurant, easily finding our friends. Well, Dean and Roman. Ariana and JoJo aren't here, I wonder where they've gotten to, especially since I got berated for being late.

"So what trouble have you two been getting up to?" asks Dean, wiggling his eyebrows. He's so weird. He sometimes acts like he wants to hear about our sex life but then at other times deems it disgusting because I'm his sister. I look at Seth and he sends me a wink as he takes a seat.

* * *

 **Reviews are love! :)**


	73. Reporting Randy

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you're all ok :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: It'd be funny wouldn't it? Haha! Thank you so much! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: :)**

 **NudeFitsLipsandPumps: Thank you for all the reviews. You're so sweet to do that :) Good you're loving the banter between Seth and Iris, I'm enjoying writing it too. The wedding is coming close so only good things can happen. And hopefully Randy won't be too much of a problem for our couple :)**

 **Pinayprincesa: Yeah, they shouldn't let Randy get in between them both. Randy is the kind of person that's always looking to get a reaction out of others but thankfully Seth wasn't going to let him have that :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Aw, thanks! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 73:**

 **IRIS POV**

"So, are you guys breaking up now because of the whole Randy thing?" asks Dean shamelessly and I swear I have no idea how Ariana maintains her anger around him. The guy is beyond nuts. And why is he asking us all this? I don't need Seth to be reminded of what Randy has done and seen.

"Did you and Ariana break up over the whole Randy thing?" I ask, resting my arms on the table and leaning forward to look right at Dean. Two can play this game.

"Low blow dude," says Dean but at the same time looks impressed. Without even asking he comes to Evan's stroller and unbuckles him, taking him to the other side of the table.

"Ignore Mister Idiotic over here," says Roman, making me and Seth laugh. Seth decides to go get us some food but Roman says, "You have to wait". He's going to stop us from eating? That sounds beyond weird. Besides, the lunch buffet sounds amazing.

"Why? Is the first batch poisoned?" I ask as a joke and he shakes his head.

"Jo wants to eat with us and has forbidden us from getting anything till she gets back," explains Dean, holding Evan up in the air and blowing raspberries on his stomach which make him laugh.

"Speaking of, where is she?" asks Seth, looking around but not being able to spot her. She normally just goes off and does her own thing if she gets bored.

"And Ariana. I don't see her around and she gave me a right talking to on the phone about not being punctual," I explain to Roman, Dean snickering. He was obviously present during that particular lecture.

"She's took JoJo to the ladies," answers Roman and I nod my head. So we have to wait for them to get back. Or I could go and see what they're up to? Then again, they're probably goofing off as always. It's actually kind of funny because as soon as JoJo comes, everyone always starts acting like kids. Even Ariana and Roman.

"Aunt Iris!" I hear a voice and turn my head just in time to see JoJo running all the way up to me. I get up and immediately hug her. I know we saw each other last night but we don't get to see each other often which is why every occasion is special.

"Nice to see you up JoJo, you sleep well?" I ask her and she takes a seat right next to me. Ariana sits at the end of the table with JoJo at one side and Dean on the other.

"Yup, roaring to go!" answers JoJo, sounding just like her Dad. "It's good you're here, I'm starving!" she complains, making us all laugh. We decide to go get food in pairs, especially since we always need someone to keep an eye on Evan. Roman and JoJo head over first as we place the orders and get some drinks. Then Dean and Ariana go, Dean handing Evan over to me. Finally, it's me and Seth and this time since everyone's eating I buckle him back up in his stroller.

"Hey Jo, why don't you tell us about the time you speared that guy because he was stealing your lunch," suggests Dean and I try not to smile as I notice Roman glare at Dean who seems oblivious or is acting oblivious. I remember that time, except Roman could care less because he was more concerned with JoJo's food being stolen. He got told off by the principal though, about violence. So he's trying to make sure JoJo knows it's not ok. But she's a kid so how would she know any better? Dean probably did worse things to people who even looked at him the wrong way when he was younger and he turned out fine? Well as fine as he can be.

"Uncle Dean, the guy had it coming," says JoJo, looking angry about the whole incident still. "I was eating lunch with Alicia and he took my sandwich. I got up and asked him nicely to give it back, like Mommy and Daddy tell me to," she goes on to explain, sounding so cute as she narrates the whole incident. "But he laughed so I did what Daddy does in the ring," she finishes, shrugging her shoulders and acting all innocent.

"Which we know isn't a good way to resolve things," adds on Roman, looking at JoJo who nods her head. I have a feeling they had a talk regarding this.

"Even if Daddy does it," says JoJo and I have to put my hand up to my mouth to try and not laugh. She runs her mouth just like Dean. I think that must be his influence.

"Hypocrite Jo, hypocrite," says Dean, teaching her a word that she may not know yet. "Ow!" he says through clenched teeth all of a sudden and my guess is either Ariana or Roman kicked him. Judging by the daggers Dean is glaring at her, it was Ariana. Although, I don't see Roman complaining about it one bit.

"So I think the lesson to be learned is violence doesn't solve anything even if Daddy does it because his wrestling isn't real," I decide to end this on a positive note for everybody. Seth pats my thigh and I send him a smile.

"JoJo, slow down on the drink before your bladder bursts," Roman warns her, grabbing her glass from her and setting it to the side. Lunch has been going great, JoJo's been talking about how well she's doing in school, how much she loves living with her Mom and how she watches wrestling all the time.

"Leave her, she's not even had breakfast," says Dean, handing another glass to JoJo. Uh oh, Roman doesn't look happy. I don't think Dean realises he undermines Roman in a bid to keep JoJo happy.

"But if she continues eating then she won't be able to move," points out Seth, understanding Roman's Fatherly perspective himself. Hmm, I think I'm beginning to see why Seth gets so annoyed with Dean at times. Hopefully it won't lead to anything serious.

"That's true, remember when you told us you could totally finish that second helping of pancakes? Then you did but you were on the floor for hours. You want JoJo to feel that way?" I question Dean, explaining it in a language he will understand. Even though it's not completely the same situation.

"Last drink Jo," says Dean instantly with a serious look on his face. She nods her head and continues on eating more of her food. Ariana gestures for me to leave the table and we both get up, saying we'll be right back, moving off to the side.

"You think we need to have the talk with Dean?" asks Ariana, looking over at him as he waves a piece of lettuce in Seth's face who tries hitting it out of Dean's hand but doesn't succeed.

"No," I say, shaking my head with a smile as I look on at my brother. "Dean's acting just like Seth used to when it came to JoJo. Remember how they both used to throw her into the air, Roman swearing at them both for doing it?" I ask her and she nods her head.

"We'd both have to keep Roman cool," says Ariana, remembering it well obviously. It was a fun time for all of us.

"Exactly. You know what's changed with that picture now?" I ask Ariana and she sends me a confused look. "Seth's a Father," I give her the answer, all the dots connecting in Ariana's head. "When you're not the Father, fun is all you care about. There's no safety about anything. The only reason we're seeing it more from Dean is because now he's by himself. He's the only one that's not a Dad so it makes it look like he's a lot worse than he actually is," I explain to her. The only time any of this will be resolved is when Dean actually becomes a Father. He is protective of Evan but he also tries his luck with him too.

"The spotlight is on him only and not him and Seth," says Ariana, me nodding my head in agreement. Seth's not there to balance it out anymore.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," I tell her, patting her arm and she sends me a thankful look. We both head back to the table but as soon as we get there, JoJo starts complaining.

"I need the toilet!" says JoJo, all of us laughing. That's what that amount of drink will do to you. I swear she had like six glasses of the juice. I offer to take her and Ariana sits back down. JoJo runs to the bathroom and I follow her, hot on her trail. We go in and she quickly get inside a stall. I think it'll be fun if me and Seth ever do have a girl.

"All done?" I ask JoJo once she finally comes out. She nods her head and I help her wash her hands, drying them afterwards too. We head back to the table when Randy comes into our view. "What do you want?" I ask, keeping my hands on JoJo's shoulders.

"Hi JoJo," says Randy, ignoring my question completely and bending down a little to get to eye level with her. Oh boy, if Roman ever saw this he would lose it.

"Uncle Dean says I'm not supposed to talk to you cause you're a mean face," says JoJo instead of a greeting and I can't help but let out a snicker. We all know Dean substitutes the word 'mean' for 'ass' around JoJo. So she's basically just called Randy an assface.

"I'm not that bad once you get to know me, I mean, Iris here is my friend," says Randy, using the kid against me because now I either agree with him just to keep the peace or disagree and have it out with JoJo right here. He's such a conniving assface. But I'm not the same person that left here two weeks ago. My eyes were opened in Iowa and I realised I can't always take the high road.

"Actually, we're more like acquaintances JoJo. Meet in the corridor and walk on by," I say, the look of surprise on Randy's face not going amiss by me. He's not going to use anyone or anything to try and worm his way into my life.

"Uncle Dean says acquaintances are mean faced people you don't like," states JoJo, just blabbing on about whatever it is Dean has told her and not realising how it's actually making Randy mad at the moment. My Dean is pure gold.

"Let's just say that's close to the truth," I say, looking right at Randy, an amused smile on my face. Randy looks like he's about to say something when we get interrupted by someone very important in relation to this conversation.

"There's my partners in crime!" exclaims Dean, pushing past Randy and ruffling JoJo's hair who laughs. "We thought you'd gotten lost," he explains his reason for turning up how he has.

"Lost? We only went to the toilet," says JoJo, looking up at him with a confused look on her face. "Then we met mean face," she says, Dean smirking as he looks at her and then at me. He knows exactly what he's doing.

"That's not very nice to say when I haven't really done anything," says Randy, again using JoJo to try and get his way. There's no way he can use her to make me like him or to even make Dean look bad. He needs to leave us alone. I can't wait to go and talk to Stephanie and Hunter about this.

"Oh, shall we dig up the past?" I question in an amused manner. Dean stands at my side, placing a hand on the small of my back and keeping it there.

"Why not? We can talk all about how your little boyfriend was involved," says Randy and I roll my eyes because that is such a Randy answer to give. He's always trying to avoid himself looking like such a bad guy.

"So you want to discuss how he schooled you?" asks Dean and I can't help the chuckle that escapes my lips. I quickly place a hand over my mouth as Randy looks in my direction, not looking too pleased at the moment. Dean then leans his lips in towards my ears and whispers, "Take JoJo and go back. I'll deal with this asshole". I look at him and he gives me a reassuring nod.

"Don't do anything stupid please," I whisper back to him. After looking at Randy one final time I say, "Come on JoJo. Your Dad will be wondering where you've gotten to, especially since he sent Dean to find us". I grab a hold of her hand and walk on by, Randy not being able to do a single thing about it because Dean is right there.

"Hey guys," says Seth as we take our seats once again. "Where's Dean? He went looking for you because apparently I'm being too mean (!)" he says, Roman and Ariana laughing which lets me know the normal banter has been taking place here. No, I shouldn't tell them.

"He's dealing with mean face," says JoJo nonchalantly, picking up her fork and eating her food. Thanks a lot JoJo (!) This is the problem with kids, they say anything and everything without even thinking about the implications.

"Randy?" asks Ariana and I'm forced to nod my head, all the smiles disappearing off their faces. "I'm gonna go find him," she then says, getting up to go look for her fiancé. I put my head in my hands, we can't have this going on.

"I think we should speak to Hunter and Stephanie today," I tell Seth, turning my head to look at him. I'm not taking any chances, especially when I have 3 guys on my side who I know have been easily provoked by Randy in getting into fights with him in the past. I need to take action before something untoward happens.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

I watch Iris leave with JoJo and I feel relief dwell inside of me. It's the same feeling I have when Ariana isn't around Randy. The same feeling I got when I saw her after she came back from her little meeting of sorts with Randy. I look at Randy in disgust because I don't want him anywhere near my girls.

"If you don't leave them alone, then don't be surprised when you wake up in the desert," I threaten him, not caring if he does go and report it to the bosses. He's done it before but nothing could be done because there weren't any witnesses and even though it's against her better judgement now, Iris lied for me.

"All I was doing was having a nice chat," states Randy, that same smug smirk on his face that he had throughout the whole time he was trying to make Ariana his.

"I know all about your supposed nice chats," I say, standing opposite him with a serious look on my face. "But when the person opposite, thinks you're a fucktard that needs to take a hike, then you need to take the hike boy," I explain to him because he can't take a hint. "Iris doesn't like you, want you, or need you. So stay the fuck away," I warn him, turning my back on him and walking away from there.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean," I say, spotting him just as soon as I leave the restaurant. I can already tell he's had to exchange unpleasant words with Randy. "What happened?" I ask him and he tells me exactly what's going on. "Well, at least if he does go to Stephanie and Hunter he has not witnesses to back him up. It'll be your word against his and who would believe him after last time?" I ponder out loud.

"We need to do something soon Ari, it looks like he's going back to his old ways," Dean relays his concerns to me. He used his own child to get an inning with me and now he's tried using JoJo. The man is a disgrace.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it. Besides, we know everything about Randy so even if we weren't ready, our friends will be," I explain to Dean and he nods his head. I move forward and kiss his lips, grabbing his hand and heading back to the table.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Dean and Ariana come back, sitting down in their seats quietly. I wonder what Dean might have said to Randy. I hope he didn't say anything to further aggravate the situation.

"Everything ok guys?" asks Roman, being the first and only person to ask any questions.

"Fine," answers Dean with a grin and starts telling JoJo how proud he is that she remembers everything he has taught her. I hope he's not acting as if everything's ok when it's not. I look at Ariana and she sends me a reassuring look, letting me know Dean's actually saying the truth.

"Uncle Dean, did you tell mean face off?" asks JoJo, breaking the silence that was present as we all get to thinking about the current situation. Her question makes us all burst out laughing. I guess Dean's instilled some humour into her too.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Are you ok?" Ariana asks me after we've had lunch. We all decided to split for a few since the boys were needed at the office for some promo. Even though this was supposed to be their day off. JoJo insisted on going with them so me and Ariana decided to hang in my room till they got back. We're going to watch a movie after.

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head and finding myself feeling annoyed. "I mean, you were pissed when Randy was stalking the hell out of you and now it's happening to me," I go on to say, turning around and looking out the window.

"Believe me, it's not something I'd even wish upon my enemy," comments Ariana, making me laugh. She comes over and places a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be fine Iris," she tells me and I shake my head.

"Not with the way things are looking," I say, disagreeing with her at the moment. "I mean, I just don't have a good feeling and with everything else that's happened, this is the last thing me and Seth need," I complain, feeling slightly better now that I'm just getting it all out.

"Which is why we're all here for you," Ariana reassures me, giving my shoulder a tight squeeze as I turn my head and look at her. "Besides, you're going with Seth to sort it out later on. You're doing what I should have done and believe me, it'll prevent a whole lot more from coming your way. Iris, Kane, Randy and anyone else, their jobs matter more to them than whatever game they like playing. As soon as that's threatened, they stop it all," she explains which is true. Randy was suspended when we all found out about how he was harassing Ariana. They even had proof.

"Yeah, you're right," I say, trying to relax myself because that's not going to help me or anybody else.

"Remember what you said to me when I told you what was going on with Randy and I refused to go to Stephanie?" questions Ariana and I try to think back to what I said. I don't remember it exactly though. "Randy can't do anything bad to you, unless you let him," she says, a smile overcoming my face.

"I mainly meant it in terms of him trying to kiss you again but I see what you're saying," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. Me here worrying is exactly what he wants. He loves making people squirm and I'm giving him that power. "Wow, you're remembering a lot of the things I said huh?" I ask.

"Well when your advice was helpful of course I'd remember it," says Ariana, turning me so that I'm standing opposite her. "Don't worry about Randy, he'll be dealt with. But you can't go on the rest of your life without running into one or more douchebags," she says, making me laugh.

"Thank you," I say, moving forward and wrapping my arms around her. "You're a good friend Ari," I tell her, always feeling I should when it's needed and in this instance I think it is.

"Tell me something I don't know," says Ariana and I shake my head as I pull away. "Now, when you go into that meeting, hold your head up and make sure to look into their eyes. You've done nothing wrong and you have to act like that as well," she advises me and I nod my head. Ariana grabs my hand and takes me to the couch, making me sit down. She sits down right next to me. "Oh and don't keep looking at Seth. You do that a lot and that just might make it seem like something's fishy to them," she goes on to say.

"Head high, eye contact, not much of Seth," I repeat everything she's told me so far. It's always someone else that can tell you how you're acting better than what you think you're acting like. "And just tell the truth," I add on myself, Ariana giving me a thumbs up. We go over different points that I need to make sure to tell them about, just so that I don't forget them.

"How are you feeling about this?" asks Seth, keeping his hand in mine as we walk down the hallway towards the room we'll be meeting Hunter and Stephanie in. After my talk with Ariana the guys returned not long after, handing over Evan's care to them, me and Seth then made our way back here.

"Nervous I guess," I answer, Seth sending me a questioning look. "I just don't want to make things worse. There's a reason Ariana never told Stephanie or Hunter anything when it was happening to her," I remind him. Randy was making threats and even though they've turned out to be fickle in the end, I can't imagine how he'll affect our lives after finding out we've reported him.

"Yeah because he kept using his friendship to an advantage," Seth points out, sounding annoyed by that. "But when she finally told them, they took it seriously and suspended him. Listen," he then says and stops walking. He places his hands on the side of my arms in a comforting manner. "Randy can make all the threats he wants, like he did back then. About making life worse if we tell anybody but Iris, we're not going to let him walk all over us. Remember what happened with Kane?" he asks me and I nod my head. It's not something that's easy to forget.

"How could I forget?" I respond. I was so scared all the time and on edge. But Seth was there for me. He made me feel comforted and protected. I felt safe.

"We don't want Randy doing the same do we?" asks Seth, both of us knowing that that's where it'll go. Nothing good ever comes about with Randy lurking around every corner. I shake my head and hug my boyfriend, keeping my arms around him tightly. "Trust me, it won't be so hard," he says and I nod my head. We pull apart and walk the rest of the way, Seth knocking on the door once we're there. We're told to come in and there they sit, the power couple. On one side of a huge table.

"Iris, Seth, please come in," says Stephanie, sitting there with a smile on her face. Seth places a hand on my back and guides me in, closing the door behind himself. We both greet Stephanie and Hunter, taking a seat opposite them.

"Seth, you rang me saying you wanted to speak to the both of us concerning an important matter?" says Hunter and Seth nods his head. It's not like they're going to think I'm lying so I don't know why I'm getting all worked up for inside my head.

"Yeah, we've been having some issues," says Seth and then looks at me waiting for me to expand on them. I make sure to keep my head levelled and look into their eyes.

"Stephanie, you once told me if there's anything going wrong then I should come and speak to you," I start, remembering the conversation we had when I told her what Kane had been doing to me.

"Yes, is Kane bothering you again?" asks Stephanie and I shake my head. That would be the obvious person wouldn't it?

"No, it's actually Randy," I tell her and can see the surprised look on her face. She looks at her husband and he looks at her before they look towards me once again. I feel Seth's hand on my thigh, which even though is a little thing it does help me to feel more comfortable.

"What's going on Iris?" asks Stephanie, looking at me curiously as well as Hunter. This is going to be super awkward but it needs to be done.

"It's happening again," I tell them both. "What he did to Ariana, he's trying to do to me," I add on, wondering how to say the next part without sounding like I'm saying he's an obsessive stalker who needs locking up. "You remember that day when I first came back after being out of the coma? You leant me your office to feed Evan?" I ask and she nods her head without even needing to think about it. That's what it looks like anyway. "Randy walked in on me. He refused to leave and was making crude comments. He tried to stop me when I tried to leave but Seth came in time," I explain and she nods her head.

"Why didn't you tell us any of this when it happened?" asks Hunter and even though he probably isn't aiming to come off like that, I feel like he's giving me a third degree of sorts.

"I didn't think much of it, I thought he was just having his own personal fun as usual at the expense of others," I answer without hesitation because that's what I truly believed at the time. "I thought he'd have woken the hell up once I got back. But things just seem to be escalating," I then say, thinking about the encounters I've had with Randy since then.

"He keeps walking up to her, bothering her. Making unkind comments. He's already done that twice today, once when I was there myself," says Seth, giving his view on things. "We know he hasn't done anything quite as bad as he's done before but we don't want it to get to that point," he further explains to them both and is right in doing so.

"What makes you think he will? Like you said Iris he loves messing around with others," says Hunter and I suppose he has to ask these question because then they can't really do much.

"Well it's from what he says to me. Like the other day he told me I had a nice ass, he's being inappropriate," I say with conviction, feeling Seth's hand tighten on my thigh. I didn't tell him about that particular comment because I knew it would only just make him angrier. "It's harassment because I don't want to talk to him but he keeps finding opportunities where I'm by myself and then comes and irritates me," I further explain which is what's happening. Randy's not an idiot. He thinks if I'm by myself then I'm powerless. That I can't do anything.

"She shouldn't be made to feel unsafe to work here, not after last time," says Seth and even though he could be exaggerating a little I let him. Maybe that's what we need for them to know the whole situation is not ok and that they need to do something or at least keep an eye on Randy.

"Look, I've come back to work," I start, feeling I need to show them both I am very serious about this. "I have a child to look after and jobs to be doing. I don't need this stressing me out. After everything that happened with Kane, I'm finally at a place where I'm content and feel safe. I don't want that taken away from me," I say to them both, trying to get them to see how important it is that Randy stays away from me.

"We understand that completely Iris," says Stephanie, glancing at her husband for a second. "You know, technically there isn't any evidence to suggest that he's done anything for which he needs to be warned," she starts to say and I look at Seth worryingly. "But given what he's done in the past, I'm happy to move forward with this," she says and I a smile comes onto my face.

"Thank you," I say, relief evident in my tone. I just didn't want another episode of me not knowing what's around the corner.

"But you two need to understand one thing," says Hunter and I hope he's not raining on the parade. "The only thing we can do at the moment is warn Randy to behave appropriately with others. We can't suspend him for something like this so he'll still be around," he says and I fully expected this.

"So what we're going to do is talk to Randy," says Stephanie and I nod my head, having expected that as well. "Warn him about it, not mentioning any names of course," she says which is a relief but I have a feeling he'll know it was me anyway.

"He might know it's you so if he does come to you then you come to us," says Hunter, finally putting a little hint of a smile on his face. "Hopefully he'll heed our warning and stay away," he adds on. Hopefully. But with Randy you can never be sure. "What you also need to do is give us a detailed written account of dates and instances, informing us what he's said to you. Hand it in to us then we'll speak to Randy. If he comes to you about anything in the future, it would probably be helpful to do that. Even if it's something simple about work because, you never know," he explains to me and my stomach flops are the thought of having to write it all down. If any of the guys read it, they'll blow a gasket. They overreact to everything anyway. I know Dean won't appreciate the ass comment Randy made either.

"Thanks guys," says Seth and after working out a few more details me and Seth leave the room from there. "See, told you it would be fine," comments Seth once we get out. I laugh and he puts his arm around me. I lean my head on his shoulder and he places a kiss on my forehead as we walk down the hallway. He's right, things were fine. And I believe Ariana when she said things will be fine. Just got to have a little faith.

* * *

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	74. Blue Haired Girl

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* * *

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 74:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Why does he keep looking at me like that?" asks JoJo, sitting on the couch with Evan in her hands, me and Ariana laughing at the question she's asked.

"He's trying to remember your face so next time you don't seem like an alien," I answer. She's been sat with Evan in her lap for the last 20 minutes, insisting on wanting to carry him. Ariana's sitting right next to her though, to make sure she doesn't drop him or anything.

"Iris!" calls Seth and I shake my head. That is the tenth time he's summoned me in the last 5 minutes, every two seconds he's trying to find something that he has no idea where it is, then he calls me asking me where it is.

"What is it now? I'm pretty sure you can't lose your head," I say, closing the bedroom doors and walking in to find Seth not there. "Seth?" I say his name, walking further into the room. Maybe he's in the bathroom? All of a sudden I feel a hand on my mouth and an arm around my waist.

"Ssh," says Seth in a whisper, his lips right next to my ear. What is he playing at? "I still have a good ten minutes before the guys come," he says and I realise his intentions immediately. He wants my lips. Slowly, he removes his hand from my mouth. Hmm, to tease or not to tease?

"Good, then you can pack your stuff because we need to get to the next place later on tonight," I say, keeping a straight look on my face. Seth places his hands on my shoulders and twists me around. God it's so hard not to laugh.

"You're kidding me right?" asks Seth and I send him a questioning look. "Oh come on Iris. Ariana's with the kids, the guys aren't here and it's just you and me in this room. And you want me to pack?" he asks, looking as if his life depends on my answer.

"Uh, yeah," I say, sending him a confused look this time, but he looks confused himself. "Why? What's wrong?" I then ask him, using my hand to put my hair behind my ear. He rolls his eyes and starts to mutter to himself, turning around and walking. I put a hand to my mouth and try not to laugh. Maybe I should put him out of his misery. I walk behind him and put my arms around him. "Wanna make out?" I ask which gets his attention because he turns around quickly, his hands on my arms. Why is he looking at me like he's shocked for dear life?

"What did you say?" asks Seth. He actually needs to see me say than just hearing it.

"Want. To. Make. Out," I say, slowly snaking my arms around his neck. He doesn't even say anything but claims my lips as his own. I'm backed up against the nearest wall, Seth lifting me to rest on his hips. He better be careful, if mini Seth comes out to play then he'll have to take care of him. All of a sudden I'm on my back on the bed. I keep on the moans threatening to spill because my baby, best friend and friend's daughter are in the other room. And neither of us will ever live it down if we get caught.

"What took you guys so long?" asks Ariana as me and Seth emerge from the bedroom. I made sure to comb my hair 3 times and get a handle on my breathing before I walked out.

"His shoes were actually lost for a second there," I answer quickly, Ariana nodding her head. I look at Seth and he sends me a wink which makes me blush. At least we both have something to remember the other by since we won't see each other till tomorrow morning. We're having a girls' day and night and the guys are doing the same. Although I think they're spending the majority of time in the gym. They better not forget to keep Evan occupied, but with Dean that's never a problem. I would have kept Evan with me but Dean AND Seth insisted on taking him and when they gang up on you, there's no way out. Unless it's their way.

"He's acting more and more like Dean every day," comments Ariana making me snicker, Seth looking on at Ariana as if she's just insulted him over and beyond. Soon Dean and Roman come, taking Seth and Evan away. "And remember Ambrose, I got my four eyes on you," Ariana threatens Dean before they can leave, Evan already in his arms.

"No, you've only got two eyes on me. And that too, right now," says Dean, Ariana narrowing her eyes at him after which he lets out a chuckle. "Relax Mrs Future Ambrose, we're just going to do what all guys do," he goes on to say. Although, with Dean that's never innocent.

"You are not taking him to a strip club," states Ariana, crossing her arms over his chest, Roman quickly covering JoJo's ears so she doesn't hear a word of it. That's smart thinking on his part. It's a lot easier than trying to control Dean Ambrose.

"Ok, but I get first dibs on taking him on that experience," says Dean, getting in there before anyone else. He doesn't need to be that quick though, no one's mind is as dirty as his.

"NO ONE, is taking my son to a strip club," I state loud and clear, sending Dean a serious look. "Now, he's been fed and changed. Seth might be his Father but you're all taking the responsibility of taking care of Evan. So, if he needs changing, you all take it in turns. If he wants feeding, again taking turns. Crying, same thing applies. The rest of the time he'll probably be playing so don't even think about hogging him Dean or your day with him is cancelled," I explain to them all, looking at Dean for the last part. I can tell he's not very happy with it either.

"What if he's having more fun with me?" asks Dean, raising his hand and asking the question. I send him a look and he puts his hand down, clearly understanding what I mean.

"If there's any kind of problem, call me or Iris. Our phones will be switched on and unlike last time Dean, please don't send me any pictures of your junk wanting me," says Ariana, all of us making a face of disgust, Dean laughing at that.

"What? I'm just letting you know we're both thinking of you," defends Dean. Oh, he is so going to be on probation when Evan starts to talk.

"A simple text will suffice," I tell him. We all leave together and say goodbye to the guys, heading in opposite directions once on the ground floor of the hotel. Us girls decide to head over to a hair salon, I need mine trimming because it's getting too long. Then afterwards we're getting lunch, going bowling and maybe even a movie.

"Why don't you ever just let it grow?" asks Ariana, raising her eyebrows as I look at her in the mirror, sitting patiently, waiting for someone to trim my hair. It needs to rest exactly on my shoulder, I like it that length. I've not been able to do that since having Evan because he's honestly been taking up a lot of my time. Him and Seth. Just thinking about Seth puts a smile on my face.

"I just prefer it short," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I still don't know how she can manage long hair. "It doesn't get in the way of anything or look like a nest every morning," I give her my reasons, running a hand through it.

"Hey!" says Ariana, sounding offended from where she's sat, it's a good thing JoJo's sitting on the chair in between us. At least she's finding it funny. "You may not understand it, but Dean likes my hair long," she then says.

"Yeah so he can pull it," I joke, her mouth opening at my comment. JoJo's laughing but she's innocent right now, if only she knew the double meaning behind my words. "But honestly, I just can't handle having that much hair Ari. It's a nuisance, I'm surprised you don't get annoyed with it," I go on to say. I pick up a magazine and quickly skim through it, handing it to JoJo since I know it's appropriate for her. "Why don't you do something different with yours?" I suggest to her.

"Like you are with yours?" questions Ariana and I have to give her that. I think I look great with short hair to be honest so I don't bother changing it.

"Touché," I comment and then look to the side at JoJo. "What about JoJo's hair?" I ask, that getting the little kid's attention as she looks at me and then at Ariana.

"What do you think JoJo? Want a new hair style?" asks Ariana, JoJo nodding her head very enthusiastically. "What do you want?" she then asks her, both of us waiting for an answer.

"Uh..." trails off JoJo, appearing to be thinking very hard. "I want it blue!" she finally exclaims, my eyebrows rising of their own accord in shock. She wants to turn her hair blue? I look at Ariana, expecting her to come up with a solution for this even though it's my mess.

"Sorry JoJo, but we can't do that. Right Iris?" says Ariana, looking at me for the explanation because it is my mess after all. I had to ask if JoJo wanted something different doing to her hair didn't I?

"Yeah. I mean, if we dyed your hair blue your Father would kill us as well as your Mother," I explain to her in simple terms. I think Roman would actually faint at the sight of her hair.

"Ugh, I hate my parents!" says JoJo, sounding exactly like a 6-year-old. Although she can be mistaken for a teenager right now whose resenting her parents for absolutely everything. JoJo sits there with her arms crossed over her chest, a pout on her lips.

"Come on guys, cheer up," says Ariana, both of us giving her a look which asks her if she's serious. "Just because we can't dye JoJo's hair, doesn't mean we can't turn it blue," she says, me and JoJo looking at each other before looking at Ariana once again, a smirk settling on my best friend's mouth. That can only mean one thing, trouble.

* * *

"I still can't believe we did that," I say, running a hand through my newly cut short hair, me and Ariana sitting and watching JoJo throw the ball to hit the pins. Roman will literally fall down at the sight of his daughter with blue hair. He won't even be able to say it's ugly because that'll make JoJo upset.

"I can't wait to see all their faces tomorrow morning," says Ariana, finding the whole thing hilarious. I give her a look after which we both burst out laughing. Tomorrow will be fun and worth sticking around for.

The whole day was actually very enjoyable. Ariana beat me and JoJo in bowling. We went to watch a movie and went with whatever JoJo liked. It was actually very nice to spend some time away from the guys. As much as I love each of them, it's nice not to have to deal with them and their tantrums. We then come back to my hotel room, settling down to play some board games JoJo brought along and lots of snacks.

"So how've you loved being a blue head for the day?" asks Ariana, lying on her front, her head resting on a pillow and moving her counter forward. JoJo really wanted to play snakes and ladders and I did too! Ariana didn't really have a choice.

"Cool," answers JoJo, rolling the dice and yelling when she gets just about enough to get into the lead again. "I think tomorrow I want to be orange," she says, me and Ariana shaking our heads in laughter. "Can I have my hair orange at your and Uncle Dean's wedding then?" she asks Ariana, looking at her with those big eyes. JoJo is all set to be the flower girl, I even called her Mother to ask for permission. I know it's not needed but it avoids any issues later on.

"I would love that," starts Ariana, clearly not warming to the idea. She cares a lot more about how this wedding turns out than she lets on, I've noticed. "But, uh, you don't want to upstage me, the bride, do you?" she asks, JoJo in thinking mode once again.

"I guess not," answers JoJo, Ariana having dodged a bullet there. Everyone would think we'd lost it if we had an orange headed flower girl walking down the aisle. Oh and the pictures, that's all we'd talk about.

"You know, I have found some really nice looking dresses for a flower girl," I comment, sending a wink in Ariana's direction. This should cheer JoJo right up.

"Really?" asks JoJo and in that moment I know I have her hooked. "What colours?" she asks and I go to my room for a second. I actually have been looking at them on my I-Pad which is what I go to get from the bedroom. It was one of the easiest places to start for the wedding. I did have a chat with Ariana and we got the venue already booked, we have the theme and I've been emailing back and forth with the people we're hiring to decorate it in terms of what we want.

"I've been looking at blue because I know you love that colour," I say, showing them both the 3 different ones I'm struggling to choose between at the moment. They're all very cute. It's just a matter of making a choice.

"Aw, I think they'd all look cute on JoJo," says Ariana, being a little bit girly for a minute. I knew she had it in her. "Which one do you like?" she then asks JoJo, who's flipping between them all, trying to make up her mind of course.

"I like this one," says JoJo, pointing to the one she wants and showing it to me. I liked that one too but I wanted her to make up her own mind, after all, she'll be wearing it and not me.

"Great, I'll call your Mom and get you over there for a fitting once you get back," I say, having deliberately chosen a shop that she lives in the vicinity of. There's no point picking one that's very far away because then it'll be difficult to go to if alterations need to be made or things. That excites her enough and she forgets all about the game, choosing to talk about the dress as if it's her that's getting married. So we've sorted out JoJo's dress, now to think about what Ariana wants as a wedding dress. I actually have no idea what she wants. I know what she'll refuse to wear but not what she'll actually put on. This will be difficult but I'm sure I can get it done.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

Talking with JoJo last night about the wedding actually got me thinking about my wedding dress. I don't even know what I want to put on. Dean's wearing a suit so even I have to put on a really nice dress. Maybe I should have agreed to let him wear his SHIELD gear, then I could wear my in ring stuff and I wouldn't have to worry about it so much. Hmm, I think I'll have a word with Iris about this.

"Ready to stun your Father and Uncles?" I ask JoJo, bending down and resting my hands on my knees, looking directly into her eyes. As soon as any yelling starts I'll tell them what we've actually done. Till then, they can think about how JoJo's dyed her hair a wonderful colour (!)

"Totally," says JoJo, giving me a high five. Iris comes out of her bedroom, all dressed up for breakfast.

"Ok guys, we let the boys sweat for a bit and then we'll tell them what we've actually done," I say, looking at both JoJo and Iris who nod their heads. "And try not to laugh," I instruct them both. It's easy for me but I have a feeling one of these two will give us away.

"It's easier instructed than done," states Iris with her hands on her hips, JoJo nodding her head. We need a backup just in case.

"Ok, if you do laugh then leave that up to me but try not to, think of a dog dying," I say, Iris gasping at my suggestion and I realise what I've done when I see the look on JoJo's face. "I mean, imagine a really sad dog," I correct myself and I sigh in relief when she nods her head. Oh boy, if she burst out crying then who knows what would have happened. "JoJo, stay behind us," I tell her, Iris keeping a hold of her hand. We walk into the hotel restaurant and the guys wave us over.

"Showtime," says Iris and I nod my head. This is probably the most fun thing we've done in ages. We walk over to the table and I can see Roman's already trying to catch a glimpse of his daughter.

"Don't tell me JoJo fell asleep?" asks Roman and I shake my head. "Well then where is she?" he asks and I look at Iris, making sure to let her know that she can't laugh.

"Right behind us. She's just shy because she got a new hairstyle," I say, me and Iris stepping to the side, allowing them to see JoJo. All of their mouths drop open when they look at the 6-year-old with shiny blue hair.

"What the fu-" Dean stops himself. I notice Roman looks like he's about to faint, Seth looking as confused as hell. I glance at JoJo and nod my head at her. It's time for her to put some acting skills to good use.

"How do I look Daddy?" asks JoJo innocently, a sweet smile on her face. Roman stumbles and stutters at first, trying to get something out and I stand next to Iris, pinching her so she doesn't laugh which seems to work because I'm met with a glare.

"Um...y-you...you l-look...uh..." Roman says, still trying to muster up some words. This is probably the funniest reaction we've got from Roman since Seth and Dean put hair colour into his shampoo and dyed it blonde.

"It looks amazing right?" asks Iris with a smile, placing her hands on JoJo's shoulders. "Come on, let's sit down. I think they're all amazed at how great you look," she says, all of taking our seats opposite the boys. Iris reaches over to give Evan a kiss from where he is on Seth's lap.

"I knew blue was the right choice, but I still think you would have rocked the half orange and half blue," I comment nonchalantly, the guys still staring at JoJo's head who pretends she doesn't notice just as I told her to. "Guys, let's go get some food," I suggest, getting up and walking away with the girls. This is going to be an interesting breakfast.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

My daughter's hair is blue. It's blue. She's turned her hair blue. Out of all the things they could have done yesterday they all decided to turn her hair blue. JoJo's Mom is so going to kill me. Then resurrect me. Then kill me again.

"What the fuck?" Dean manages to get out, having to stop before since JoJo was around. "Did you see her hair Roman?" he asks me and I give him a what-do-you-think look. I can't stop looking at it. Oh hell, what am I going to do?

"I can't believe she's blue," comments Seth, him and Dean not helping the situation at all. I'm starting to hate the colour blue. "What are you going to do?" he then asks me, looking at me.

"Chop her hair off, of course," answers Dean for me, me and Seth sending him a look which basically tells him to shut up. "What? You're seriously going to let her go around with that...that monstrosity on her head?" he questions and I shake my head. She can't. but what else can we do? Maybe I can convince her to shower 5 times a day every day till she has to go back and that'll get rid of the colour in her air.

"We're going to...act normal and...and pretend it...it looks nice," I manage to get it out even though I'm barely able to accept what the hell has gone on.

"How the fuck can we do that? She looks like a damn cockatoo!" exclaims Dean and I send him a glare for even daring to think something like that. Yet here he is speaking the words. "I'm just saying what we're all thinking here," he then says, his arms up in surrender. I can't believe I have to accept my daughter has a blue head now.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Oh my god, Roman looks like he's been punched in the face about fifty times," I comment, looking at the boys at the table. Ariana laughs and JoJo actually looks behind to catch a glimpse of her Dad. I'd feel sorry for him, if only this wasn't just that damn funny.

"Nice work kiddo," says Ariana to JoJo, ruffling her hair. We grab the food and go back to the table, silence overtaking the guys. We take our seats and act normal as usual. However, I can't take it when JoJo smiles at Roman and he smiles but it comes out really creepy, like he's forgotten to smile or something. That does it for me because I start laughing.

"What's so funny?" asks Seth, looking at me as if I've lost my mind. I nearly will if we have to stare at their faces any longer. I shake my head, trying to control my laughter but not being able to. This in turn causes JoJo to start chuckling.

"JoJo made this really funny joke earlier, these guys can't seem to get over it," lies Ariana, handling it just like she said she would. We're lucky she's here with us. It was her idea anyway so it wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for her.

"Oh yeah, what was the joke?" asks Dean, his curiosity killing us when we realise we're screwed. Out of all the things to say, why did he have to ask that question?

"She...basically described what you would look like with yellow hair. I don't remember all of it but it was funny, there was a picture involved too. I think," I say, lying perfectly through my teeth as I put on a thinking face. I can tell by Ariana's facial expression that she's impressed. Plus, with what I said we know Dean will not as any more questions because he doesn't want to give my boyfriend the chance to make fun out of him.

"So...who dyed...you know...the hair?" Roman manages to ask, sounding kind of like a zombie. I almost feel bad for doing this to him.

"I was wondering when you'd ask that Mister Jealous," I say with a big smile on my face. "We went to this hair salon not too far away and I needed my hair trimming. So I asked JoJo if she wanted anything to be done and she said she wanted to dye her hair blue," I start to explain, keeping the smile on my face and remembering what Ariana said to me. Give a good story, not too much detail and don't act like it's rehearsed.

"Now, we were going to say not but then the hair salon lady said we could see what the colour will look like if we do a few strands of hair. We thought why not? If not her whole head then she'll at least have a nice streak going on," Ariana continues to explain the story and I nod my head whenever she glances at me. "We did it and liked it so much that we did her whole head. I mean, I know it's a bold colour and all-" she says and I jump in like I'm supposed to.

"But it stands out for her and JoJo loves the colour blue, it's like an early Christmas present. Plus, it'll match her dress for Dean and Ariana's wedding," I go on to say, keeping it all natural. I notice Dean's eyes widen when he hears me talking about the wedding.

"Hold on a second," says Dean with his hands out. "She's going to...walk around my wedding...with that hair?" he asks bravely, looking confused and mortified at the same time. Me and Ariana nod our heads and he says, "Ok, I'm turning up in SHIELD gear then". He sits back in a relaxed manner, Ariana narrowing her eyes at him.

"No you're not, JoJo's still coming in a dress which means you're coming in a suit," says Ariana, pointing her finger at Dean who rolls his eyes and mutters something about double standards.

"The wedding is still a while away, it could wash out before then," points out Seth, my boyfriend actually using his brain. He looks like he's made Dean feel relieved at that. Ok, now I have to undo his work.

"We could always get it dyed again a couple of days before the big day," I suggest, running a hand through JoJo's hair.

"No!" all three of the men say at the same time, startling us all. Me and Ariana exchange glance before the both of and including JoJo give them weird looks.

"I mean...it would be better for JoJo not to have it so blue, let's keep the day focused on Dean and Ariana," says Roman, using the exact excuse I gave to JoJo about her wanting her hair to be orange for the wedding.

"Huh, you're right," says Ariana, agreeing with him and he lets out a breath of relief.

"Yeah, if her head stays blue then we'll have to chop her hair off for our wedding," jokes Dean and I let out a gasp whilst Ariana hits her palm on her forehead. I can't believe he just said that in front of JoJo.

"What?" asks JoJo, her lip quivering as she starts to look panicked. Luckily for us, her Father cares more about her than Uncle Dean.

"Don't worry, no one's touching a hair on your head," says Roman, that being the most stable thing he has managed to come out with. Well he would do anything to make sure his daughter doesn't cry. I have a feeling Dean will be threatening his kids.

"Ok, we better get on that bus," I say, after we've all finished eating. It's time to head off to the next city for the show tonight. We all separate ways and head to our hotel rooms, meeting in the lobby. We head out to get to our bus. "When do you think we should tell them?" I ask Ariana in a whisper, walking a few feet behind the guys. JoJo walking in the middle of us all.

"Just let them rot for a while longer, then we'll tell them," says Ariana, sending me a wink. I chuckle and nod my head, agreeing with that plan. JoJo's only here for a few days, we have to make those days' count.

"He laughs just like you Aunt Iris," comments JoJo, Evan in her arms, Dean sitting next to her and keeping a watchful eye.

"I already told her that, haha," says Dean, JoJo rolling her eyes at his comment. She's learning from Ariana real fast. "Now that you look like a bird, are you going to fly off into the forest?" he asks JoJo, my mouth opening in shock. Ariana hits him on the head as she walks out from the kitchen, having got herself a glass of water. She sits down next to me. Seth's actually in one of the rooms catching up on some much needed sleep. Being back at work has been tiring for him. It's why he fell asleep on our special night.

"Dean, stop telling lies to my daughter," says Roman, pointing a finger at him. Dean opens and closes his mouth several times before keeping it permanently closed. That's probably the smart thing to do at the moment. Unfortunately for us the joke doesn't last much longer because JoJo and Dean start running around, playing.

"Hey, watch out!" yells Ariana all of a sudden, JoJo about run into a wall when Dean grabs her and pulls her towards him. The unfortunate thing is his watch accidentally gets caught in her hair and when he tugs on it, some of the blue strands come off.

"Aah!" Dean screams, mortified that it came off. I think he thinks it's JoJo's actual hair. I cover my mouth to stop myself from laugh, Ariana bursting out in laughter with Roman looking confused and mad.

"Are you ok JoJo?" asks Roman, going over to his daughter and picking her up. If that was her real hair, she'd be bawling her eyes out right now.

"It happened all of a sudden," says Dean, putting his hands up in defence before noticing something. "I just pulled your hair out, why aren't you crying like your head has been ripped off?" he goes on to ask the little girl.

"Because it's not my real hair dummy," comments JoJo with a sigh, getting Roman to put her down. "Can you take the rest of it out Aunt Iris?" she asks me and I nod my head. She sits in between my legs and I get to work on taking all the blue out. "I wanted my hair blue but they said I couldn't so we got the fake ones," she goes on to explain in her own JoJo way.

"What does that mean?" asks Dean, both men looking at each other with nothing more than confusion written on her face.

"Hair extensions," states Ariana, letting out a laugh. Realisation sets on the boys' face before they let out sighs of relief, Roman especially looks relieved. "Fun time, right JoJo?" Ariana asks her and she nods her head. I take out the extensions slowly, careful not to tug on JoJo's actual hair.

"What's the matter guys? Cat got your tongue?" I ask, laughing with Ariana. These boys, especially Dean, think no one can fool them. It's safe to say we just played them. I think more than anything, Roman's just happy he doesn't have to send JoJo back to her Mom with a blue head.

* * *

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	75. Wedding Plans

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I hope you're all well. Here's another chapter :)**

* * *

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 75:**

 **IRIS POV**

"So you spent the night sleeping?" Ariana questions me and I nod my head as she bursts out laughing, very unladylike. It's been a 6 weeks since we got back from Iowa and since me and Seth tried to get some alone time which hadn't even worked out. Back at work, Seth has been too busy and I've been put out taking care of Evan, doing my job as a stylist and trying to get my body back in shape to maybe start wrestling again. Or at least make one final run if I decide not to do it ever again.

"It's not funny Ari," I tell her, shaking my head as she throws her head back in laughter. She kept asking questions and I buckled, telling her the truth. I just needed some advice on how her and Dean manage to do it with their hectic schedules. Although it's worse for me because I'm a Mom. If I'm not working, then I'm taking care of Evan or planning the wedding. That leaves no time for anything else which is frustrating.

"Not funny? He fell asleep Iris!" exclaims Ariana going into fits of laughter once more. She better not even think about telling anyone else, Seth is already embarrassed enough as it is. "D-does anyone else know about this?" she goes on to ask me but I shake my head. If Dean or Roman knew, Seth wouldn't make it anywhere alive.

"If they did, then I'm sure everyone would know by now," I point out to her. Dean would never be able to keep his mouth shut. He'd announce it everywhere that he goes.

"Ok, I think I'm done," says Ariana, referring to her laughing as I take a sip of the drink I ordered. Seth is taking care of Evan today to give me and Ariana some time to plan the wedding. Obviously we're not getting that done. "So you guys still haven't done the deed?" she asks me for clarification. I feel worse the more I have to say no.

"No," I say with a sigh, shaking my head. "Something always seems to come up," I complain. It's never ideal timing and since we haven't been with each other so intimately for a while now, we both want it to be special. Not just some quickie to get it out of our system.

"Maybe you guys should go shack up in a cabin and get the deed done," suggests Ariana, making me chuckle. That's actually not a bad idea, it's the only way things will get done. "What about this?" she asks and shows me a picture of yet another wedding dress. The wedding dress has been on the forefront of our minds yet we've not hit the jackpot.

"That wouldn't look good on your boobs," I advise her, having found a criticism of every single dress she'd picked out since we sat at this place to grab some lunch. I don't want to keep saying no but at the same time I can't say yes to something I don't think would complement her figure.

"For goodness sake Iris, at this rate I won't even have a dress," complains Ariana, sitting back with a frown on her face and leaving the magazine in the middle of the table. I know she's trying really hard, she's even made compromises on little things, like certain frills here and there. But we're still having issues picking one out.

"It's not my fault, would you rather order the dress and then have a fit when you realise it looks completely wrong on you?" I question her. Even if there's a remote chance something could look good on her, we have to be a hundred per cent sure since she doesn't want to go to bridal shops. We can't just order the dress and hope for the best. It doesn't work like that.

"No," mumbles Ariana and I rest my case. It'll be wasting a lot of time. Ordering, disliking and sending back. "But this is the tenth magazine we've looked at since deciding we need to look at dresses and we haven't found a single one we like. And this wedding is in a month!" she exclaims, the stress of the whole thing finally getting to her and erupting through tiny cracks.

"Which means we still have time, your dress is out there and we just have to keep looking," I say with conviction and a nod of my head. I'm sure we'll find something. "Besides, you refuse to go to bridal shops so magazines are our only resource," I add on. I have been trying, believe me, to get her to go to a shop, one at least. But my best friend isn't having any of it.

"And the reason I won't go to a bridal shop is because it's bad enough wearing a humongous dress once, let alone twice," she says, rolling her eyes in the process. She's making it seem like I'm going to put her in a meringue. I'm actually thinking of something tight from the stop and loose at the bottom. That way you can see how sexy she is but she has room for movement at the bottom.

"Why don't you go in a tux like Dean then?" I joke, at which she scoffs. She doesn't seem to find anything amusing now. What am I going to do? I need to think of something fast. We have 4 weeks and we haven't found a single thing.

"Look," starts Ariana and leans forward on her elbows, a serious expression on her face. "I know I'm not like you and I don't get excited at the prospect of a dress or anything. But I am excited for this wedding and believe it or not I'm doing this for Dean. This dress thing is important to him because all he can talk about is how beautiful and sexy I'll look in one so I'll bare it," she explains and a smile appears on my face. The things these two do for each other. They compromise on the little things which is healthy. It means there's no resentment later on. But I'm sure I can find something for Iris that both she and Dean will love.

"So…bridal shop?" I ask her again and notice that she's ready to give in. If I keep pushing her then she will. "Since it is for Dean," I add on for extra effect considering the new information I received and hear a sigh out of her.

"I don't think I have a choice," states Ariana. We finish off our lunch and decide to go into a bridal shop. I start looking around but Ariana seems out of place, not really knowing what to do. I think she's sick of looking at dresses to be honest.

"Since you have no preference except for the fact it can't be poofy I suggest you start looking at anything random," I tell her as I go through some as well. I can't help but think that as we grew up I always thought I'd be the one getting married first. I was eager for it too. I never thought Ariana would get married but here we are at the opposite ends of the scale where Ariana is getting married and I have no idea when I will be. I am happy for her, that much I know.

"May I help you?" asks a woman and I smile at her. I immediately walk over to her and explain the kind of dress I am looking for. I know a dress hugging Ariana's curvy figure will be the best one for her, one without a trail because she likes moving around quite a lot. So it's got to be fitted yet flexible. "I'll see what I can do," she says and walks off. Once she comes back she has a few dresses in her hand and I also notice she's come back with another girl who has some in her hand.

"Oh fuck, this is what I was afraid of," comments Ariana, kind of glaring at me as I smile nervously. She's going to have to look through them all and then try on the ones that she will like. Or in this case, try on all of them.

"May I direct you to a changing room?" the woman asks me and I burst out into laughter. She thinks I'm the one getting married? I don't blame her, Ariana acts like she'd rather get stabbed than be caught in a shop like this.

"Me? Ha ha ha!" I burst out laughing and go red in embarrassment. "I'm not the bride, she is," I say, pointing to Ariana and the apologies descend. I guess it would make sense if I was the bride since I'm more excited for this than my best friend.

"Hey, that's a perfect idea though!" exclaims Ariana, clamping her hands together and I start to worry for myself. She's not thinking of me being the bride instead of her? I mean I love Dean, but he is for all intents and purposes, my brother.

"What is?" I ask in a confused manner, ignoring my stupid, exaggerated thoughts.

"You can try the dresses on for me!" she says with a big smile on her face. I stare at her in shock till I realise that she's actually being serious about this.

"What? No!" I shake my head not even open to the idea of something like that. Ariana should be trying on the dresses because she needs one to fit her body and not mine.

"Oh, please Iris!" begs Ariana, taking a hold of my hand and squeezing it real tight. It doesn't matter if she got down on her knees I'd still refuse. She's not even thinking about everything clearly.

"Ari, the dress is going to look different on both of us. What looks good on me may not look so great on you," I point out to her. Every dress looks different on every woman, that's basic knowledge. Which apparently my best friend does not know.

"Yes but at least if it's on you I can decide if I like it or not, just because something looks good on me doesn't mean I'll like it," Ariana puts up an argument and refuses to back down. I hate having such a stubborn friend. Especially when she makes it difficult to argue with her. "If it's on you then I can tell whether I like it or not and of the ones I select I can then try them on. Please, please, please! Don't make me try on every single one," she continues to beg. I guess this is like a punishment for her. The worst kind as well.

"Alright, fine," I say giving in to her pleading and see her pump her fist in the air. "But you owe me," I say to her before allowing myself to be taken away by the sales assistant to be dressed up. I cannot believe I'm about to try on wedding dresses.

"Thank you!" I hear Ariana shout behind me as I walk off. She better appreciate this. I get the first dress on and come out, Ariana examining it closely and shaking her head I try on all of them, Ariana liking a few here and there and a couple that I think will look good on her. I try on the last dress and step out from the curtain, Ariana's mouth opening in shock. "What? What's wrong?" I ask, stepping up to the long mirror and looking at myself. Do I look horrible? I don't even know why I should care; this isn't for my wedding day. I stare at myself in the mirror. Is that really me?

"Is this the girly moment in the movie where you've found the perfect dress for yourself and everyone cries?" asks Ariana, coming up behind me and still seemingly in a daze. As I continue to look at myself I nod my head, speechless at how a dress I wasn't even looking for found my body. "Well then we've found your wedding dress," she states as my eyes water at getting married. What am I even thinking?

"Wait a sec, I'm not the one getting married!" I say, turning around with confusion on my face. Did we really just get so into this we forgot which one of us is actually getting married?

"Holy shit, you're right!" exclaims Ariana, slapping herself on the forehead. We totally just had a Dean and Seth moment. "You know it's funny, I always thought you would get married and I wouldn't. And this moment is exactly how I pictured finding your dress," she goes on to tell me. She's imagined what it would be like to do dress shopping for my wedding? I think Dean's weirdness is rubbing off on her.

"But we're looking for your dress," I remind her, shaking my head. I could have gotten married if I agreed to Rick's proposal but then I wouldn't be happy. And the number one thing about getting married is that you're totally in love with the other person. You've given them your everything and that's something no one but Seth has been privy to.

"No," says Ariana as I tilt my head with a questioning look. "That's not on my list for my dress. In the future when that idiot has the nerve to get down on one knee then we're going to come back here and buy this dress for you," she says, her hands on my shoulders as she gives me a determined look in the eye.

"Ok," I say with a laugh, brushing it off. I don't think I need to think about my possible wedding with Seth right now. "Can we please go back to finding a dress for you?" I ask her and she nods her head. She goes back and sits down as I look at myself in the mirror one more time. Since Ariana had picked the ones she remotely likes she tried them on but just as the luck we had with the magazines none of these dresses were 'the one'. Disheartened we left the shop and thanked the staff.

"This is hopeless," says Ariana, walking down the street with me as I keep my arm around her in a comforting manner. There's only so many more times I can tell her things will work out and everything will be fine.

"No its not," I try to stay positive for her sake since she can be quite the pessimist. "We just have to keep looking," I remind her. This is getting tiring. How can it be difficult to find a dress for one woman? And I even managed to get her into a bridal store! Thanks a lot universe (!)

"Like as if that's working," mumbles Ariana, crossing her arms over her chest and her signature frown reappearing.

"Don't worry Ari, we'll get it sorted," I say to her and then decide to take her mind off of things. "How about we go to a flower store and see what flowers would look nice with the blue and white theme we picked out?" I suggest and see a small smile appear on Ariana's face. I make sure to keep her distracted from thoughts about the dress as we look at other wedding things. But it is something I need to sort out.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Does Ariana know we're shopping for tuxes?" I question Dean, sitting on a chair and messaging Iris with Evan in the stroller at my side. Luckily for us things have been going well for our relationship since we returned from my parents' place. We had the issue with Randy but after informing our bosses, he's not bothering any of us anymore. He's probably realised we're not taking any shit lying down.

"Nope, I want to surprise her that I did this without her having to ask me to do it," explains Dean as Roman stands with him at the mirror, sorting out his bowtie. I think she will be surprised, even we were when he asked us to join him for this.

"Which would be a first since you never get off your fat ass," comments Roman, making me snicker. He's right about that. Dean's over here surprising his girlfriend and here I am thinking about what I can do to finally get intimate with mine. There's absolutely no way I'm telling these guys what's going on. I don't need jokes being made at my expense.

"Keep running your mouth Reigns and I'll have no problem demoting you from best man," threatens Dean which gets my attention and I look up to see a staring contest going on between the two. Maybe I should say something now.

"Calm down guys," I interfere, not in the mood to play peacemaker today whatsoever. I don't know how Roman manages to do it on a daily basis without setting fire to us all. My phone beeps and I open up the message from Ariana, sitting back in amazement at what she sent me. Am I really seeing what's there or is that my imagination?

"Then tell him to keep his smartass comments to himself," Dean says but I don't respond, still staring at my phone screen. "What's wrong now?" I hear Dean ask me but don't say anything. I think for the first time in a long time, I'm speechless.

"Seth, you alright man?" Roman asks me too but I don't think I am. Curiosity gets the better of them two because they come over to me and look over my shoulder at what I'm staring at. I can tell they're surprised too because they just keep staring for a good few seconds.

"Whoa, is that…?" trails off Dean, pointing at my phone. Why is she trying on wedding dresses?

"Iris," I clarify, staring lovingly at the picture of her in that wedding dress. She looks perfect. She looks amazing always but this, it feels different.

"She's not the one getting married to me is she?" Dean jokes and I hear him groan when Roman slaps him on the back of his head. My phone beeps and I get another message from Ariana, explaining what Iris is doing in the dress.

"Ariana said she's making Iris try on dresses instead of doing it herself," I quickly explain to them both. I can imagine it now, me and Iris getting married. She looks even more beautiful than I ever thought she could look like in a white wedding gown.

"And she calls me the lazy fucker?!" says Dean in disbelief, shaking his head. "0h, the next time she..." Dean trails off, talking to himself as he paces back and forth.

"She looks beautiful man, you are one lucky asshole I'll tell you that," says Roman, grabbing Dean and going back over to the mirror to sort out his bowtie once again.

"Yeah, I am," I say, staring at the picture of Iris once more. I save the picture as my wallpaper and look back over at the guys. I could stare at it all day but it won't be long before they pull my legs for doing it. I take a couple of pictures of them sorting out Dean's bowtie, just for the future in case anyone needs blackmailing. With Dean, you always need something against him.

"Fuck!" says Dean, the bowtie still not working for him. "That's it! No evil bowties at my wedding!" he says, taking it completely off and chucking it a Roman who just about manages to catch it as Dean walks off to the back to get changed again. After a bit of convincing we manage to get Dean to agree to wear a bowtie for the ceremony after which he can take it off after talking it over with Ariana. Somehow, I don't think she'll mind though.

"So when are you guys getting married?" asks Dean just as we all dig into our lunch. His question making me choke on mine. What is it with everyone and me and Iris getting married? I got enough of that from my parents and the rest of my family in Iowa.

"W-what?" I ask, taking a gulp of my water. "Marriage?" I would love to marry Iris in the future but we've only been together, what, 2 months? How does that qualify for marriage in anyone's eyes?

"Well duh, that's what I asked didn't I?" says Dean in an obvious tone. He just wants someone else to get married so he can make fun out of them and actually enjoy a wedding. Its looks like he won't be enjoying his unless it's actually marrying Ariana or eating that damn cake he can't stop talking about.

"Have you been talking to my Mother?" I ask, my eyes narrowing at him to suss it out. It wouldn't be the first time both of them have done something like this.

"No," says Dean, shaking his head and avoiding my gaze. Looks like I'm going to have to get it out of him, one way or another. Dean's really obvious when lying about something he doesn't expect anyone to catch him out on.

"Dean," I say his name with a hint of warning in my tone. If he's plotting behind my back with my Mother, then we have a big issue. Especially since I made myself very clear to her whilst I was visiting.

"Alright, she may have called me the other day and brought it up," admits Dean, Roman shaking his head with a smile. Typical Dean. I should have known my Mother out of all people would not give up that easy.

"Oh come on!" I say, feeling unhappy. I don't understand why I'm nearly getting pressured into doing something that I don't want to do right now. "She doesn't call me for days but has enough time to gossip with you over the phone?" I question at which Dean nods and I don't think he realises what he just nodded to. "She is going to get a very angry message," I state. How can she do that to me?

"But back to the matter at hand, when are you planning on proposing to my sister?" asks Dean, giving me a serious look. He can't be serious surely. I look at him closer, trying to find any hint of him just joking.

"Not anytime soon that's for sure," I answer him which makes him frown, he obviously disliked that. We have only been together 2 months. How is that supposed to make sense for me to marry her? Even if I do love her with everything I have.

"Why not? What's wrong with her?" asks Dean, banging his fist down on the table because of which people start to stare at us. He really needs to calm it down with the theatrics. People will think he actually is crazy.

"Will you calm down and stop acting like a buffoon?" Roman asks of Dean, shaking his head. "Seth, answer him before he gets melodramatic," he instructs me with a sigh. I know why he said that. One, to shut Dean up. Two, because he's kind of curious himself as to where mine and Iris's relationship is going.

"We haven't been together that long, just 2 months, and you want me to get down on one knee? Seriously?" I ask Dean, shaking my head at the idea. Commitment has never been a big thing with me and even though with Iris it seems like a real possibility, a proposal is the last thing either of us need right now.

"So the past, being with her, meant nothing to you?" asks Dean and I sigh knowing full well he's not being serious. He's doing the joke thing where he's pretending to be overdramatic. I don't know if I should be thankful there's no one on Iris's side that can threaten to shoot me or annoyed that she's sent me this annoying prick instead.

"Of course it does but it's going to take time to get to a point where Iris will want to spend the rest of her life with me," I explain to him. Even though I mentioned Iris, I think it's the same with me. I know I love her, but I also know what I've been like in the past. I think we just need things to play out. "We love each other, yes but I barely managed to convince her to move in with me. Marriage is a long way and I want to repair our relationship fully before taking the next big step," I further explain to them both.

"Do you think Iris wants to marry you?" mumbles Dean, scratching the back of his ear. That's something I have asked myself when I've thought about our future. Would she want to give ma chance? Someone who's probably hurt her the most? Actually, her Mom gets that award. I think I rank second on that list.

"I dunno man, I hope she does," I say with a hopeful smile on my face. We're kind of living the married life with Evan, moving in and just being together.

"These things take time and plus it'll be wrong for you guys to keep taking risks with your relationship when it'll all affect Evan the most," says Roman, gesturing to my boy who's fast asleep in his stroller. At least there's one person here who understands exactly what's happening.

"Yeah, we have to think of Evan first. It's better to be safe than sorry with this one," I say. If Evan wasn't here, I think our own insecurities would stop us from diving into this head first.

"Hmm, ok I shall relay all of that to your Mother," says Dean and I look up in surprise. He then gets out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling something. "Asked that question, and that. Yep, yep and yep. Ooh, forgot one," he says as I wonder just what my Mother asked of him. I guess she knew she wasn't going to get any answers out of me. "Are you planning on having any more kids anytime soon?" he asks cheekily with a wink as well as wiggling his eyebrows. I know it's a bit childish but I throw my napkin at him for that one.

"Hey!" exclaims Dean, not appreciating it. I don't appreciate him asking me all these questions when they're supposed to be things I should be worrying about in the future and not at the present time.

"Guys!" Roman's voice booms and we both sit there like children that have just been told off. I hate it when Dean does that. He starts it, provokes me and then we both get told off. Like as if any of it is my fault.

"Just so you know, if you ever do want to get married to Iris then you're going to have to ask my permission," Dean points out, sitting back in his chair with a smug smirk on his face. Great, another thing I have to fight on him with (!)

"How'd you figure that one out?" I ask, waiting for his reply. If I want to marry Iris, then I'll marry her. I don't need Dean or anyone else's permission. Actually, I'll probably need Iris's, but that's about it.

"Dude, she's my sister and after the father you ask the brother for her hand," Dean points out. I can't believe I'm listening to his crap right now. I had enough of it when he gave me that whole lecture with Roman about things I should and shouldn't do if I plan on winning over Iris.

"And who did you ask when you were thinking of proposing to Ariana?" I ask, knowing this will bite him in the bum because of course he didn't. Ariana's Father isn't alive anymore and she doesn't have any brothers. Unless Dean managed to create one out of thin air.

"Uh, I asked Susan," mumbles Dean, avoiding mine and Roman's questioning gaze. Did I just hear that right? He asked Susan?

"Wait, you went and asked Ariana's Mom for permission to marry her?" asks Roman and Dean nods his head. I look at Roman and we both burst out laughing. "I can't believe the Dean Ambrose asked someone's permission to do something!" he exclaims and I nod my head in laughter. I wonder what happened to the whole 'She's my woman and I'll do what I want with her' façade.

"The rule breaker followed the rules!" I say and high five Roman. I wonder if Ariana knows. I think I'll need to tell her. Just to embarrass him a bit further.

"Like it's a big deal," says Dean, not letting it be made such a huge issue out of. He's making it seem like it's a whole lot less important than it actually us.

"It is! You actually played by the books," I go on to say and shake my head just as we stop laughing. This is definitely the last thing I expected to hear out of Dean.

"Will you cut it out?" says Dean, looking more than just slightly annoyed right now. When it's something to do with me, he teases the hell out of me but can't stand it when he's in that tight spot.

"Just so you know Rollins, Dean is right," says Roman, once we both finally manage to calm down about Dean's secret. "If you ever want to get married to Iris then you have got to come to Dean as well as me to ask for permission to marry her". I sit there still like a statue. How did he get Roman roped into this?

"Not laughing now are you?" says Dean with a smug smile on his face. I really feel like punching him when he does that.

"Shut up," I mutter, drumming my fingers on the table, thinking about what I'm going to say next. "When Dean says no, can I still go ahead with marrying her since you'll say yes?" I ask Roman. I need some sort of a guarantee that I'll be taken seriously and be given a serious answer.

"Why the fuck would I say no?" asks Dean with his hands in the air but I just ignore him and keep my eyes on Roman. That'll irritate him enough to be able to understand how I feel at this very moment in time.

"Of course you can, provided you fulfill the criteria to be Iris's husband," says Roman, his finger up and a dead serious look on his face. I definitely do want to marry Iris in the future but I don't think I want to go to the trouble of asking these guys for her hand. I mean Dean is, you know. And Roman, too serious about it all. I think I'll elope with her one day.

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 **Reviews are awesome! :)**


	76. Goodbyes

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. So sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was working the weekend and I completely forgot! Anyways, here's the next chapter. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm working on the big reveal and ending. So bear with me :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: I know I know! Babies! Lol. I'll need to put that in somehow :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: I'm so glad :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Glad you found it funny! Thanks so much. I'm trying to keep it going here. Haha! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 76:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey honey, you have a good time with the guys?" I ask Seth, walking into our hotel room and smiling upon seeing him watching TV with Evan. They always look so good together. I could just watch them all day and never get tired.

"Yeah it was…eventful," replies Seth and I smile at him as I set my bags down. "What about you and Ariana? What did you guys get up to?" he asks me but I have a nagging feeling he's hiding something. I wonder what he's been discussing with the boys.

"We went dress shopping, don't tell Dean but we haven't even found a single dress that'll look perfect on Ariana," I reveal to him and walk over to sit on the couch with him. "This is going to be hard to explain to you but when a girl tries on a wedding dress meant for her, she…she knows. Ariana hasn't felt that with any of the dresses so we don't have a dress and their wedding is a month away. Which is cutting it pretty close but I've told Ariana not to stress about it even though I'm freaking out on the inside about what we're going to do. I mean, we need to get that dress sorted pronto but I think I have an idea of how we can fix this," I ramble on and stop when I realise Seth isn't even listening. How do I know? Well, he's staring. "Seth?" I say his name but he seems to be in a daze, just looking at me. "Hello?" I say, snapping my fingers in front of his face.

"What? Oh sorry," apologises Seth, my fingers having done the trick. He doesn't seem himself, I hope he's not worried about anything.

"Is everything alright?" I ask him, narrowing my eyes at him in suspicion. Something obviously isn't right but what could it be? I don't think he's going to tell me.

"Yeah, yeah everything's perfect," says Seth, not really making any sense at all. He leans forward and kisses my lips saying, "You're perfect". I don't know what to say so I just chuckle and ruffle his hair as I get up, emptying the stuff from the bags that I brought today. I decided on getting some clothes for Evan and found a couple of things for Seth as well as myself. It was a productive day. Now, for that dress. I have done a lot of thinking and maybe got a good idea.

"Bye Iris, see you in a week hopefully!" say the twins as I hug both Nikki and Brie. I wave to the rest of the girls in the locker room and pick up my bag, heading out of there with Ariana, Evan in her arms. I go to the car park and see Seth standing there talking with Dean and Roman. I know I have a just under a year to make a more permanent decision but I figured we might as well see what that decision is and prepare for it.

"It's going to suck without you," Ariana tells me, placing a kiss on Evan's forehead as I nod my head in agreement. I'm the only other girl in her company around all these guys. Between Seth and Dean's bickering, she already has her hands full.

"But I need this Ari, I've been on the road and seen what it's like for me, Seth and Evan but I also need to see what it's like if I decide to stay in Davenport in mine and Seth's home," I tell her, a statement. It's important for me to try and do this.

"Still sucks," she states, making me chuckle. I couldn't agree more with her. We're not used to being apart for long periods of time but it's kind of funny how we keep ending up in that kind of a situation.

"Hey girlies," says Dean in a funny voice which makes me laugh. What is he up to now? "See? Pay up Rollins!" he says with his hand extended. I look between the two as Seth hands Dean a 20-dollar bill. Do I really want to know what's going on?

"I'm not even going to ask," I state, handing my bags to Seth who puts them in the car with the rest of the stuff. I'm going to have to get used to not having Seth around either. Which will suck. Or being around Dean or Roman. Actually, it might just end up being scarily quiet.

"I cannot believe you're taking Evan away from me again," starts Dean and see everyone roll their eyes at having to put up with him and this behaviour again. It seems like we go through the same routine every time I leave with Evan to go someplace.

"Sorry Dean but it's a must," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders. Besides, his focus should be on the wedding right now, rather than how long he's parted from Evan for.

"Yeah yeah," grumbles Dean, not looking happy about it one bit. I think he's also kind of mad because I waited till last night to inform him. It's just I knew how he'd get and I wouldn't hear the end of it. He'd be complaining ever since I tell him which he has been doing since I told him last night.

"Now will you hug me so I can get going?" I ask him and he reluctantly does so, holding onto me tight when he does which makes me giggle. I don't think Dean Ambrose likes saying goodbye to anyone in his life no matter how long it's for.

"What are you trying with her Ambrose?" asks Seth in a protective manner. I chuckle at what Seth's saying. As soon as Dean does something he doesn't always do, Seth goes all detective.

"It's not my fault I have this effect on girls," comments Dean and I can just see the smirk on his face in my mind. I playfully hit Dean's chest before pulling back and hugging both Roman and Ariana.

"I'll see you guys when I get back," I tell them all, Seth's coming to drop me off at the airport. They all should be getting back to work or training or something else anyway.

"Not if you decide you like it there," Dean points out to me, a pout on his face. He acts like as if I'm leaving forever and he'll never see me or Evan ever again. That would never happen though. I learnt from the first time I stayed away from this crazy bunch, life just wasn't the same.

"Do you always have to put a dampener on things?" Roman asks him. Dean only does that when something is happening that he doesn't approve of.

"Yeah, it's his specialty," Ariana replies instead of letting Dean have the chance to. "Ok, take care of your Mom Evan," she says and then moves to hand me my son when all of a sudden he's taken away by Dean.

"Nope, tidbit is staying here with us," states Dean firmly. Please tell me he's not doing this again. "Ain't that right?" he asks Evan, looking down at him with a smile on his face. He places a kiss on the side of his head and tickles him to make him laugh. I reckon these two are going to be trouble once Evan grows up. Dean's own kid in the mix will make things worse.

"Not this crap again, Dean hand me my son," says Seth, holding out his arms for Evan. I have to say, being a parent has made more assertive as an adult. Before, if Seth wanted anything back then he'd whine. Now he's talking like a parent. Which you kind of have to do with Dean anyway.

"I'll think about it," says Dean after a few seconds of silence. Too bad I made him Godfather, I could have enlisted the assistance of the police right now.

"Dean hand them Evan or…" threatens Ariana with her hands on her hips, a raised eyebrow and a full on glare on her face. She means business right now. That look means do something right away and if you don't then your worst fear will play out.

"No sex? Fine. But you'll miss it just as much as me," says Dean, a smirk on his face telling us all that what he's saying is more than just true. He's becoming more daring as time goes on, I have to give him that.

"Oh really?" asks Ariana and I can tell she's thinking of something right now. It won't be pretty. "If you don't hand Evan over to Seth in the next two seconds then…I won't marry you," she threatens, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk all over her face.

"W-what?" asks Dean, looking just as surprised as the rest of us at her warning. Is she serious? Of course she's not, she's trying to get my son back to me. Right?

"I mean it," says Ariana as if answering Dean's silent question along with ours. With a huge sigh Dean hands Evan over to Seth who smiles in victory. "Good boy," Ariana teases with a wink in his direction. They're all so mean to him sometimes. He just loves Evan so much. If I wouldn't miss my son so much and had full trust Dean wouldn't break an arm of his then I wouldn't mind leaving him. I move forward and place a kiss on Dean's cheek.

"Thank you," I say, smiling up at him sweetly. That should cheer him up. Him hugging me tightly, acting like a kid by not giving Evan, it's his way of showing us how much he cares about us and will miss us.

"No problem Hot Mama," says Dean, giving me a wink of his own. I get into the car whilst Seth straps in Evan and with the promises of calling and messaging, Seth finally drives the car out of there. The drive to the airport is quiet and we sit down together till I need to go, hand in hand and Evan in the baby seat on the floor.

"I can't believe you guys are really going," says Seth with a sadness in his eyes that I never want to put there. But if this is where my decision will lie then we need to make sure we're ready for it. It's the most important thing at the moment.

"Me either," I tell him, looking at him. "Seth, I know it's going to be difficult but it is a trial run. We agreed, spend some time on the road and then some back home in Iowa to see how each one fairs". I discussed this with him not long after JoJo left. I wanted to make sure we do right by Evan and ourselves. We need to make sure our future isn't one filled with regret.

"But you've really liked being on the road," Seth points out to me. And he told me he would be objective. He lied.

"Doesn't mean that's where I should stay," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders. I know when I counter argue being on the road, he doesn't like it. Not one bit. But if he's going to be on one side then I need to be on the other so things are balanced. "Are you upset that I'm doing this?" I question him, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don't want him to hate me for doing this.

"No, I understand why you're doing it," says Seth and then looks at the floor. "I guess I got selfish for a minute," he admits. I smile and shift closer to him, pecking his cheek. He's cute when he gets like this.

"It's going to be alright," I tell him after which I need to get going for my flight. I stand up and Seth wraps me up in those strong arms of his in which I could lie in forever. I think after the kissing, I like hugging him the most.

"I don't think I can function without you for even a day never mind a week," says Seth into my hair. I think he can. But he just needs to experience it. That being said, him not being around will be too weird for me.

"Same here," I reciprocate his feelings. But it has to be done and if our relationship is as strong as I think it is then it won't just break because of some petty distance. It'll grow and get stronger. I have to keep that faith within me.

"I love you, always know that," he says to me, moving back and placing both his hands on the side of my face. "I'm really going to miss you Cutie Pie," he says, softly kissing my lips. I could just melt right now.

"I love you too and me and Evan will miss the heck out of you, but you're supposed to be coming home to us in about 5 days," I say to him, wiping the tear at the corner of my eye. we're doing this properly, so the days he has off he's coming back home to us. Which is how it would be if he stays on the road and we stay at home.

"If I can," Seth reminds me and I nod my head. This is a trial so if he gets a couple of days off at the end of the week he'll come to us. But if he is needed, we won't see him at all. "Stay safe," he tells me and I nod my head. I move forward and kiss him one more time before he kisses Evan and waves goodbye to us both. I take Evan and get onto the flight knowing this'll be one of the hardest weeks ever. If I can get through this, then hopefully it'll be easy if I do decide to stay at home.

I smile as I push Evan's stroller into our home. I love coming here. Our home. Mine, Seth's and Evan's. It gives me butterflies just thinking about it. I haven't spent as much time here as I would because Mister Rollins schedule didn't allow for much time to be spent here so this week will be nice in a way. It didn't take long to move all my stuff here from Chicago but everyone helped as always. Seth gave me full reigns on getting the place redecorated from a bachelor pad to a family home and I think I went a little crazy because I bought new everything. From chairs to cushions to our bed even. The one thing Seth didn't give me any control over was Evan's room and I'm glad that happened. I step into the nursery with Evan in my hands and smile remembering how this nursery came to be.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"Seth, please make sure I don't bang into anything," I request him as he keeps his hands over my eyes and walks behind me, guiding me to some sort of a surprise apparently. If the surprise ends up being Dean wrapped in a bow, then that joke wasn't funny months back and it won't be now either._

 _"Don't worry Cutie Pie, I won't let anything happen to you," Seth whispers in my ear and then places a kiss just below it which makes me giggle. I swear I've never been so happy in my life. "Now, are you ready?" he asks and I nod my head. Please let it be something nice. "Ok, here we go," he says as he slowly takes his hands away from my eyes. I open my eyes and look around in awe as well as disbelief at the sight in front of me._

 _"Wow, how's this-" I turn around to ask him but he cuts me off._

 _"Possible? Easy, I got the guys to do it again on their days off, then finished it up last night whilst you were sleeping," explains Seth and I look around the room again. Going over and touching Evan's crib as well as the patterns on the wall._

 _"So that's why you were doing a disappearing act some days," I suss him out. I can't believe at how incredible this place looks. It literally looks the same, right down to the last detail. It's like they moved it from one place to another._

 _"Yeah, but I made sure Ariana kept you busy anyway," Seth points out and walks over to me. He puts his arms around my waist from behind, resting his chin in the crook of my neck. "So, do you like it?" he asks me quietly. He doesn't even need to ask, the look on my face gives everything away so easily._

 _"Seth, I love it!" I exclaim, amazed at how they managed to do this. I'm going to have to do something in return for them as a thank you. "I mean, it's completely identical to the one we had in Chicago and I fell in love with that as soon as I saw it!" I exclaim, turning around in his arms. Evan's room is identical to the one the guys decorated in Chicago. "I love it and I love you," I say, leaning forward and pecking his lips. This is definitely in my top 10 list of best surprises I've ever had._

 _"I love you too Cutie Pie," Seth tells me, kissing me once more. I look around the room once more. I was worried how the new nursery wouldn't measure up to the standards of the old one, how it couldn't look any better but these guys did an amazing job. They've made it exactly the same. I love it._

* * *

"Your Daddy is amazing," I say to my son and put him down to change his nappy. I then take him downstairs and warm some milk, feeding it to him. Just as I decide to put Evan down for a nap I hear the door. "Who could this be?" I think to myself as I walk over with Evan still in my hands. I open the door to smiles.

"Iris!" exclaims Anne, stepping forward and enveloping me into a hug. A smile overcomes my face because it's been a while since I last saw her.

"Anne, hi," I say, hugging her back with one arm. "Nick!" I say and get a hug from him too. I shut the door and lead them to the living room. "I guess Seth told you I was here," I state. He's too damn protective for his own good. They live in Buffalo and we're in Davenport. I told him to inform them later but he just couldn't resist.

"Yes and I'm upset you didn't tell us yourself," says Nick as we all take seats on the couches. Nick then gets up and takes Evan from me before taking a seat again.

"How are you dear?" asks Anne from besides me, placing a hand on mine. I don't think I've been asked that question where I can give a positive answer in a while. And not just a nice answer but a genuine one as well.

"I'm doing good, yeah everything's great," I tell her truthfully. I didn't think I'd ever be able to say that because of the events that happened in Buffalo but I can now. In the past 6 weeks with Seth and Evan, things have been perfect. Me and Seth were both worried about this mystery guy who was causing us problems but it looks like he's gone so everything's back on track. "Have you heard from Angie and Neil?" I ask them both.

"Yes, they're in Egypt right now and are enjoying it," answers Nick. Angie and Neil decided to go on a long holiday, travel the world and visit all the destinations they've always wanted to see. They'd always planned on doing it and since they'd gotten together it was something more realistic. They wanted to do it as soon as they possibly could.

"And what about Rose's pregnancy? Is she doing alright by herself?" I question. Damien has no family and after the 2 week trip in Buffalo, which turned into 3 weeks, for them they went back home to New Hartford. That's just under 3 hours away from here. it's a long ride for someone to be constantly checking on Rose.

"She's managing, she has her friends and would like for me to stop interfering," says Anne at which Nick snickers and I place a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I don't think us Mothers can help ourselves. But Anne has had the experience of pregnancy 4 times. Then again, Rose has the twins. Hmm, that's a tough one.

"Maybe she just needs her space," I reassure Anne. I think Rose just finds it annoying that Anne's telling her everything she already knows. "I mean; she's had the twins before so I think she probably knows how to handle it right?" I say but can tell she still looks concerned. I don't think that will ever go away though. "I would offer you guys a drink but I just got here and need time to do a bit of grocery shopping," I explain to them both.

"That's alright my dear, we need to be going soon anyway, we have an invitation to see some friends," Nick says. I sit with them for about an hour or so chatting about mostly how my little family has been doing.

"You made him go to sleep, thanks," I say to Nick with a smile, taking Evan out of his arms as he stands up to leave with Anne. I be careful not to wake him. They needed to get going if they wanted to see their friends on time.

"What can I say Iris, magic hands," jokes Nick making me giggle as he starts showing them off, Anne not looking the least bit amused.

"Stop fooling around," Anne reprimands him and then gives me a hug before she leaves with her husband. After they're gone I put Evan in his crib and take the baby monitor, deciding that I can't leave Evan to do some shopping obviously. And I can't move him around and put him in the stroller in case he wakes up. His sleeping needs not be disturbing because it's really important for a baby. So I'll be lounging around till he wakes up. Hmm, what to do. I decide to make a phone call.

"Hey Ari, how's it going?" I ask her, lying down on my couch in the living room. I can't believe I've not been here that long and am already feeling kind of bored.

 _"Not too bad, how was your flight?"_ she asks me. I did promise everyone that I would call anyway. So this is a necessity rather than boredom.

"Oh, it was alright. Boring as usual," I answer her, looking up at the ceiling. I hear laughing in the background and ask, "What's going on?" I can only imagine it has something to do with Dean or Seth. Probably Dean because no human laughs the way he does.

 _"The guys are teasing Seth because he's upset that you've called me and not him,"_ Ariana explains at which I laugh. I can't believe that's what's going on over there. I have a feeling I'll be receiving a complaint from Seth very soon. _"I'm curious to know why though,"_ she then says, sounding suspicious of me already.

"Well I have an idea for your wedding dress!" I exclaim with excitement. I'd been thinking for a while now and the plane ride gave me a long enough time to think about it even more, consider all of our options if you must. "I haven't got the details sorted but as of this point you have no need to worry about your wedding dress, consider it bought!" I just need to make sure she's not stressed about this, that's all on me.

 _"Iris, what have you done?"_ she goes on to ask me in a low voice. She asks me like as if I've committed a felony. She could ask a bit more nicely. Instead, I get questioned just like Dean does, I think I deserve more credit.

"Don't worry, you'll appreciate it," I say, wanting it to be a surprise for her. She'll be in awe when she sees it. "So the only major issue we still need to sort out is the catering so what do you want to do? I know you and Dean are both big on food," I say, another thing they both have in common. I gave them the names of different caterers with a list of food of what each one can prepare. I'm just waiting on these guys to make the final decision.

 _"Well Dean's already picked out about 5 different ones he likes and I get to make the final decision because as long as it's one of them he doesn't care,"_ she explains to me as I nod my head as if she's actually here. That's a good thing. At least with Ariana I know a decision will get made, unlike Dean who can't make his mind up about anything.

 _"Really? Wedding talk!"_ I hear in the background. I am the Maid of Honour and Ariana is the bride. Since the boys aren't contributing much it's up to us to make sure everything is in order and in tip top shape.

 _"Excuse that one Iris, he's PMSing,"_ says Ariana and I laugh at the description of my boyfriend right now. I didn't realise he'd be that annoyed if I rang Ariana first. I just thought she could use some good news in relation to the wedding dress.

"Can you let him know that I love him and will ring him later when he won't be at work?" I ask of her. I didn't want to disturb him. The difference between Ariana and the boys is she won't answer unless she's not working. The boys, they'll answer no matter what and get themselves as well as me in trouble for it.

 _"Sure I can,"_ says Ariana, agreeing to it. I hear a persistent voice in the background and wonder who this is now. Ariana sounds irritated so my guess is Dean or Seth. Roman's not annoying like them. _"Fine, I'll ask! Jeez! How's the little one?"_ she asks me and I hold in my laughter. That can only be Dean.

"Let me guess, Dean?" I ask and the huff on the other end clarifies it for me. "Tell him Evan is fine, he was tired from the journey. When I got home I fed him after which Nick and Anne came over and he fell asleep. I'm waiting for him to be done with napping so I can go out and buy some groceries," I list the things Evan's done today so Dean has a good enough summary.

 _"You happy now?"_ Ariana I'm assuming is saying to Dean after having repeated everything I said. I'm surprised I don't hear him and Seth argue about why Dean's being obsessive over Evan again.

"Oh, you can also tell him he did a big number 2 if that's not enough detail," I add on, making us both laugh. "Oh, before I go I need to make sure you know that you still haven't picked a honeymoon destination. Pick one before I get back otherwise I'll have to randomly book one for you. And I know just how much you would hate to have your honeymoon in Alaska!" They've not even given me any options so I have no idea what to do on that front. I also need to make sure I email the person who's printing out the wedding invitations to ensure they're done. They're supposed to be delivered by now but it's not happened and I am not happy about it.

 _"Another thing Mister Ambrose needs to sort out, don't worry I'll set him straight,"_ she says, a determination in the sound of her voice. Well you need a lot of patience and effort to make sure Dean does exactly what's needed of him.

"Ok, you take care," I say before hanging up. After an hour Evan starts to cry but stops as soon as I come into view. Aw, I guess he missed his Mummy. I get him ready as well as myself and we both go out to stock up for the week. A little shopping trip should cure the boredom.

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	77. Grocery Shopping

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

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 **CHAPTER 77:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Hello Mister Rollins, what could you possibly want?" I question him as I answer my phone, still looking at the different jams they have on the shelves. I'm trying to decide between raspberry, strawberry and mixed berries. I know some people would buy all but I can't just keep my house stocked with jam.

 _"Nothing, just thought I'd call you since I finished work,"_ Seth says on the other end. I smile down at Evan in the pushcart as I push it around and fill it with food that I'll need for the week. I've decided on going with the mixed berries. _"How are you both?"_ he asks. He's not used to being without us and we're not used to being without him.

"We are doing fine, aren't we Evan?" I say, looking down at my son who seems to be gurgling. He's so cute. I still can't believe he's mine and Seth's. And 4 months as well. Time flies. He'll be crawling, teething and talking soon.

 _"I miss you guys already,"_ complains Seth, making me chuckle. I don't even think that needs to be said. After him getting upset that I called Ariana, that much was obvious.

"We miss you too," I let him know. I put down some butter into the pushcart and move on. Looking for other things I may need. I have a lot of time on my hands so I'll be able to cook at least every day. And if I cook then I'm going to go all out.

 _"Are Mom and Dad doing ok?"_ he then asks me. It's nice they live in a town close by, it would be a bit weird living in a place where there's literally no one I know around. I've never had this problem because me and Ariana have always loved together.

"Yeah, they're doing great," I let him know. It was nice to see them after such a long time. "Did you know Neil and Angie are in Egypt right now? I am so incredibly jealous! I've never been there," I go on to say. I think with me and Ariana, we've spent a lot of time and effort into making sure we're successful in our careers that we haven't visited the world as much as we wanted to. We have been on holidays but never long enough to actually feel like you've gone on a holiday.

 _"Yeah, I got sent pictures with tongues sticking out at me,"_ he says, making me laugh. Trust Angie to do something like that. Actually, it was probably Neil's idea. _"Really? You've never been Egypt?"_ he asks.

"Nope, I've always wanted to go though," I say, looking through the shelves for some pasta. I make a mean pasta. Plus, it's my favourite dish. "It would be so cool to get a chance to see the pyramids. But at the same time I've always wanted to go Paris or to some romantic city, the atmosphere there would just be amazing". Being there with someone you love would be even more amazing. The closest me and Ariana got was a 4-day trip in Venice. It was nice though, the two of us going around. Would have been better if Ariana didn't offer to pretend to be my boyfriend. We used to be so silly before we met the boys.

 _"Ok, I promise you we will one day,"_ Seth promises and I stop where I am in the aisle, having heard his words.

"Really?" I ask. With his wrestling and now Evan as well, I would never think it would be a possibility.

 _"Definitely,"_ he says, making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world again. At least I know I have a trip to Egypt in the future. _"At least in a romantic city we might get some alone time,"_ he then says, ruining the moment with his boyish mind.

"Hey, no one told you to fall asleep," I point out. Should I tell him that I told Ariana? Or just let it be? She's promised to keep it a secret and what he doesn't know can't hurt him. I think it's best he doesn't know, after all, it still upsets him. Ariana knowing about it will be like a kick in the balls for him.

 _"And no one told you not to wake me up,"_ Seth retorts as I pick up the pasta in disbelief. Did he really just say that? He wouldn't do the same thing if it was me that was asleep. Or would he? I'm having doubts now considering what he's saying over the phone.

"You were tired, I wasn't going to disturb your sleep," I defend myself. He won't stop badgering on about that night. You'd think he'd be too embarrassed to bring it up but no, unless I don't hear about it at least once a day Seth isn't satisfied. Maybe I should tell him Ariana knows, then he might have just a little ounce of shame.

 _"I wanted that sleep disturbed,"_ states Seth and I let out a laugh. I'm never going to hear the end of this till we actually have sex.

"Don't worry, we can try again after this week," I say to him. His schedule should finally have calmed down a little now that we've been back at work for 6 weeks so he won't be as tired. "It's not hard to find someone to baby-sit but promise me that you'll make sure you don't overwork yourself because if you're too tired it's not happening. I'll even lock myself in the bathroom till you fall asleep," I threaten. I love Seth, I really do but he needs to be taking care of himself properly. After all, me and Evan need him. The last thing I want is to over work him and then have to take care of him because of too much stress or something.

 _"If you're giving out such big threats then I'm going to have to do exactly as you say,"_ he says but I can hear the smile he has on his face in his voice. _"This is going to be a long week Cutie Pie,"_ he complains. Maybe when he gets back home we can try when Evan's asleep. After all, this isn't like the hotels. Evan sleeps in a separate room.

"Not if you get on with your work like a good boy in which case time will fly," I say. And I thought I was the overdramatic one out of everyone. I would say to him that Dean will help pass the time but I don't think he'll appreciate that. "Now hang up and get some rest," I order him. I can hear how tired he is just from the sound in his voice. He either needs a nap or some down time.

 _"Seriously?"_ asks Seth with disbelief in his voice. I'm in disbelief about the fact that he's in disbelief. I know when he's full of energy and when he's not, I can hear it in his voice. He doesn't pronounce words properly when he's tired, which I'm getting the vibe of right now.

"Seriously," I state and for a second I think about hanging up but then realise that would be too mean. And I'd never hear the end of that either. I don't need two things he's constantly complaining about, the one is enough. "I love you Mister Rollins," I tell him.

 _"I love you too, goodbye,"_ he says and then hangs up. I turn around from the shelves and it's as if the whole world as stopped. My heart drops as I look at the pushcart and don't see Evan sat in there.

"W-what?" I say in a panic. My son, where's my son? "Evan," I say, my voice just above a whisper. I panic as I move forward and go around to search for him. I merely turned around for two seconds, how could he have disappeared? I literally turned around when I told Seth I love him and then turned back. This isn't possible! "Evan," I call, running through the different aisles as I search frantically for him. I don't even know what I'm looking for, he can't walk. I feel dread come over me when I realise someone must have taken him.

"Excuse me, Miss?" calls out someone and I turn my head, relief washing over me when I see Evan in her arms. I run over to them and quickly take Evan out of her arms, holding him close to me. I thought I'd lost him.

"Oh thank god," I say, my eyes brimming with tears. I kiss Evan all over his face and hug him again, not knowing what I'd do if I'd lost him for sure. I then look at the woman in front of me and say, "It's a felon to take other people's kids, you know that right?" I say, my overprotective mother mode coming out. I will not hesitate to put her in jail for what she did. I was out of my mind and that was a disgusting prank!

"I-I didn't take him," she quickly says to me, looking fearful of the look on my face. "I was standing here minding my own business when some man came and gave him to me. He told me that when someone comes yelling 'Evan' then to give the kid to her," she goes on to explain. Is she an idiot? That's the only explanation I can think of right now for her idiotic actions.

"And that didn't seem suspicious?" I go on to question her. I know some people can be dense, but **_that_** dense?

"Well…h-he said he was the Father and is playing a prank on the Mother," she explains to me which doesn't make sense because I was just on the phone to Seth. Be smart Iris, that's what any fool would say. Neither Seth, nor any of my friends would ever do something like this. "He told me his wife played a prank on him so he's doing the same," she goes on to explain. I can't believe I'm stood here listening to this stupid crap!

"What kind of an idiot would give his son to a random stranger?!" I nearly all but shout. Prank or not, any normal person with an ounce of common sense would have alarm bells ringing if being given a random baby all for the sake of a joke!

"I-I d-don't k-know," stutters the woman, looking kind of scared which is a first because I can't scare anyone. But right now, I am beyond furious.

"And I'm not married!" I let it be known before taking Evan and leaving from there. Once I get back to my pushcart I push it using one hand and keep Evan in my other arm. Just quickly buying the necessities I pay for everything and then get out of there. I drive the car back to the house and take everything in one by one. I push Evan's playpen from the living room to the kitchen and then put him down in it, keeping a watchful eye on him as I unpack and store everything away. Who was this guy? Was it the same guy? Has he come back? Either that or some lunatic just escaped from an asylum around here. Who does that? And why did he tell that woman I'm his wife? Evan is his son? "Damn it," I say to myself, realising I should have asked that woman what he looked like. But I was so panicked I just wanted to get out of there and come back here, home where I belong and feel safe. In mine and Seth and Evan's home.

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Just as I start to make dinner I hear the doorbell ring. Hmm, I wonder what Anne and Nick could want now. At one point they did try to convince me to let them stay here for a couple of days but I made it clear that I needed to be alone. If I do decide to stay at home, then I can't rely on anyone. I have to be completely independent. It was nice of them though. They're very sweet.

"Yes?" I say after I open the door. I see a man on the other side of the door, carrying a big bouquet of roses in one hand and a clipboard in the other.

"These are for you Miss," says the guy on the other side. I take the big bunch of Lilies out of his hands and into mine. I lift them up to my nose and smile at their fresh fragrance. Seth can be so sweet sometimes. This is exactly what I needed after the day I've had.

"Thank you," I say with a smile and he leaves. I go inside with the flowers and back into the kitchen, gently stroking Evan's head for a second when I get to him. I leave the flowers on the counter and grab a vase. I then fill the vase up with water and put them in. "Hmm," I say to myself, only now seeing a note. I grab the note and read it. "I miss you and love you," I read and look over at Evan. "Your Dad thinks he's real smooth, doesn't he?" I ask him, laughing when I see him smile at that. "Well, we won't let him know it's working," I say as if it's our secret. I leave the flowers on the coffee table in the living room and start to cook dinner.

 _"Hello beautiful woman,"_ says Seth on the other end as soon as I answer the phone. A smile makes its way onto my face as I hear his voice.

"Hello yourself handsome," I say, the smile on my face only widening. "Is there a special occasion as to why you've decided to ring me again?" I ask him. I think he's wanting to know if I got the flowers or not but he's going to act all sly about it.

 _"I wanted to hear your voice,"_ answers Seth sheepishly, making me feel all giddy on the inside. _"And check on our son. How is he?"_ he asks. Maybe from my voice he can tell I've got the flowers. Or he's waiting for me to mention them.

"The same as before, doing alright," I answer and then remember what happened earlier on today when I went grocery shopping. Should I tell Seth? Because if the guy is back then that can only mean more trouble. But what if it isn't? What if someone's playing a cruel prank and I've ended up taking it too seriously? I can't tell Seth because he'll just come down here. And I can't have him just up and leave his job, it's important to him. Besides, he's coming at the end of the week anyway. I can just tell him then.

 _"Really? Not missing his Daddy?"_ he goes on to ask me. Seth and Evan have never been apart for long. Seth worked part time whilst I was in the coma and after I woke up, we've been travelling with him.

"Well he keeps looking around and I think it's because he expects you to pop up sometime soon," I tell him. There's no point stressing Seth out over this. It's not like I'm keeping a secret; I'm just not telling him because he never asked. If it is just someone being silly, then there's no point in telling him and getting him worried unnecessarily. Plus, he's taken a lot of time off when Evan was first born and he needs to keep his job. I can't keep pulling him away from it.

 _"Well make sure to give him a kiss from me,"_ says Seth, pulling me out of my thoughts. This is the exact same reason our friends didn't tell me or Seth about Kane. Why do things have to keep taking an unexpected turn?

"And who's going to give me a kiss from you?" I ask, feeling playful. Seth is the one person in the world that I feel safe with. That I feel happy with.

 _"You're killing me Cutie Pie,"_ Seth groans on the other end and I let out a giggle. I love teasing him. Now I get why Dean does it. _"But I'll do that in person at the end of the week, hopefully"._ I cannot wait for him to be back at the end of the week. It'll just be us three. I love our friends, but it's nice to be able to spend time alone as a family. Without Dean stealing Evan away.

"I look forward to it," I tell him. Seeing him will be good for both me and Evan, I can't wait to see Evan's reaction when he sees Seth again. "Can you let Dean and Ariana know that if they don't choose their table cloths for the reception out of the three samples I left for them then I'll do it myself". It's taking ages to make all the decisions and get everything done because they're working and Dean doesn't contribute much.

 _"Jeez, the way you're planning this wedding is as if it's your own,"_ comments Seth and I stay silent. We've never really talked much about marriage, but it is something I would like one day with Seth. It's what I've always wanted since I met him. But thing are different. Baby steps for now though.

"I love Dean, but there is now way I would ever get married to him," I say with disgust in my voice. He's sweet to Ariana but all I ever see is someone rude, who always makes jokes and eats all the food that's available.

 _"And I'm glad because then I'd have to kill him to make sure he doesn't put a ring on your finger,"_ says Seth, unknowingly making me smile. I have been waiting for Seth to say something like this for a while now.

"He wouldn't, I'm his little sister and if he hears you then he'll bury you before you have a chance to explain," I let him know. I think the first few months of marriage will be kind of difficult for Ariana and Dean and then it'll run smoothly. I just think between Dean's expectancy of Ariana playing a little housewife and Ariana rebelling against it make an exploding combination.

 _"Nice to know,"_ says Seth, but I know he's actually worried on the inside about Dean's capabilities. _"Besides, that right is reserved for me only,"_ he adds on cockily, my heart hammering in my body. He's talking about the ring on the finger right?

"Seth," I say with a seriousness in my tone. Is this his way of saying he's hoping to marry me on day? Holy shit, he isn't proposing right now is he? That would be one way of making me run away. I know at one point that's what I wanted but like I pointed out before, things have turned out differently.

 _"I know marriage is the last thing on our minds, trust me I'm not thinking about it anytime soon,"_ he says, which makes me frown. Does he not want to marry me then? I'm so confused. _"But it's definitely in my mind for the future"._ He thinks about us getting married? That's the way it's sounding to me.

"And why would you even want to marry me?" I ask curiously, leaning against the counter in the kitchen, feeling excited to hear his answer. He's never expressed ideas of ever wanting to be that committed to someone so it does make him question his motives.

 _"Because you make me a better person Iris, you make me want to do better, be better,"_ Seth starts to explain and I have to say, I wasn't expecting him to say that. _"I lived with you and without you and truth be told I don't want to go back to the days when I didn't even have you. You gave me a son, forgave me for all the crap I put you through so the question is why wouldn't I want to marry someone as amazing as you?"_ he says, rendering me speechless. Did I really just hear that? _"Hello? You till there?"_ he asks after a couple of minutes.

"Yes," I say, almost breathlessly. I never realised he thought so much of me. "You make me sound a lot greater than I actually am". Something about Seth, the way he says things to me, it makes me feel all funny inside. Like I know this is it and it can't get any better than this.

 _"Nope, if anything I make you sound less,"_ argues Seth. I don't think anyone has ever loved me this much. _"Speaking of marriage, you've had a proposal before. Remember?"_ he says, sounding jealous. Actually, that's another thing somebody can't let go of. This one I don't hear as often though.

"Is someone jealous I could have made it to the alter ages back?" I ask in a teasing voice. If he's going to bring it up, then I'm going to tease the crap out of him.

 _"No, you wouldn't have gotten that far,"_ he says. He sounds pretty sure of himself. If I remember correctly, he's the one that called Rick to try and mend fences with me.

"Oh really?" I ask, one hand on my hip, as if he can see me. I'd like to have him in front of me right now for this conversation.

 _"Yeah, I would have broken both his legs so he couldn't wait for you down at the aisle,"_ answers Seth, giving me a typical guy, not to mention a typical wrestler, kind of answer.

"Mister Rollins!" I reprimand him but he just chuckles. He wouldn't break anyone's legs. At least I hope not. Even if it is Rick.

 _"What? It's true, I'd break his legs and then wait for you there myself,"_ he goes on to say cheekily as I shake my head. If that actually happened, then as soon as I saw Seth I would have jumped to hug him.

"Are these the kinds of things you're going to teach our son?" I was thinking it would be Dean who would teach Evan how to do the right things but using the wrong method.

 _"Only if he does stupid things like me and lets the love of his life go like me, then yeah,"_ says Seth and I freeze at the choice of words he uses. Love of his life? That's what he thinks I am? _"But don't worry, I'll try and make sure he doesn't do stupid things. Besides, with you as a Mother he's not bound to anyway"._ I think I'll end up with diabetes with all this sweet talk. I should do something special for Seth, to show him how much I appreciate having him around. Nothing can be more special than surprising him with a night he'll never forget.

"Yeah but I can imagine you guys doing silly things behind my back," I say, trying to get over what he said but I can't. I can't even stop smiling right now. I wasn't expecting him to call me that and now he has, I can't even explain what I feel. It's indescribable.

 _"I think you're confusing me with Dean,"_ he says. With Dean involved I can only just picture things getting messier. The same goes for Dean's kid being involved.

"And I think you're confusing me with an idiot," I state. These boys think that can get their way but with me and Ariana around, that'll never happen. We have great intuition.

 _"Not at all, you're the smartest woman I have ever met,"_ he says, trying to butter me up. I don't know if I should take it or make him sweat a bit more. I'm actually surprised we're managing to have a conversation for so long, just the two of us.

"Is that sarcasm I hear?" I tease him but then hear shuffling on the other end. "Hello?" I ask, not hearing his voice but a lot of background noise. He hasn't dropped his phone has he?

 _"Hi Iris!"_ I hear Dean say all of a sudden. Not that I'm not happy to hear him but I didn't expect that. He must have fought Seth to talk to me. When will this boy ever learn?

"Hey honey, what's up?" I ask, playing along. He probably grabbed Seth's phone off of him and is now running around to make sure he doesn't get caught.

 _"I missed you and the little one,"_ answers Dean and I hear laughing in the background. That must be Roman and Ariana. So they're there too? Did that all surprise Seth or something? _"So, what are you wearing?"_ he jokes. I can't believe he's trying this knowing what Seth's like.

 _"You son of a…"_ I hear Seth say and Dean laughing out loud. I think I better take the head on this one, just to help Seth for once and put Dean in his place.

"Dean Ambrose, that is inappropriate language to use with your sister!" I reprimand him. I think I may be on loud speaker. Either way, Dean's getting it. In front of everyone or not, that's his choice not mine.

 _"Sorry,"_ he apologises and I hear laughing again. Oh I know they all must have found it hilarious. _"How's my best friend?"_ he goes on to ask and I'm assuming he's talking about Evan whilst taking a jab at both Roman and Seth. Since neither of them seem to be in his good books. Seth for talking to me without informing Dean and Roman, well just because he's laughing of course.

"Great, I think he misses you," I tell him and know that's probably brightened up his day. He's also probably sticking his tongue out at Seth. "Now, take me off loudspeaker," I request him. I need to ask him something without others listening in. Despite Dean not keeping generic secrets, he's quite good with the serious ones. "Is everything ok over there? Like, is Seth having any problems?" I question curiously.

 _"Not that I know of, why, are you?"_ he asks me, sounding serious and just like that protective mode is on. I wish I could ask things without hearing that in their voice, it makes things a lot easier for me then.

"No, I just have a nagging feeling," I lie, glad he isn't here because he'd be able to tell that I am. If anybody else can't tell that I'm lying, he definitely will be able to. He's a master at it.

 _"Everything's good here Hot Mama,"_ Dean says in a chipper voice, relief washing over me as I hear that. _"Well apart from the fact that Seth looks ready to kill me because I interrupted his loooooooove time with you,"_ he explains, deliberately saying it using a loud voice. _"By the way, are you worried he may underperform when you finally do it? I mean, he has fallen asleep before it began_ ," he says, my face heating up at the remark. Ariana the little...Oh, I am so mad at her right now. I can't believe she told him!

 _"You're so dead Dean!"_ I hear Seth shout and after some shuffling I hear a new voice. I really hope they don't kill each other. This is exactly why we didn't tell anyone. But that's all moot now anyway.

 _"Seth and Dean are banned from speaking to you because they should both be ashamed of themselves,"_ says Roman, making me chuckle. It's all out of the bag now so what can I say or do that'll change things?

"Right, and tell Dean that if he continues making remarks like the last one I just may spend two weeks out here in a trial period instead of the one," I give him my message to the lunatic who I know won't be happy about it. Roman relays my message to Dean and by the sounds of it Seth and Dean are now arguing about whose fault it is that I might make that decision.

 _"Will you guys can it? Otherwise I'll get Ari to chase you both with a baseball bat when she comes back,"_ he threatens them both, something I find very amusing. Oh, so Ariana was never there to begin with.

"Sorry for leaving you with the kids Roman," I apologise to him. I know he has JoJo, but even she behaves ten times better than these two.

 _"That's alright baby girl, although JoJo is easier to handle than these dweebs,"_ he says, making me laugh. He's right about that. They hate each other as much as they love each other.

 _"Hey! Who are you calling a dweeb?"_ Obviously Dean didn't like that last comment. I think he got pretty close to Roman as well because I managed to hear that. Roman's probably glaring at him to back away like he usually does.

 _"You, you dweeb,"_ says Roman and I laugh. I feel sorry for Ariana because when she finally does have a kid with Dean she'll be tag teamed by them both. But her funeral since she chose Dean. _"How's the weather in Davenport?"_ Roman asks, making polite conversation.

"Not too bad, a bit of sunshine," I answer. It's still quite cold, it's November after all. "Ok, I better go now. I'm in the middle of making dinner and wasn't planning on talking for too long," I explain to him. I'm great in the kitchen but not that great that I can make everything with one hand.

 _"Ok, you take care and call Seth tomorrow_ _ **if**_ _you think he deserves it,"_ says Roman, emphasising the 'if' and annoying the hell out of my boyfriend in the process.

"Will do Roman, you take care too. Oh and remind Dean and Ariana about the table clothes and the honeymoon, Seth might have forgotten by now considering he's too busy arguing like a 2-year-old with Dean," I say and finally hang up. Maybe they'll finally get back to me about stuff to do for their wedding. That definitely improved my mood but it also showed me just how much I miss them all. I make the rest of dinner and sit with Evan at the table, eating it. "This is the quiet life Evan," I say to myself, eating another mouthful. I love my baby but I'm not loving this. Being away from everyone I love.

I have to say nothing's the same without everyone else. It feels so empty here. I mean, Evan's here but he's in his own world. That will change as he grows up but until then it's just me here like this. So, at the end of day one my conclusion today is that I wish I was with my friends and Seth right now. Let's see how tomorrow pans out.

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 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	78. Day Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Happy holidays! :)**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Might be, might not be. We'll see. Enjoy the holidays! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

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 **CHAPTER 78:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Hi, my name is Officer Charlie," he introduces himself as he walks into the room where me and Evan are sat in. After a bit of thinking I decided the best thing to do was go to the police and report everything. I think that's what Seth would want me to do and as I've realised from before, keeping things to yourself gets you nowhere. I can't let anything happen to Evan, I just can't.

"Hi," I say to the officer, glancing at Evan who seems to have dozed off in his stroller. Officer Charlie takes a seat opposite me, a pen and pad in his hand.

"What can I do for you Maam?" he asks me pleasantly. At least I didn't get someone who'll act like I'm wasting his time.

"I think...my son is in danger," I explain to him. I then go on to explain to him what happens, he nods his head and writes things down as I relay the story.

"What was the supermarket you went to?" asks Officer Charlie and I give him the name and address. I don't know what he's going to do with that. "And this woman, can you describe her to me?" he asks and I roll my eyes. Woman. Yeah right (!)

"She was young, blonde hair, green eyes. A couple of inches shorter than me and I'd say she was around 16 or 17," I describe her. I just cannot believe anyone could be so stupid, no matter what their age. I could have lost my son yesterday.

"Alright, I think I have everything I need. I'll see what I can do and get back to you," says Officer Charlie with a small smile on his face. I nod my head but the uneasy in the pit of my stomach isn't laid to rest.

"Officer Charlie," I say, just as he gets up. I look up at him with questioning eyes, I just have to know one thing.

"You can call me Charlie," he says, offering me a friendly smile. At least I feel that the person I've told will be looking to sort this out and not just leave it on the backburner. It's a feeling that I have. Some people can be trusted from the very first moment you meet them.

"Charlie," I say his name. "Have I done the right thing? I mean, reporting it here. Can I be assured that this will get resolved? That Evan is safe from now on?" I go on to ask, even though it is a lot. But I can't help it. My number one priority is to make sure my son is safe and secure.

"You have done the right thing, don't ever question that. People can't get away with this sort of thing," Charlie reassures me and I nod my head. They can't. I let Kane get away with it. What if this is him trying to still destroy my life? I don't want that to keep happening. "I don't know what's going to happen or what I'll find, but I'll try my best," he says before walking out of that room. I have to sign a couple of things before I leave.

* * *

After much thinking I decided me and Evan could spend the day outside today. The weather is ok and I have a few things that I need to get done. The first being Ariana's wedding dress. I push the stroller down the road till I get to the store, a smile on my face as I step inside. Since Ariana can't find a dress that would look great on her, I'm going to make a dress that I know will look great on her.

"Hello?" I say, closing the door behind me and looking around. There doesn't seem to be anyone in here. Do they know they've left their store unlocked?

"W-what? Who?" I hear a voice and look around, not being able to see anyone. I walk further into the store, even though it is a small place. Just when I thought I was imagining that voice a figure jumps out from a bunch of wedding dresses gathered on the floor making me jump out of my skin.

"Ah!" I scream, a hand on my heart after which relief washes over me that it's just a person. "Don't do that to a person," I say, looking at the woman in front of me. She's short with blonde hair in a pony, a pair of glasses on her face and has a bunch of tape measures around her neck.

"Oops, sorry," says the woman and then lets out a chuckle, a hand on her face. "Hi, I'm Penny. I own the store," she introduced herself, just the woman I needed to see anyway. I've been doing a bit of research online, finding out what there is around here that I could use to the best of my abilities.

"Hi, I'm Iris," I introduce myself and shake her hand. "Do you scare all your customers?" I ask with an amused smile on my face.

"Nope, this would be a first," says Penny with a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm terribly sorry but I was reaching for some of the dresses on that top shelf and the next thing I know is they've all fallen on me and I'm entangled in them," she goes on to explain, using her hand to make gestures.

"Thank god, I thought you might be one of those weirdoes who…I have no idea just a weirdo," I admit. I wasn't going to go anywhere with that sentence.

"Sorry for the scare," she apologises again. She actually seems very nice so I'm not at all annoyed. If she had an attitude, then there would be a problem. It also makes my job ten times easier. "What can I do for you?" she then asks in a sweet voice.

"I need a wedding dress made," I say, clamping my hands together. I know it's a push for time since the wedding is in 4 weeks but I was hoping she can still get it done.

"Ok, are you getting married?" she asks at which I go red. First Seth mentions getting married and now she does. Not to mention the lady at the bridal store. Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't rule it out all together in the foreseeable future.

"No, it's for my friend," I tell her. "You see, actually," I start and then explain the situation to her, everything about not being able to find Ariana a dress. "So, the wedding is in a month and nothing seems to look right on her so I think if I got one made to her taste then it should look great on her," I finish explaining. I have spent a lot of my time dressing up Ariana in the past, I know what she likes, what she'll feel comfortable in and what she'll also look good in.

"What if she doesn't like it?" Penny asks hesitantly. Ariana never doesn't like what I get for her. She's been apprehensive about some of the stuff in the past but once she gets it on, it's like my best friend does a complete 360 turn.

"Trust me, she will. Considering she hates wearing long dresses altogether," I go on to say. She likes dresses that are shorter and allow leg movement. A wedding dress has to be long of course but as long as she can move her legs freely without anything getting the way, it should be fine. "I've known Ari since I was around 5 or 6 so the most important thing for her is that she feels comfortable wearing the dress". That should be a rule for women's dresses on their wedding day. If you're not comfortable, what's the point? It just makes the whole day a sort of chore.

"While that all sounds great, my normal notice time is at least 2 months," says Penny, the first problem appearing. I knew this was bound to happen, no wedding happens without a few obstacles to say the least. Not to mention 4 weeks' notice isn't something any general person would be happy with.

"Can you not work your hands faster?" I request of her, knowing how idiotic I probably sound right now. I was hoping she'd be able to squeeze it in. "It's just, this idea didn't come to me till later on. I did search for a few stores who make their own dresses but I thought since I lived close by here, this one would be the best one to go with". Maybe I should call Dean and ask him to use his powers. I'm sure it won't come to that.

"I'm really sorry, I wish I could help you but I'm really busy with other weddings and my shop and everything else going on in my life," explains Penny, exhaling at the end of that sentence. She sounds kind of stressed. "And now I seem like a bitch because I've said 'no' to someone I barely know," she rants. I'm not the kind of person to think 'bitch' as soon as things don't go my way. Otherwise nearly every person I meet I would say that to.

"Don't worry about it Penny," I say, sensing she has her own problems to take care of. "Uh, would it help if I assisted you in any way?" I ask her and see her looking up at me in surprise. I've got nothing better to do anyway and if I can help someone in my time then why not? "I mean, I'm only here for the week till my boyfriend comes back to get me again but…I'll help in any way that I can," I offer her, seeing her so distressed. The amount of times I've been stressed and needed someone to step in, luckily during my pregnancy all my friends had my back.

"Do you know anything about running a business?" she asks me with a humourless chuckle, shaking her head. I think my response will surprise the heck out of her.

"I took business and finance in college," I reply and by the look on her face I can see that she wasn't expecting that. Always expect the unexpected right? Mom always wanted a backup, some other way I could help her earn money just in case. I liked it too because it was something other than getting dressed up and being paraded around.

"You're kidding?" says Penny but I shake my head with a serious look on my face. "Ok, well uh, I've had this shop for 2 years now. I first took a loan from the bank, it was a small one because my family helped with most of the cash," she starts to explain, going through a bunch of papers in a filing cabinet. "But recently I asked for another and they rejected my offer despite the fact that my business seems to be doing alright," she says, handing me the papers from the bank. I look through them carefully.

"Yes they have," I state. I think she needs the money just to help her expand and be able to do a lot more. I then get an idea. "Why don't you get a guarantor?" I suggest. That's something simple that can help her take care of the problem. It means she won't have to go to different banks or even loan sharks to get the money.

"A what?" she asks in confusion.

"A guarantor," I state, thinking back to everything I learnt. Maybe I can put that into use if I decide to be at home after the first year. I could start a business or a small shop. It'd be perfect. "This is a person who signs the loan with you. They basically state that if you're unable to pay the loan back to the bank for unknown reasons then that person will pay it off for you. That way they're more likely to lend you the money because they know they'll definitely get it back," I go on to explain. Although the person that becomes the guarantor then has a problem on their hands.

"I…I didn't even realise you could do that," Penny says with a small smile on her face as I hand the papers back to her. She looks 5 times less stressed than she did when I first walked in here. That can only mean good things.

"Well, you have to be fully sure that you can repay the loan as well as convince someone else to sign the papers," I further explain. That's the problem, who'll be willing to put their name on the line for her?

"That's fine, Mom will be fine doing that," says Penny more to herself than me. I guess that's what you use families for. "Thank you". It's always nice to hear a thank you from someone, makes you feel all good inside.

"No problem, I better be going, I have a lot of wedding things to sort out," I say, going back over to the stroller. Dean and Ariana still need to get back to me with their honeymoon destination. With the places they wanted to go to I found different hotels and other things, giving them a pick. All they have to do is choose so I can book it before it gets overly expensive.

"I…I didn't even realise you had a kid with you," says Penny, immediately coming over and bending down to get a good look at Evan. I smile as she looks down and coos over him. Yeah, babies have that special power. They just look so innocent and cute.

"His name's Evan and he's 4 months old," I state proudly. I know 4 months is a lot but it's gone by really quick for me. Seth thinks the same. He's looking forward to Evan walking though, saying

"Aw, he's adorable," says Penny, waving at Evan who's sort of awake. "I'm assuming the guy you're with is his father?" I'm glad he is as well. I don't know if me and Seth would ever be together if it wasn't for Evan so I'm glad I had him.

"Yes," I say with a nod of my head. Evan couldn't have had a better Father even if he was picked out of a catalogue. "A great one too," I say, more to myself than her.

"Would you be ok working along with having to take care of Evan?" Penny then asks me, getting up from where she is in front of the stroller. Working along with taking care of Evan? Is she accepting my help then?

"So that means…" I trail off, pointing a finger at her. Penny nods her head.

"Yes, you can assist me," clarifies Penny and I instantly go around the stroller and envelope her in a big hug. I don't do that to strangers but she has no idea what she's done, how much it means to me and how important it is to Ariana.

"Thank you," I say, getting excited at the thought of something going our way in terms of the dress. "You have no idea what this means to me," I voice my thoughts, pulling back. I don't have to rack my brain for any more ideas, the dress is sorted!

"Well, I just had a person who quit," starts Penny, not sounding too happy at the mention of this person. "She'd do odd jobs around here. Make coffee, brush or mop up, tidy up, clean the windows. I mean, it'll take the time off my hands to be able to make the dress that you want," she goes on to explain. She doesn't need to try and sell it to me at all, I am ready to do whatever it takes to make sure my best friend walks down the aisle completely taking everyone's breath away.

"I could totally do that," I say enthusiastically with my hands on my hips. It'll give me something to do and make sure that I'm not bored either. It'll be just like living with the boys and cleaning up after their messes.

"I appreciate it, I really do," says Penny. I can tell she does as well. "I'll even give you the dress on a discounted price for all your effort," she goes on to say, blowing me away with that offer.

"Really? I feel like I should be paying you more for doing it on such short notice," I tell her truthfully. I can't take the discounted price; it'll seem like I'm asking more from her.

"Let's agree to disagree," says Penny and I nod my head with a chuckle. "The shop closes around 5, would you be able to come back later so we can go over the details for the dress? That way I can get started on it as soon as I can," she explains. I already have the details in my head, I just need to get them on paper and see what's possible and what's not.

"That would be perfect for me. What time do you want me starting tomorrow?" I might as well get stuff ready tonight so that I can come in tomorrow morning not having to worry about anything. Like whether I remembered to pack Evan's bag correctly or how much cleaning I need to do and things.

"9 would be good," replies Penny. It's better than the really early starts I'd have to do whilst I was on the road. Then again, when I was wrestling it wasn't really a problem. Wrestling was better than doing anything else. Even sleeping.

"9 it is then," I say, saluting her which makes her laugh. "I'll bring breakfast," I offer with a smile.

"Oh, you don't have to," says Penny, shaking her head. She might be trying to be nice but I am too. I'm not going to just keep on taking without giving something in return. That's not me at all.

"Yes I do, as a thank you," I say. I say goodbye and leave from there with Evan, glad the whole wedding thing is sorted. Plus, it'll give me something to do besides taking care of Evan, feeding myself and doing the household chores which aren't much on their own. Especially considering me and Seth aren't messy people. My phone buzzes and I look to see I have a message from Ariana. It better be something useful.

 ** _Honeymoon Destination 2-A_** Great, they finally made a decision. I was thinking I needed to start pestering them with emails just like the card invitation guy who's promised me the cards should all be reaching the people who they're meant for. If they don't in the next day, he's fired.

 ** _Took you long enough,_** I hit the reply button. A few seconds later I get another message from her.

 ** _Would have told you sooner but the wedding talk made Dean horny- A_** I didn't need to know that. Actually, I don't understand that. How can wedding talk make Dean horny? I shouldn't ask. But my curiosity gets the better of me.

 ** _That is disgusting. And how does that even happen?_** I send her, finding Dean an odd fellow at times. It's a wonder he's managed to keep Ariana this long. But considering she's just as stubborn as he is they fit together perfectly. Plus, he's cute.

 ** _He started to imagine me in a wedding dress, said I looked sexy and then after that we didn't leave the bedroom for two hours-A_** That's all it took? I bet he was imagining her on their wedding night. I won't tease her about it though, not till we're face to face.

 ** _Nice to know_** , I send back and keep my phone in my pocket. I get a strange feeling come over me. I look around and see other people going about their lives as usual. Maybe it's just me. I feel the hair stand up on my neck and look around once again. Why do I feel eyes on me? Maybe yesterday made me paranoid, how could it not though? Lost in my thoughts I don't even realise where I'm walking and end up bumping into someone.

"Sorry," I apologise quickly but the person just continues on walking. "How rude," I say to myself before continuing on walking myself. I take a long walk in the park after which I get some lunch. It's peaceful spending all this time with Evan but at the same time I know it would be better if Seth was with us.

* * *

The rest of the days go by quick as I help out Penny at the shop as well as taking care of Evan. Needless to say everyone in the shop ends up smitten with Evan, all rushing off to him as soon as he cries which makes me laugh. Tomorrow, well tomorrow hopefully Seth can come home. Fingers crossed. I cannot wait, I'm so excited.

 _"Hey babe,"_ says Seth on the other end of the phone as I answer his call. I've been staring at it for ages, waiting for him to ring. And no, I didn't have anything better to do.

"Hey yourself," I say to him, a smile on my face as I talk to him. It seems like I'm hearing his voice after forever.

 _"Someone sounds happy,"_ comments Seth and he knows exactly why which is why he's made that comment using that tone.

"Well someone's coming home tomorrow," I say but a frown when I hear a sigh on the other end of the phone. That doesn't sound like good news. "You can't come can you?" I ask, my smile faltering as reality sets in. We knew this was a possibility but I just didn't want to accept it. I thought positive thinking meant positive results. But apparently I was wrong.

 _"I'm sorry,"_ says Seth, sounding kind of upset himself. I don't blame him; we've been looking forward to getting back together ever since we parted ways a few days ago.

"Why are you apologising? It's not your fault," I say, I might be upset but it doesn't mean that I'll stop thinking rationally. I won't blame him for it one bit, it's just how these things go sometimes unfortunately.

 _"I know, but I told you I'd be there,"_ says Seth, sounding sad on the other end. He said it with the hope that he'd be back, it doesn't make him a liar by a mile.

"And I knew you still might not be able to make it," I say and then shake my head. We'll see each other in a couple of days, it's no big deal. "Don't worry about it Seth, me and Evan will see you in a couple of days when we come back up, alright?" I say, trying to reassure him but at the same time reassuring myself in my head. It's fine. You've been apart from Seth longer. Besides, it's just a couple more days. It's not like as if I won't see him again.

 _"You will but I'll still feel like an ass,"_ says Seth, succeeding in getting a laugh out of me. It's a good thing Dean isn't a part of this conversation.

"Don't worry, I don't think you are one if that helps?" I say, lying back down on the couch, a smile reappearing once more. I don't know if he said that to make me laugh or because he actually feels like that.

 _"That helps quite a lot,"_ says Seth and I can hear the smile in his voice. "I miss you guys so much". That's literally a tradition in every conversation we've been having, talking about how we miss the other. Or in his case, others.

"We miss you too," I say with a big sigh. It's just been so weird going to sleep without having Seth besides me, I've grown accustomed to having his arms around me. I did not sleep well on the first night. "But that's life. When you don't want to be with someone you get thrown together and when you want them, then you're separated," I say what comes to mind. It kind of sums up his life surrounding me.

 _"Hey Iris, I hope you're not losing the will to live on me here,"_ says Seth and I wish he was here so I could stick my tongue out at him. And yes, that may be very childish but it's needed in this situation especially.

"No I'm not, Evan needs me and I couldn't leave him by himself," I say, making it sound like a crime. Which I think it definitely would be.

 _"Evan's keeping you going? Just Evan?"_ asks Seth and I nod my head as if he's actually here. Use words Iris, the man can't see you right now.

"Yes, he's my guy," I say with a smile, deciding to tease Seth for the fun of it. If he's going to do that to me then I can definitely do it to him.

 _"Ahem, you have another guy too,"_ says Seth, sounding very jealous of his son right now. It wouldn't be the first time. I've had him complaining before that Evan hogs all my time. My response to that was to just walk away from him. He's never mentioned it since. He probably realised how stupid he was being.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you Mister Rollins, especially where your son is concerned," I explain to him, holding in my laughter.

"I'm not jealous but I think I'll need to come over and show you exactly why you have two reasons to keep on going," Seth says in an authoritative manner, almost making me laugh. He's so cute when he thinks he sounds so serious.

 _"And then fall asleep as soon as she gets naked!"_ I hear someone shout in the background and laugh as I realise Dean must have heard what Seth said. Does he not realise to have private conversations away from Dean if he doesn't want to get burned?

 _"Will you please just fuck off for once?!"_ yells Seth and I can imagine it must be difficult for him. We've not had one phone conversation just the two of us, the annoying Dean Ambrose always makes an appearance and ruins the mood.

"Seth, language," I reprimand him. Doesn't matter how angry he is that's no way to talk to other people. And since Seth is Evan's Dad, I'll need to put a tighter lid on that principal too. As soon as Evan starts talking, they're all going to get glares from me for their language.

 _"Sorry,"_ says Seth begrudgingly. He needs to find a private place where Dean can't come into so we can have some time to ourselves otherwise it's never going to happen. Ever. _"We can talk now. I swear, the bathroom is the only place that I can get some privacy,"_ he comments, making me chuckle. _"I know you've not said anything, but you're not having any problems living by yourself are you?"_ he asks me and I start to feel guilty about not telling him about the whole supermarket incident. Should I tell him when we get back? I was hoping to tell him here and keep it between ourselves for now. Do the right thing as Evan's parents.

"Apart from the fact that it's too quiet," I say, not really answering his question. I can't hide something like this from him. I'm going to have to tell him as soon as I get back to him. This isn't something I can hide and justify. There's no excuse. "Seth, I know you won't be coming tomorrow but when I get back to you, there's something we need to discuss," I say to him. Now that I've said it, I can't take it back. It's one way of pushing myself to make sure I do tell him and don't chicken out. He'll remind me and ask me about it when I do get back. So no way out.

 _"What is it?"_ asks Seth, sounding concerned on the other end. But he should be because this isn't some small thing and for a couple of days, I deceived myself into thinking otherwise. _"Have you made your decision?"_ he asks me. I think as soon as the first day was over I decided I can't be away from Seth and everyone else. At least not yet.

"Well yeah I have made my decision but that's not it," I say, not wanting to cause too much concern. "But don't worry about it just now, we'll talk when I get back," I let him know and that seems to do the trick for now because he doesn't ask any further questions. He knows if I want to tell him something then I'll do it when I can and as soon as I can.

 _"Looks like we'll have a lot of catching up to do then huh?"_ asks Seth and I nod my head as if he's actually here.

"We'll get it all done," I assure him. It's going to be long and painful though. He's going to blow up. Where will I be able to do it safely?

 _"I'm sure we will,"_ says Seth after which we both hang up. I can't wait to see him again; things don't feel right when I'm away from him. I smile at Evan, watching him play in his playpen as I go about tidying things up before heading off to sleep. I stop what I'm doing when I hear a noise. What was that? It sounded like something dropped upstairs. I quickly grab Evan and then the bat from the closet. It was a present Dean left for me to find, saying a young girl like me will need something to defend herself with in case anything untoward was to happen. His words not mine. I head up the stairs quietly with Evan. I don't dare leave him downstairs, not after everything that occurred at the supermarket. I need my eyes on him at all times.

"Hello?" I say as I enter my room. I'm sure the noise came from here. I let out a sigh when I turn on the lights and find nobody there. "Wait a second, I never left the window open," I say to myself, walking over to the window, bat still in my hand. I put Evan in his cot and go over to the window once more. I look outside and around, not finding a thing out of place. Hmm, that's peculiar. I close the window and lock it, getting a weird feeling as I stare at my son. I don't like this one bit. It might look like nothing but it feels like something.

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 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	79. Good Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't post yesterday but the chapter wasn't finished and I was on a 12 hour shift at work. But here it is now! Happy new year guys! :)**

* * *

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: I love it when you start getting all your theories out! Haha! Aw thank you! Happy new year! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: He is fine, don't worry. Well for the moment anyway :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I knew you would! Happy new year :)**

 **NudeFitsLipsandPumps: Yay! I think everyone is but I keep putting it off. Yeah, weird things bombs away! And the dress is getting sorted! Happy new year :)**

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 **CHAPTER 79:**

 **IRIS POV**

"But you'll get to see him in like two days," says Penny, after I explained the situation with Seth and how he's not coming home. She found it funny though, the way I was acting.

"You try living without the man you love," I comment, making her laugh as she continues to work on Ariana's dress. She's informed me it'll get done hopefully 3 days before the wedding. If worst comes to worst, the day before. In which case someone will need to come and get it, flying back and forth.

"I don't have the time for men, only work," says Penny and I shake my head at her. She's a workaholic and from what I've gathered due to that fact, her past relationships haven't worked out. Of course it doesn't help when people like me give her such huge tasks. Great, now I feel bad.

"You need to take a weekend off and relax, find a guy who loves working as much as you do," I explain to her, eliciting a chuckle out of her as I go around gathering off bits of material here and there, putting them into a black bin bag.

"Or maybe I need to find a guy who I like more than work," suggests Penny and I nod my head, pointing my finger at her. It looks like she knows it all but still hasn't met the right person. But how can she if she stays in here all day?

"I'd still say get out of here for the weekend," I tell her, looking over at Evan who's asleep. The others have gone for lunch and one of them is in the back getting orders ready. Surprisingly, Penny works at the front of the shop, right at the counter. I think it's because she likes that human interaction rather than staying lonely by yourself in the back.

"I promise to do at least one weekend after you're gone," promises Penny which is all I ask of her. She's got a lot of friends anyway, might as well accept their invitation for a girls' night. The rest of the day goes by slow and I leave after saying goodbye to Penny. I get home and decide to start on dinner. If only Evan could eat, then it'd be dinner for two. Right now it's for one. The doorbell rings and I look at the clock on the wall, it's 6. Who could be showing up at this time? I know no one from Seth's family would and I don't know anybody around here except for Penny and the girls at work. They don't even know for sure where I live.

"Ok," I say to myself, using a rag to clean my hands. "I'll be right back honey," I say to Evan, smiling at him as he plays with one of his rattles. I walk towards the front door, getting an eerie feeling. Last night...it's not...I'm getting myself worked up. I'm thinking too much of it. I unlock the door and open it, my mouth dropping in shock at the person standing in front of me.

"Hello beautiful," says Seth with a grin on his face, flowers in his hands. I squeal and jump into his arms in delight.

"Oh my god!" I squeal, hugging onto him tighter which makes him laugh. I can't believe he's here in front of me right now. "Are you real?" I ask, pulling away momentarily. Seth nods his head and I hug him again. "Oh gosh, I missed you so much," I tell him, kissing the side of his face.

"I missed you too," Seth tells me, keeping his arms tied securely around me. "I don't think I've ever had this sort of a welcome," he informs me and a smile comes onto my face before I pull away and say what I do next.

"That's it, we're coming on the road with you," I say, my hands in the air. I can't be away from Seth for that long and neither can Evan I don't think.

"What about Evan having friends to play with?" asks Seth, that being one of the points of me and Evan being off the road. Evan having friends and others around that are his age.

"He has Dean, that's good enough," I say, waving a hand in the air. Seth grabs me by the waist and plants his lips on mine in a passionate kiss, rendering me speechless. "Wow," I say, keeping my eyes closed after his lips pull away.

"That's what you get whenever you give me good news," says Seth and I let out a laugh as I open my eyes. I point to the **roses** in his hand. "And of course, these," he says, handing them to me. I smell them and let out a content sigh.

"Twice in one week, I'm a lucky lady," I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. I close the door and say, "Evan's in the kitchen". He nods his head and heads straight there. I have a two second debate about following him or finding a vase for these flowers. But wanting to see Evan's reaction to Seth wins out and I follow my boyfriend.

"Hey buddy," says Seth, coming into Evan's view. A grin appears on Evan's face and he starts moving his arms and legs around, obviously wanting to be picked up by his Dad. "Did you miss me?" he asks, picking Evan up and holding him in his arms, giving him a kiss on the cheek. My heart just melted completely at this scene right here. I leave them be for a couple of minutes, finding a vase for the flowers. When I come back I continue on dinner, Seth is lucky that I was only halfway through, I can make enough for the both of us. "What have you two been up to?" he asks us both, walking around the kitchen.

"Nothing much, we made some new friends at a bridal store and we've been making sure Ariana's dress gets ready on time," I explain to him, deciding not to give him any details because they'd just bore him.

"Wedding things huh?" he asks me, referring to the earlier joke of me acting like it's mine.

"Shut up," I say, sticking my tongue out at him. Seth's eyes widen and his mouth opens in shock, he starts asking Evan if he saw that and to never do that. I just ignore him and get on with making my spaghetti. "Honey, would you be able to run out and get some beer and wine? I don't have any," I say, remembering how I've not gone shopping again since the incident. Alcohol wasn't a necessity so I didn't buy it then.

"Yeah sure, I'll take Evan with me," says Seth, shifting him onto the other side and going to grab Evan's coat. I really want to tell him that it's not safe to take Evan out, to just leave him with me. But I know that's just fear and insecurity, nothing will happen to him with Seth around. I'm just on edge since everything that happened. "Be back soon!" he shouts from the hallway after which I hear the front door open and close. I finish off dinner and keep it in the pot for it to stay warm, getting the table set for two. I even light the candle and turn down the lights. It'll be a nice atmosphere for us all. I go upstairs because I can't find my phone anywhere, thinking it must be in our room.

"What the..." I trail off when I see the curtains blowing around from the window that's coming in. I quickly go over to the window and close it, I swear I left it closed. What the hell is going on? This happened the other day as well. It's probably just me, I'm forgetting things because I'm so stressed. I turn to leave when I notice a stuffed bear on the bed. That's not one of Evan's. I pick it up and take a closer look at it. When I notice Seth's bag on the floor I realise he must have bought it for Evan. I walk over to Evan's nursery and place it in his cot. By the time I get downstairs, my boys are already back home.

"You know, I can't walk for five minutes carrying before some woman comes and starts asking me everything I know about my own son," comments Seth, walking through the door as I stand on the stairs, a hand on my hips.

"As long as they're not asking questions about you, I don't care," I say, Seth looking amused by what I said. "What? A man with a baby is hot," I inform him, knowing exactly how women are wired. I walk down the rest few steps and take Evan's coat off of him, as well as helping Seth take off his jacket.

"Believe me, the questions went from Evan to me," Seth informs me, putting a frown on my face. "Oh, don't worry," he says, noticing the look on my face. "I told them I'm taken for eternity," he says, kissing my cheek and walking off. I shake my head with a laugh and put their things away, going to the kitchen and plating up. "Has Evan had his milk yet?" he asks me.

"No, he didn't want it. But he did have some baby food not too long ago so he should be fine," I explain, bringing the bowl of spaghetti to the table. I plate it up for the both of us and sit back as I eat and watch Seth trying to eat with Evan in one arm. "Seth, put him down. He'll be fine," I tell him, at this rate Seth's face will look like the dish itself because the area around his mouth is covered in sauce.

"No, I'll be fine," insists Seth, keeping Evan close. I think somebody missed their son to the point that they can't let him go for even a second.

"He's not going to run away you know," I comment teasingly, Seth letting out a chuckle. I pick up a napkin and lean to the right, assisting him in cleaning his face. "For future reference, don't ever do that in front of Dean," I advise him for his own safety. "How's work been?" I then ask him, not having asked him what he's been up to.

"Same old, same old," answers Seth before taking another large mouthful of spaghetti. It looks like he's not been fed in days with the way he's acting. "But just the other night, Dean had a match with Ziggler and had his eyebrow busted open," he comments casually, my eyebrows rising in surprise.

"What?!" I almost screech, Seth sitting there with his eyes closed shut. "Why didn't you tell me?" I demand from him, getting a sheepish look in return which tells me everything. "This is you telling me, isn't it?" I question, sitting back with my arms crossed over my chest. I can't believe nobody bothered to ring me.

"Sorry," apologises Seth and I shake my head to show him my disapproval. "It was only like 4 staples, he'll be fine," he says, taking another mouthful of food, my mouth dropping open. He got stapled?

"He got stapled?!" I say, Seth closing his eyes shut for the second time. "Is he ok? Was there a lot of blood? Did you just stand about watching all that happen to him? Do you have no legs to help him?" I say, realising that I've gone over the top once I stop with all the questions.

"Wow, I don't think you've ever cared about me that much," comments Seth and I give him a look that says it all. He's seriously going to complain about this? "Yes, 4 staples but the doc said it wasn't too serious. I was ready to go in there but you know the rules, the people in the ring sort it out and Dean continued with the fight. As for my legs, well they're in perfect working condition," he explains all with a smile on my face as I start to feel bad.

"Sorry," I apologise, realising everything's just getting to me. "I just worry about that maniac," I admit and Seth shakes his head, placing his free hand on mine. I look up at him and he nods his head.

"It doesn't help when he jumps around as if he's invincible," says Seth. Maybe I need to get on the phone and yell at him to feel a bit better. "Besides, Dolph came to see him afterwards and apologised," he says and it's just then that I realise it was Dolph, like as if I didn't hear his name before. I try to look closely at Seth, wondering what this means for the future.

"I'm surprised Dolph didn't message me and tell me everything, either they both decided to hide it from me because they both knew I'd yell at them or they've not even thought about me in all of this," I explain, Seth seeming indifferent. It's nice to see any dislike that he has for Dolph has mostly gone away. I'm glad too because he's a good friend of mine.

"Well you can always yell at them later," suggests Seth, both of us finishing up. I take the plates and glasses to the kitchen, washing up. I need to call Dean, with everything that's been going on, I can't just sit here and believe he's fine. I'll do that tomorrow though, tonight, I have to tell Seth something else. We spend the evening catching on up everything else. Evan goes to sleep and me and Seth sit on our bed, talking. I made sure to go around and ensure all the windows and doors are locked. With me forgetting nowadays, it's not safe. And Evan's in a different room, even though we have the baby monitor.

"This is nice," I say from where I'm lying on Seth's chest. He's leaning against the headboard and I guess we're having some quiet time together.

"Mmhmm," agrees Seth, sounding like he's enjoying this a lot more than me. "It's not been the same going to bed without you there," he tells me after a few more moments of silence, a smile sitting on my face.

"Same here. I couldn't sleep at all the first night," I admit to him and feel his chest vibrate as a result of him chuckling. "So, I was thinking tomorrow night we could do something special. You know, go out for a nice meal, putting Evan to sleep and maybe have a little alone time..." I trail off, letting it hang in the air.

"You mean...?" asks Seth and I look up at him to see him looking down. I sit up properly and nod my head.

"Yeah, alone time," I give him verbal clarification, leaning against the headboard myself now. "Evan sleeps in a different room here and we have the baby monitor, none of our friends around to tease or annoy us," I go on to list the advantages we have from being here by ourselves right now.

"That sounds...perfect," comments Seth, taking a hold of my hand and kissing the back of it. I know both of us have been waiting for this for a long, long time. Now we finally have the opportunity, we might as well make the most of it. Now, I have to deliver the bad news.

"Seth, I need to tell you something," I then say, looking seriously into his eyes. A sort of recognition shines in them and he sits up properly.

"The thing you needed to talk to me about?" asks Seth and I nod my head, crossing my legs and facing him. "You're not secretly planning our wedding are you?" he jokes and I use my hand to hit his arm, both of us laughing.

"Be serious," I say, pointing my finger at him as he puts his hands up in surrender. "Seth, what I'm about to tell you, it needed to be done face-to-face. That's why I didn't tell you up until now. So please don't take it the wrong way," I explain to him, not knowing what I'll be faced with after I do tell him.

"Iris, what's wrong?" asks Seth, all hints of any seriousness gone from his face as he continues to look into my eyes.

"It's about Evan. And you're not going to like it," I warn him beforehand. I'm telling him at a time when he's relaxed because then there won't be any yelling or arguing. It's going to be a calm discussion. At least I hope it is.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Dean!" I call his name so he comes out from our bedroom. With the couple days off we had, Seth flew over to Iris and Evan and me and Dean decided to come to Vegas, spend a little quality time together without any interruptions. Even Roman went his separate way, heading off home to see JoJo, Paige going with him. "Get your cute ass over here quick!" I yell, looking at what I'm holding with a smile on my face.

"If you need my cute ass to go down on you, I'm all for it!" exclaims Dean, still not satisfied even though that was the first thing we did when we walked in through the doors.

"No I don't actually," I say, turning my head and sticking my tongue out at him as he approaches me. He sends me a pout and I laugh before showing him what I have. "Look?" I say, holding it out with a smile on my face.

"Wow, the card looks great," comments Dean, putting an arm around me and taking it out of my hands. "Dean Ambrose and Ariana Waters," he says our names, staring at it. "Who the fuck thought this would ever happen?" he asks and I let out a chuckle. I don't think neither of us expected this in the future, it's just happened.

"Not me," I say, shaking my head and placing my arms around his torso. "I thought for sure if I ever did want to marry you then I'd have to kidnap and tie you up," I tell him honestly. That's actually the logical thing that I thought I would have to do.

"Surprisingly I'm ok with that," comments Dean. He pulls away from me and walks over to the kitchen, me following behind him. "There," he says, having stuck it onto the fridge using some magnets.

"Perfect," I say, both of us staring at each other. "Dean," I say, interrupting the stare. I know I have his attention so get on with what I wanted to say. "Thank you. For wanting to make me your wife," I know it sounds silly saying it but I feel like I should tell him that. Dean just laughs and walks back over to me, leaning his elbow on the island so he's face to face with me.

"Not gonna lie, that sounds stupid," says Dean, a frown overcoming my face. I know I told him total honesty in this relationship but not something like that. Jeez. "Because I should be thanking you for wanting to be my wife. You know, no woman has ever been able to put up with me? And the fact that you want to put up with me for the rest of your life, double wow," he says, using one of his hands to move some hair out of my face.

"Well, I have a thing for blondes so..." I trail off, making him chuckle. "Who would have thought us two, the non-commitment type would end up being..." I stop, not knowing how to finish off the sentence.

"Committed?" asks Dean and I nod my head. It just sounds crazy when we say we're getting married out loud.

"Remember ages back? Before we were a couple? I wasn't letting any guy near me and you were getting into the pants of every girl you liked the look of," I say, reminding him of the good old days. We've both changed so much. It's surreal.

"That was then, this is now," he explains to me. He's not proud of his past but I'm not ashamed of it. "You know, I was just trying to find the girl that gives me the best sex after which I decided I'm never going to let go of her," he comments nonchalantly. He's laying it on a bit thick right now, isn't he? But I can't help but love him for it.

"Is that right?" I ask, a hand on my hip and my head tilted to the side. "How about I show you just how true that is?" I whisper in his ear, having leant forward. Dean perks up but then I back away saying, "If you can catch me!" I take off and run in the direction of our bedroom, locking the door resulting in Dean hitting himself on it. I laugh on the other side when I hear him lay out every single swear word or curse you can imagine.

* * *

 _"Hey Ariana, uh, is everything ok?"_ asks Iris on the other end. I look beside me to see Dean lying on his front, eyes closed and a soft snoring noise emitting from him. He finally got his way in the end. He's also a little tired from work. I run a hand over his eyebrow before remembering Iris is on the other end and I'm the one that called her.

"Yeah, couldn't be better," I say, retracting my hand and staying leant against the headboard. "I was just calling to let you know that we got the wedding invitation. That means everybody should also have theirs by now right?" I go on to ask her. I do want my family and friends to turn up for the wedding. Not to mention Dean's sister. But Roman said he was taking care of that so I shouldn't have to worry.

 _"Really? That's great news! I was thinking I had to email the stupid man again,"_ comments Iris, sounding annoyed which makes me laugh. She can't take people not being punctual, it drives her up the wall.

"Better late than never," I comment, thinking about the wedding card. "I just want to say thanks Iris, the card looks amazing and...just thanks I guess," I tell her in a soft voice, not being able to come up with anything else.

 _"No problem,"_ says Iris and from her voice I can tell she has a smile on her face. _"You and Dean deserve this and each other. I hope you understand what I mean,"_ she says and I know full well what she's talking about. I never thought someone like me could have something like this, that's partly why I ran from it. But time changes things, doesn't it?

"It's a dream come true," I comment, knowing that'll make Iris happy. It's the truth as well. Ok, I never thought I would get married. And I didn't go overboard like Iris does by planning what I will or won't have at my wedding. But I did like the idea of having one of my own.

 _"I'm glad. Is there anything else?"_ asks Iris, sounding weird on the other end. Since when is she ever eager to get off the phone?

"Oh, sorry. I forgot I'm ruining your 'alone time' with Seth," I tease her, hearing a sigh on the other end. "Ok, get back to lovemaking!" I say before hanging up with a small laugh to myself. I put my phone to the side and look at Dean before shuffling down and getting some rest myself. I hope this wedding goes down ok.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I hang up the phone and turn to look at Seth. I came into the bathroom to talk to Ariana, figuring Seth needed some time to deal with what I've told him. Mine and Ariana's useless conversation, he didn't need. Well I thought it was going to be useless even though it turned out to be important. A simple text would have sufficed but she doesn't know what I'm dealing with at the moment. It's been a nice 5 minutes though, to allow Seth to take it all in. I walk out of the bathroom and place my phone on the bedside table, sitting down on the bed once more, opposite Seth but on the other side so not exactly opposite.

"Are you ok?" I decide to bite the bullet and ask him something, anything. He's not responded and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Normally he gets upset and needs to be alone, you see the anger so obviously in his eyes but right now, I don't know what I see.

"Was he hurt?" asks Seth, ignoring my question completely and I shake my head. I would have definitely called Seth then and there if he was.

"I talked to the police," I reveal to him which gets his attention because he finally looks at me. I didn't get to that point because Ariana called and interrupted us.

"I thought you said you went home?" asks Seth with a confused look on his face. That's the one thing that I shouldn't have done, maybe that person would have been caught by now.

"I did. I panicked and came home but the next day I went down to the station," I start to explain to him. I couldn't just leave this, it's serious. "I told them what happened and they took my concerns seriously. They went back and looked at the tapes but the man was very smart, he kept his face out of the cameras. In the end they've decided to try and look for the girl, to get more information out of her. I'm waiting on them to get back to me," I finish explaining, leaving Seth to process the rest of the information.

"So they don't have any leads?" asks Seth and I shake my head. Maybe I should stop staring at him, that might make it easier for him to try and digest it all. "You think it could be...?" he trails off and looks at me, the same fear in his eyes that I held that very day. The same that's still in me somewhere. I nod my head because we're both thinking it. I don't think either of us has the guts to say it though. That the guy that was after us before has easily made a return.

"We can't underestimate him this time," I finally say, having closed my eyes for a second. "I don't know why any of this is happening Seth but I have a feeling something bad is going to happen," I admit to him, trying to keep my voice strong.

"Thank you for telling me," says Seth, moving forward and placing his hand on mine, surprising me a little. "I get why you didn't tell me and you're right, it's better to do this face to face," he says and I nod my head. The problem is what do we do now?

"What shall we do?" I ask Seth, my voice above a whisper. I was hoping he'd have an answer because quite frankly, I'm at a dead end.

"You told the police Iris, you did the sensible thing," he assures me, squeezing my hand tight for a few seconds. "They'll keep a look out here and besides, you're coming back on the road anyway so everyone that we know and trust will be around us. We don't need to worry. I'll come with you to the police station tomorrow and we'll tell them everything we know about this guy, it might help them," he explains to me and I nod my head. That's the right thing to do.

"I think we should get an alarm system for the house too, I mean we have a lot of locks but I...I just don't feel safe," I explain to him and I know that's hard for him to hear because this is our home. This is where I'm supposed to feel the safest but I don't. I can't help the way I feel. I'm just on edge and I didn't realise how much till I started triple checking everything. When I walk down the street, I'm always looking behind. I can't take it, it's too much.

"I'll call someone first thing tomorrow morning and get it done," says Seth. I move forward and put my arms around him in a hug, appreciating him being so sweet and caring. "Don't worry Iris, I won't let anything happen to you or Evan," he says and I believe every word of it. He wouldn't allow anything like that to happen. But what if it's out of his control? That's what scares me.

"Are we going to tell our friends?" I ask Seth, pulling back and sitting back on my knees. I've been thinking about whether we should tell them or not, but I just don't know. I don't know what's right or wrong or anything.

"I don't know how you'd feel about that," says Seth which lets me know that he's considering it. "I mean, they'll all get really worried and Dean will be on high alert," he says, making us both chuckle.

"But we could really use their support and help," I say, reading his mind. Seth nods his head and I guess that's that decision made. "Tell them as soon as we get back?" I ask and Seth nods his head once again. It isn't going to be fun by any means but it's important we do it too. I lie down with Seth on our bed, both of us holding on to each other.

"Nothing's going to happen to Evan," Seth assures me and I don't doubt that for a second. I'm just grateful Seth was able to take everything in without blowing up. Maybe the police will be able to do more once we tell them everything in detail tomorrow. I just hope they can get him because until they do, we'll be looking over our shoulders, questioning everything.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	80. Reconnected

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I am so sorry I didn't update but having shifts during the weekend just sucks. Here's the next chapter and I promise to try and keep on top of things :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Thanks! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 80:**

 **IRIS POV**

I can tell everything that I told Seth is taking a toll on him, because he's not put Evan down once the entire morning. As soon as Evan started crying, Seth shot up to get him. Not letting him out of sight. He's been doing everything with Evan in his hands, brushing his teeth and even shaving. Don't ask me how he did it, apparently he managed to. He's acting just like I did after it happened but the problem is, I can see it clearly.

"Seth?" I say his name whilst putting food at the breakfast table. I actually like our kitchen, not too small and not too big. We even managed to get a 6 chaired table into here. It's all quite nice. "Do you think you can put him down for a minute? There's a playpen right here?" I say, pointing to the squared contraption in the corner. It was still there from last night.

"He's fine," says Seth, grabbing a pancake and putting it down on his plate. I take a deep breath and sit opposite him, trying not to feel annoyed. I mean I basically did the same thing. Well, kept Evan in eyesight, not in my arms. And he's not speaking about anything, it's like he might as well not have even come back.

"So then I've managed to draw out how the dress should be and everything so it looks like things are coming together," I say, deciding I'll tell Seth about everything that's been happening around here or at least what I've been getting up to. But his focus seems to be on playing with Evan. He's not listening at all. I don't have anything against him playing with Evan but I've been sitting at this table for 45 minutes and I've not got one word from him. "I'm also thinking about marrying Rick," I comment loudly.

"Do you like that Evan?" asks Seth, tickling his belly, my comment obviously having fallen on deaf ears. I don't know why the hell I'm sitting here like an idiot.

"I'm doing laundry; you can sort out the dishes. Wash em, break em, or sell em, I don't care," I say, getting up abruptly and leaving from there. I go downstairs to the basement and pick up Seth's bag on the floor. I can't believe I'm annoyed with him and doing his washing. I unzip the bag and take out all the clothes, sorting them into different piles. When I'm about halfway done with the washing, I hear the door open. I look to see Seth walking down the stairs, his hands in his pockets. I look away and get on with what I'm doing.

"You need any help?" asks Seth, standing there awkwardly just as I put another load into the washing machine.

"Nope," I say, clicking the buttons I need to, to get the washing machine going again "Evan not with you?" I ask, even though I know the answer to this.

"No," says Seth and it gets me wondering how he even teared away from his son for even a second.

"Hmm," I say and then click the buttons on the dryer, getting those clothes dry that I'd take out a few minutes before. I bend down to make sure the door is closed properly, standing back up. I turn around, only to gasp in surprise at finding Seth standing as close to me as possible.

"Are you angry?" asks Seth and I give him a what-do-you-think look.

"You know what Seth, I really do try here," I say, waving my hands back and forth between the both of us. "I try and tell you things at appropriate times, I look after you and our son and I'm also working. But for some reason, you shut down when bad things happen. You either get angry and walk off or you go quiet. And now you've started this new thing where you ignore me," I say with a frown on my face. It's like every single time he uses some different way to cope with things.

"I'm sorry I'm not you who can take everything with a smile on her face (!)" comments Seth with a bit of an attitude. He honestly thinks that? I realise he feels bad when he sees the look on my face. "Iris," he says my name, reaching his arms out but I hit them away.

"Don't," I say, my eyes watering at the misassumption he's been living under. "You think this is easy for me? Any of it?" I question, not even knowing how I came alive considering what's happened over the last year and a half. "You know what I've been through with my Mom, you and even Kane. Now I have to deal with someone else entirely and you think I'm happy about it?" I go on to say to him.

"I didn't mean it like that," says Seth but even he can't completely argue with the statement he made before.

"Like what Seth? Like anything can happen to me and I'll still act like things are fine? Did you even think that that's how I cope with things? By focusing on the things I do have and being grateful for them? I know stomping away or not being around others is the way you cope and I've let you do it enough times," I explain to him in disbelief that out of everything, we're having this particular conversation. We both know each other enough to know how exactly it is that I deal with things.

"Look, you don't get it," says Seth, his hands out and I realise I probably look angrier than I actually am. Breathe in and out Iris, breathe in and out.

"I don't get it? Of course I do. You're worried about Evan. I am too. But instead of ignoring everything, I told you. I let you know what happened and what I've done for our son. You need to stop keeping everything to yourself. I told you all about my worries last night but for some reason you can't do the same with me," I say, hurt that he doesn't share how he's feeling. He's not event talking about it. I communicate with him and that helps me feel better, it would for him too if he would actually do it. I turn around and get on with getting through some clothes, Seth leaving quietly from there. Once he leaves I stop what I'm doing and let out a sigh. Things are going to be easy my ass.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I walk back up the basement stairs and head to the living room, smiling when I see Evan still sat in the position I left him, playing with one of his stuffed animals. Well, trying to eat it anyway. The phone begins to ring and I answer it.

 _"Hey Seth, is Iris around?"_ asks Ariana on the other end. I didn't mean to say what I did to her, it slipped out and now she's mad.

"Uh, she's busy doing some washing. Is it something urgent?" I ask, sitting down on the couch, unsure of what to do with myself. I need to get rid of Iris's anger and put a smile back on her face. I didn't mean to completely ignore her, I just couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened to Evan if someone had actually taken him and not given him back. But Iris is right, I don't tell her how I feel enough and she bears the brunt of it most of the time.

 _"I just needed to get her opinion on something for the wedding, but it doesn't matter. I'll talk to her later,"_ says Ariana, about to hang up when I realise I need something.

"Hang on a sec, is...Dean around?" I manage to ask, going against my better judgement. Obviously I can't tell them anything over the phone but I'll just have to ask for his help without letting him know it.

 _"You're lucky, he just walked through the door. I'll see you later,"_ says Ariana, handing the phone over to Dean and telling him it's me on the phone before saying something about leaving.

 _"What's up?"_ asks Dean but I can hear the suspicious tone in his voice. I never ask specifically for him when I need to do anything. Ever. _"Do you need to kill someone and make it look like an accident?"_ he asks me and I let out a scoff. If I needed to do that I wouldn't need him. He always thinks he's some specialist assassinator.

"No, just something...with Iris," I pick my words carefully, unfortunately for me though, I've caught Dean on a good day.

 _"She's upset with you isn't she? Ooh, what did you do to earn the doghouse?"_ asks Dean, not even allowing me to say anything and just on and assuming things as usual.

"I am not, we just had a little fight of sorts," I explain, again, picking my words carefully. But the next thing that comes out of his mouth, I should have seen coming a mile away.

 _"You upset my sister and now you want my help? Fuck no,"_ states Dean in a monotone voice. Sometimes I feel he's been Iris's friends for years and I only know him through her.

"Fine, be an asshole," I comment, rolling my eyes. "I knew I should have called Roman," I say deliberately because this is the one thing that will wind Dean up and he might actually start to help me.

 _"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I am helpful and forgiving if anything_ ," says Dean. I can't believe he just said he's forgiven me for having an argument with Iris. _"Since I've done this enough times with Ariana, what did she say when you were arguing?"_ he goes on to ask me. He has a lot of experience with putting his foot in things.

"Something about not talking and ignoring her," I try to keep it brief. I don't want to let anything accidentally slip. But after what Iris told me last night, I can't stop thinking about it. I was up half the night worrying about my family.

 _"Ugh, been there done that,"_ comments Dean, sounding as if he's been through something absolutely disgusting. _"Look, what you do is do the thing that you didn't do in the first place,"_ he advises, confusing the hell out of me.

"Wait, what?" I ask, needing a more detailed explanation. But this is Dean and anything he says never makes much sense to anyone let alone me.

 _"She said you weren't listening or talking or whatever, then do it. Do what she's complaining that you didn't,"_ Dean clarifies, that making much more sense. But if I wanted to do that then I wouldn't have Iris upset with me right now. _"And on a personal note, make my sister cry again and I'll make sure you never see her again,"_ he says, hanging up on me before I can even argue with that.

"Why Dean?" I ask no one in particular. Why couldn't I have a friend with a normal brain? Hmm, how to play this? I still need to go with Iris to the police station. How can I make it up to her before we go? Actually, I know exactly what I have to do.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I come out of the basement after finishing the laundry, two baskets in my hand. One on top of the other. I make my way up the stairs and into my room, only then realising that I saw neither Seth nor Evan. I leave the baskets to the side of the room, needing to iron them later on. I walk back downstairs, my worry for both the boys overtaking anything else.

"Seth?" I call out his names as I walk down the stairs. He wouldn't go anywhere without telling me? Then again, we did have that little argument. He didn't get upset did he? No Iris, don't fall weak. He probably doesn't even care that you're upset right now. "Seth?" I call his name again, heading over to the living room. That's bizarre, he's not here either.

"What happened?" I hear all of a sudden which frightens my pants off by making me jump.

"Where did you go off to?" I demand, my hands on my hips as I look at him. I look at Evan in Seth's arms who looks really happy right now. That smile would not be there if he knew what was going on between his parents.

"Why? Miss me?" asks Seth cockily and I roll my eyes, turning around and going to the kitchen. I think I'm turning into Ariana right now; this is exactly how she acts. But Seth made a comment like Dean would. Has he been talking to Dean again? "Iris," Seth says my name, coming after me. I go to the fridge and take out some juice, Seth placing Evan in his playpen. "I'm sorry about before," he apologises but I choose to ignore him.

"Hmm, this juice tastes odd. I think it's off," I tell him, acting like nothing ever happened. Why should I make it easy for him? He never makes it easy on me. Then again, is this the time for payback? I think so.

"Oh come on," complains Seth but I pour the juice down the drain, humming to myself. "You're going to act like I don't exist?" he asks me but I continue my humming, not caring about anything else at the moment. This goes on for at least 15 minutes, me going around doing things and humming till Seth reaches his breaking point. "Alright fine! I'll tell you!" he nearly shouts, me looking up from my squatting position. I was cleaning the coffee table in the living room. "It sucks that I wasn't here to protect you guys," he tells me, never once tearing his gaze away from me. I can't believe that's why his mind was going into overdrive. Instead of saying anything I get up and put my arms around him in a hug.

"Was that so hard?" I ask my boyfriend, feeling him shake his head. "Seth, no matter how much we both would love it, there's no way we can live in a little bubble of our own which stops anything bad from happening to us. Ok, you weren't here. But I think I handled the situation as best as I could," I explain to him, pulling back and looking up at him.

"You did amazing," Seth tells me, kissing my forehead. "I would like that bubble though," he tells me, I think a lot of people would fight over that kind of a bubble. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist. And it most likely never will. "Here, I have a surprise for you," he says, taking a hold of my hand and going towards the back door to the garden.

"What is this?" I ask, looking to see there's a blanket on the floor, along with a picnic box. So this is what he was doing during his disappearing act.

"A way of saying sorry," answers Seth, rubbing the back of his head. "You mean everything to me Iris and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's you being mad at me," he explains. He's lucky I don't have the same temper as him because then I would be long gone.

"You're forgiven," I tell him, leaning towards him and kissing his cheek. "But we had breakfast not too long ago," I remind him, neither of us are going to be able to stomach a picnic. Not to mention, we still need to go see the police.

"I know, I thought I'd surprise you and then we could head down to the station," says Seth, only having created more work for himself because now he has to put it all away so we can get going.

"I love you," I tell Seth, laughing when he responds by deciding to pick me up and spin me around a little. We go back inside and I get myself and Evan ready, Seth putting everything away for later. The time at the station takes a while but once Seth speaks to Charlie, it seems easier. Charlie seems a little disbelieving of what we say but I don't think even he thinks we could lie that well. We told him everything, apart from any illegal stuff we possibly did. Like the threatening and stuff. Or Dean sending someone to keep an eye on Elizabeth.

"I don't think he believed us," says Seth, walking out of the station. He pushes Evan's stroller and I keep a hold onto one of his arms. He's just being a bit negative. It's not like what we told is something Charlie hears every day.

"He was just surprised by it all," I reassure Seth. We just need to give them some time so they can find a lead. Hopefully sooner rather than later because as the days go on by, Ariana and Dean's wedding gets closer. Although I am excited for the occasion, I do get the feeling of dread. I don't know why. I just feel something is wrong. But I can't put my finger on it. Obviously I'm not going to tell anyone this, there's no point ruining all their moods because of something that doesn't make sense on my part.

"He could have at least pretended that he believed us," complains Seth, making me chuckle. I bet if Charlie did that then Seth would have still complained saying Charlie was being too fake or something.

"Seth, we did what we needed to and what we could. There's no point complaining about it all now, how about we go home and have that picnic?" I suggest and after smiling at him for a long five minutes, he relents and promises not to talk about it. However, after we get into the car and head home, it starts to rain.

"There goes our picnic," says Seth, complaining about yet another thing. You'd think after being with me he'd act like nothing can rain on his parade, but he acts the opposite.

"How about we do the picnic a little differently?" I ask Seth, a confused look overtaking his face. A few minutes later I have everything set up in the middle of the living room, just like Seth had it outside.

"I have to say, you are amazing," Seth compliments me. I shake my head and grab his hand, making him sit down. I then get Evan and have him sit down in the middle, placing a variety of toys in front of him for him to play with.

"I think one of the things I love most about you is that you cook so damn well," Seth compliments as I start to gather the dishes on the table, to be taken to the dishwasher. "I never even really asked, where did you learn?" he asks. I'm thankful he didn't mention my Mother; she can't cook to save her life.

"Ariana's Mom," I answer him with a smile on my face. "I spent a lot of time at Ariana's house and when she was doing something or the other with her Dad, I'd hang out with her Mom. She taught me everything I know. She even called me the cook she wished Ariana would become," I explain to him, the last part making him chuckle.

"in any case, I will need to thank her one day," says Seth, wiping his face with the napkin and then getting up, helping me with the dishes. "You go get Evan ready for bed, I'll finish up in here," he says, being sweet as always. I place a kiss on his cheek and pick up Evan from his playpen. I change his nappy and clothes, feeding him some milk as well. Once he falls asleep I put him in his cot and grab the baby monitor.

"Sweet dreams," I say to my little boy, turning off the light. I go to my room and see Seth's not there yet. I go to the stairs and hear him talking on the phone. This is the perfect opportunity. I get ready in the surprise I bought ages ago and put a robe on top, waiting for him. When he doesn't make an appearance I stand at the window, looking out at the moon. I smile when I feel a kiss on my neck.

"It's been nice, just the three of us," comments Seth, one of his hands on my hip. I nod my head in agreement, I've got the family that I always wanted with Seth.

"Looking forward to going back tomorrow?" I ask him, chuckling when he lets out a groan and leans his forehead on my shoulder. "Don't be so dramatic Mister Rollins," I advise him, trying not to laugh more so than I should.

"How can I not? I'd much rather stay here for a few more days," says Seth, leaning his chin in the crook of my neck. "With our son and my extremely gorgeous girlfriend," he says, placing another kiss on my neck, me resisting closing my eyes and letting out a moan.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I inform him, turning my head to the side and looking into his eyes.

"Don't be so sure," comments Seth, sounding sure of himself. I keep my arms crossed over my chest and turn around. "I know exactly what makes you tick," he boasts and I send him a challenging look. "You love it when I call you Cutie Pie," he starts off and he's lucky he's right. "Your breath stops when I don't wear a top," he says, my eyes falling to the floor because that's something we've had to deal with one too many times. "And when I get close to you, you get so nervous that your heart starts beating as if it's going to jump out of your chest," he whispers, his face dangerously close to mine. He places a hand on my heart as if proving to me that he's right. I look up at him through my eyelashes, he's giving me that same look. Feeling bold, I move forward and capture his lips in a kiss, moaning when his tongue makes its way into my mouth. I feel Seth's hand move to my hips, mine going around his neck. I pull away once we need some air, my eyes not leaving Seth's. I take a step back and undo my robe, pulling it down my shoulders.

"How do I look?" I ask, feeling completely bold again. But I can't help it, Seth brings that out in me. I don't feel like I need to worry about anything, we both want each other just as badly. I step forward again, Seth looking flabbergasted, his mouth hanging open. I place a hand on his chest, noticing a burning desire in his eyes. "Aren't you going to say anything?" I ask, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

"I don't know how we've waited so fucking long," is what Seth finally says after a few moments of silence which makes me laugh. He crashes his lips to mine and I don't even know how but the next thing I know is my back is on the bed, Seth hovering over me. We're kissing and touching each other all over, just as hungry as the first time we ever got intimate. In no time we're both undressed, familiarising ourselves with the others body. When Seth finally enters me, I feel like I'm on fire.

"Wow," I say, him feeling bigger than I remembered. But those memories were from ages ago, these are our new memories. Better ones.

"Fuck Iris, I'm gonna..." Seth looks at me apologetically and I shake my head. It's been ages, I wouldn't have expected him to last so very long anyway.

"Just. Let. Go," I say to him, moving my head up to kiss his lips. Seth finally comes, breathing hard after he has, resting his body on top of mine but making sure he doesn't crush me. "Don't worry, we have all night," I remind him, sending him a smirk.

"You're right. And I need to keep my promise of making you scream my name," says Seth, resulting in me blushing. As soon as he's ready to go again, let's just say Seth keeps his promise. It turns out to be even more amazing that I imagined. Was sex with Seth always that great? Or is the love between us both making it even more amazing? Either way, I'm not complaining. Who would have thought this would be the end to my day?

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	81. Managing the Lunatic

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! Here's the next one and on time too! :)**

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 81:**

 **IRIS POV**

"And you're only telling us this now?" Dean all but yells, pacing the room frantically. I guess this reaction was to be expected from him. The others not being as vocalising as Dean. They're probably just trying to come to terms with it themselves. This is Dean coping, by lashing out. "What if something happened?!" he goes on to say and I wait for him to calm down a little.

"We've been to the police and told them what we know, they're taking it from there," Seth speaks, that part is very important to know. That way at least everyone knows someone is handling it.

"That's going to help? He could come at you again and those pigs would be sitting happily in their office!" exclaims Dean, my eyebrows rising in surprise at his outburst. I look into his eyes and just see anger.

"Hey!" calls Roman, moving off of the wall he's standing against and coming over to Dean. He grabs a hold of his arm and says, "Not here," dragging him out of the room. I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding in.

"I'll be back," says Seth, I think this is something the boys need to sort out between themselves at the moment. He pats my leg and leaves from there, only me and Ariana in the room. The twins stole Evan as soon as I stepped foot into the building earlier on.

"Dean's a stupid hothead," says Ariana but she doesn't need to explain that to me. If there's anything you can predict about Dean Ambrose, it's that he'll lose his cool completely when someone he loves is threatened with danger. It's not something that can be avoided, just dealt with.

"It's fine Ari, we know what he's like," I say, waving a hand in the air and shrugging the whole thing off. Even though that is one of the scariest reactions he's had. Not because he was yelling but because of the look in his eyes. "I guess hoping for understanding was a long shot anyway. I mean, Seth didn't take it well either and he's Evan's Father," I go on to say.

"What have the cops said? Have they got any leads?" questions Ariana but I shake my head in disappointment.

"Unfortunately, no," I answer, that being something that's making the situation worse. "They looked at the footage and he managed to evade his face being seen on a camera. As much as I hate to say this, it's another waiting game," I explain, looking down at the floor.

"Then it's a good thing you got back up on call," says Ariana, sitting down next to me and placing an arm around my shoulders. I let out a chuckle at her comment, nodding my head in agreement.

"I got the best backup in the world," I comment, keeping my hand on hers and smiling when she leans in to me. "On the bright side, your dress is sorted," I say, changing the conversation to something a lot happier. I hope the guys have managed to get a control of Dean by now. We need his head on right more than anything.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

I drag Dean all the way outside the building and then let him go, leaving him to kick the wall and let out a few curse words. He needs to be able to control this because once he starts a family with Ariana, no one's going to be there to drag him away, to stop him from going completely beserk. A couple of minutes later Seth joins us both and we all stand there quietly.

"Are you done?" I ask Dean, my arms crossed over my chest. Sometimes I really do feel like a bodyguard for everyone else from Dean. I think the joke about anger management classes is something we need to actually consider now.

"Why would you hide this from us?" asks Dean, finally stopping and looking at Seth. I'm not picking sides; they can have this out. I understand why they waited to tell us. It's the same reason Iris waited to tell Seth.

"The same reason you've hidden stuff from us before," answers Seth wisely, taking the smart approach. "Since when do we tell each other everything?" he questions and I keep my mouth zipped, that's going to start an argument.

"Even though Evan is involved?" asks Dean, that being the issue here. The smallest out of all of us was preyed upon, something none of us can forgive. But it can't have been Kane, despite the odd happenings that have happened surrounding him. He's been wrestling his butt off here for the last week, in plain sight. So who could it be? Randy? Is he doing Kane's dirty work despite being reprimanded for harassing Iris? That could have set him off as well though.

"We wanted to tell you to your face, not over the phone like as if you guys mean nothing to us!" Seth all but yells, Dean looking at the floor now. Seth lets out a sigh before saying, "You guys are family man. We weren't going to hide this from you but can you also please not blow up when we do tell you stuff?" Dean looks at me and he knows instantly what I think. Even though I don't pick sides, Seth is right in this case.

"Seth and Iris are Evan's parents, they get to decide what they'll tell us and when," I say, understanding my friends because I'm a parent myself. "Seth's told us because he needs us Dean, Iris and Evan need us too. What they don't need or deserve is you blowing up at them," I explain to him in a soft voice. I think most of his anger is just a natural reflex. He does regret it afterwards.

"Look man," starts Seth, walking towards Dean and only stopping when he's right in front of him. "I have no idea what the hell is going on. But I have a family depending on me to keep them safe. Will you please stand by my side?" he asks, Dean shaking his head causing my mouth to drop open. I thought they were going to have a real heart-to-heart then. All of a sudden, Dean hugs Seth, well more like jumps on him, surprising all of us.

"Always by your side brother," says Dean and I stand there smiling at my best friends. This is exactly what needed to happen.

"I never thought I'd see the day you two would make up without me slapping one or the other," I comment, both of them chuckling at my comment. They pull back and Dean keeps an arm around Seth.

"What can I say? We've grown up I guess," says Dean, ruffling Seth's hair. Once he stops we decide that we need to keep a lookout for anything out of the ordinary, our best chance to help our best friend and Iris.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Dude, if you keep on staring at him like that then he'll eventually poke your eye because he's annoyed," comments Paige, making me, Ariana, Brie and AJ burst out laughing. We were all sending each other looks but none of us were actually going to say anything.

"Evan won't but I'm sure your spawn definitely will," comments Nikki herself, our mouths dropping open. We all keep quiet, the look on Paige's face informing us all just how much she didn't appreciate that comment from Nikki. But, tit for tat right? A knock on the door interrupts us all, Ariana going over to answer the door.

"It's for you, don't worry, I got Evan," Ariana tells me. I get up to go to the door, is it Seth? Does he need something? I go over but it turns out its Dean outside.

"Can we talk?" asks Dean and I nod my head. He gestures for me to follow him and I do so, we end up in an abandoned hallway. I wonder what he wants to talk about. It can't be his reaction because that's normal for us.

"Is...everything ok?" I ask, twiddling my thumbs. He's leant against the wall and he's quiet. A quiet Ambrose is a dangerous Ambrose because you have no idea what's going through his mind. I thought the boys might have sorted things out with him.

"You know I care about you guys right?" asks Dean, looking like he's wanting to be anywhere but here right now having this conversation. I nod my head because that's something I don't disagree with. "Do you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you?" he asks, letting out a sigh which results in me letting out one of my own. I should have known this was coming.

"Dean, I wasn't scared of you. I just had never seen you that angry before, it shocked me ok?" I ask, about to move forward but he puts his hands up. This is why it's annoying having someone like Dean close to you, he can read every single thing about you.

"You were afraid Iris," states Dean, not allowing any room for discussion. I could never be afraid of someone I consider family, it's not possible.

"Only about what you were going to do, not of you," I try to tell him but he just lets out a scoff, his gaze going to the floor. "Dean," I say his name and go over to join him, both of us standing side by side against the wall. "Everyone reacts differently when something upsets them. Roman's angry but stays quiet. Seth's angry and walks off. You get angry and blast off," I explain, a smile gracing my face. "It doesn't mean you're bad or anything," I add on but nothing seems to faze him.

"I'm sorry. I just want you to know that you and Evan mean a lot," explains Dean, the rare occasion of him actually sharing his feelings with me. He does this a lot with Ariana and I feel privileged that I get to see this side to him.

"Dean," I say his name again, reaching over and taking his hand in mine. "I know that. You've been there for me when I needed you, same with Evan. You took such good care of us when I was pregnant. It's why you're Evan's godfather. You care and sometimes too much which is why you reacted the way that you did. But I wouldn't have you any other way," I explain to him and he finally looks at me, a smallish smile on his face. He's holding back, I can tell. A big grin wants to appear on his face.

"I just want you guys happy and safe," he states and I can't help it but I move forward and hug him. When I was first getting to know Dean Ambrose, he scared me beyond anything. Slowly, we started to get to know each other and we got to the joking. Now, I can't deny that I love him. I never thought we'd end up here but we did. I remember how he used to think I was annoying at first. But it seems that I managed to grow on him.

"Oh Dean, if you want me happy," I start, pulling away and looking at him with excitement in my eyes. "Then all you have to do is buy me three chocolate bars right now because I could really use them," I say, a pleading look on my face. This is what little sisters do when they want something.

"No," says Dean and a pout forms on my face. "I was kidding, come on Hot Mama," he says, dropping an arm around me and leading me to the vending machines. We stand there for a while as I try to decide which three that I want. At first I can't choose but when I realise Dean's getting annoyed, I kind of just play into it more. "Oh come on Iris, get the snickers. You like the snickers," he states as I keep my smile in, tapping my chin in wonder.

"I don't know, I mean I like the plain chocolate bar I want, then the caramel one because it's caramel but I'm still not sure whether it should be snickers or mars," I say, my hands on my hips now as I scan between both the chocolate bars. "This is too hard, I may need five more minutes," I go on to say, keeping my eyes off of Dean because I know I'll burst out laughing.

"That's it," says Dean, moving me out of the way gently and making the choice for me. He turns around and hands me 4 chocolate bars.

"I only wanted 3," I tell him, a smile threatening to spill out onto my face as I look at the chocolate in my hands and then at Dean.

"Well you're getting 4," comments Dean, leaving no room for argument. I send him a grin and then move forward, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks," I say, offering him a bar at which he starts to look really confused. He's wondering why I'm handing him a chocolate bar when I wanted all of them. A look of realisation crosses his face and he sends me a small glare.

"You have to push my buttons?" asks Dean but I just shrug my shoulders in response. I think it's always nice to see him do unsurprising things when you least expect it. I mean, I was only trying to annoy him a little and in return I got something even more.

"Wow, I guess you really do have trouble keeping the ladies away," comments Layla, putting a frown on my face and a scowl on Dean's. We don't need her insinuating anything about our relationship, especially when the things she's pointing to could never in a million years be true.

"Go drown in a pool," states Dean directly, not giving a shit about Layla who looks shocked that's just been said to her. It is Dean though; she should have seen it coming. I mean I definitely did. "And if that doesn't work then go say what you just did to my fiancé, that's a fine way of making sure the job gets done," he goes on to say and I can't help but let out a snicker as I try to hold in my laughter at Dean's response.

"You can't say that to me," protests Layla, Dean unwrapping the chocolate bar and taking a bite, stepping closer to her, a look on his face that states she shouldn't mess with him. She quickly backs down and hurries off, not wanting to get on Dean's bad side. He continues eating his chocolate and then turns to me, shrugging his shoulders at which I burst out laughing.

"Come on, I'll show you something even funnier when I 'accidentally' bump into Fandango," says Dean, putting an arm around me and leading the way. I think it's safe to say we're about to have an awesome time. Needless to say, Fandango was close to going on his knees and begging Dean's forgiveness for even looking at him wrong. When I finally managed to compose myself, we parted ways because Dean had a match and I needed to make sure the girls hadn't actually gobbled up Evan.

* * *

"Oh look, there's my fiancé's girlfriend," comments Ariana, walking down the hallway. I'm pretty sure if that statement was correct then she wouldn't have that big smile on her face.

"Yes, the mistress is here!" I joke, my arms out as I show myself off. We both laugh as soon as we get to the other person. Layla is an idiot, that's safe to say. "I'm guessing you ran into Dean before he went for his match," I comment. I was heading straight back to the locker room but I ran into a couple of colleagues and got to talking with them.

"He had this smirk on his face and I just had to ask," says Ariana. She tells me she needs to sit down with me tonight to discuss some wedding things and I suggest she bring over dinner, that way nothing can distract us. Except for the boys and Evan. We could easily get rid of them though, that's not a problem.

* * *

"Hi," I say to the person on the other end of the door. I'm glad it's not Dean. He thought it would be a good idea to play a game with Evan where he knocks on the door and then runs away. They did it for a good ten minutes before Ariana threatened to chop his balls off.

"Good evening Maam. A delivery for Miss Buckley?" say the guy and I nod my head. I notice a bouquet of Lillies in his hand. I sign the paper and he hands the flowers to me. Seth it just too much sometimes. He's only a few doors away and is still sending me flowers? How cute.

"Whoa, they from Seth?" asks Ariana and I nod my head walking further into the room. I place them on the coffee table and she takes out the card, reading it aloud to embarrass me no doubt. Even if it is just the two of is. "For my one and only," she reads, sending me teasing looks which make me blush. "I have to say, ever since you two got back together, Seth has really upped his game," she comments.

"Well he's been different," I say, taking out one of the roses and then sitting down. "It's like a dream when I'm with him. I never thought I could have it this good," I say to her, smelling the flowers. The flowers are fresh too. Seth never ceases to place a smile on my face.

"You deserve it," says Ariana, handing me the card which I take as I let out a giggle or two. "Now, onto my weird and wonderful future husband. I feel like we need to make sure we have honeymoon activities booked so he doesn't confine me in the bedroom during our honeymoon," she explains, making me laugh. But she is right, that definitely needs to be done.

"So we've got most things sorted," I announce, going through the book I put together. I've been ticking all the pages that have been taking care of. "Is there anything you're worried about? I mean, the dress is now sorted," I say, pumping my fists into the air.

"Yes it is but you've still not sorted out your bridesmaids' dresses," points out Ariana, my hand hitting my head as I've managed to miss out something very important. "It's fine, we can still get it done. It's just about getting all the girls in the right place," she explains. I use my pen to do some scribbles.

"Right, so I'm the maid of honour," I state, a proud smile on my face which makes Ariana laugh. "And the bridesmaids are Nikki, Brie, Paige, Nattie and AJ," I list and she nods her head at each name. "Any more?" I ask and she shakes her head quickly.

"I don't need a whole army," comments Ariana with an amused look on her face. "Nikki and Brie we've known a long time, same for Nattie. Paige we know her a lot more now and obviously Roman's best man so it would make sense for her to be there. If we got Paige then AJ is a must otherwise that crazy spider will be all over me," she says and I nod my head in agreement.

"Aren't the best man and Maid of Honour meant to walk down together?" I ask Ariana and I don't think she realised that or even asked me for that matter. "Doesn't matter, Paige can walk down with Seth," I say, waving an arm in the air. I'm sure they can survive the two minutes it takes to walk it down. Let's just be glad she's not walking down with Dean.

"As long as it's not Dean teasing her about looking like a goth," says Ariana, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. He calls himself a people person yet all people ever want to do is beat the crap out of him.

"I'll quickly find a day for us girls to go out and get dresses, obviously can't order them and hope they fit," I say, both of us chuckling at that scenario. Nikki would be absolutely mortified if we ever did something like that. I think everyone should be free in the weekend for that to be sorted. Me and Ariana talk some more before deciding to leave the wedding on the back burner. We watch some TV and wait for the guys, who show up as loud as ever. Well Dean does as usual.

* * *

I walk down the hallway, Randy turning his head all the way to the other side. He's been doing that since I've been back, I think it's to show me that he knows I've complained about him and he's been told off. If that's the case, then he needs to stay the fuck away. I don't want any trouble from him or Kane. It's 2 weeks till my best friend's wedding so I have more important things to worry about.

"Iris, you really had to give her the dress?" asks Brie, walking alongside me as I send her a look of confusion. "The bridesmaids dress!" she exclaims and a look of recognition flashes across my face. It turns out the girls were available that weekend so we got it all sorted. We also gave the store extra money to get it done extra quick. It wasn't that steep and we did buy a bunch of the same dresses together.

"I don't understand," I say to Brie who seems to look annoyed. We end up in the stylist room and she sits down on a chair whilst I clear some things around on the dresser.

"Nikki has been trying on the dress whenever she can, asking us all how she looks. She even took me purse shopping to find one that matches!" complains Brie and I can't help but laugh at that, something I can tell she doesn't appreciate. "It's not funny Iris," she says, sending me a small glare.

"It is kind of," I comment, dropping the smile when I see the look on Iris's face. "Just let the wedding get over with, she'll be back to her normal self within no time," I promise her. Nikki gets excited on the little things, especially when it comes to clothes.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the twin she calls up at 3 in the night because she might have found the perfect shoes," comments Brie, walking out of there quickly. I don't think these two will ever change.

* * *

"How do you do that?" I hear a voice and turn my head to see my boyfriend standing at the door. I send him a confused look but he just keeps on staring at me.

"What? Do what?" I ask, certainly confused at the moment.

"You touch anything and it's just straight up sexy," Seth clarifies for me, the smile on my face not disappearing. He's just saying that for get on my good side. I think after we finally managed to get intimate, things have changed. For the better. We connected differently and now we're even getting to do it more. We just wanted that first time to be special and it was.

"You're just saying that because you have bad news to deliver to me," I say, narrowing my eyes at him as I pack away one of the straighteners.

"Just because I do have bad news doesn't mean that's why I said it," defends Seth, walking into the room but I shake my head and pretend to disbelieve him. He comes over and puts his hands on my waist, looking into my eyes. "Unfortunately, I am needed here so I won't be able to go home for the two days that we need to," he delivers the blow and I nod my head.

"It's fine, me and Evan will be ok by ourselves," I say, adamant on going home. I would have stayed with Seth but Penny told me Ariana's dress was ready and I need to go get it and make sure it's all great and everything.

"Are you sure?" asks Seth and I nod my head but he lets out a sigh. "I feel like such a douche for not being able to go to our home with you guys," he says but I just move forward and hug him, hoping to make him feel better this way.

"You're not a douche. You're my amazing boyfriend," I correct him, chuckling when he tickles my sides a little. "Don't worry about us," I then go on to say to him, pulling my head back. "We're only going for two days and then we'll be right back here with you where we belong," I reassure him. That does it for the moment because he kisses my lips and then gets me out of there. We're meeting the others for dinner and I think Evan is with Dean. Or Roman. Unless they're still fighting over who's babysitting him for the day because that's how I left them all at the start of the day. We've actually got a new system in place. On days where we have live shows especially, the others take turns taking care of Evan because I am swamped in the stylist room with a load of superstars who need to be looking great on TV.

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 **Reviews would be amazing! :)**


	82. Overprotectiveness

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. Sorry about the delay in updating. But I was working yesterday so I literally couldn't. Still need to get used to updating around my shifts. But enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Yes I'm trying to get on with it. Lol. Thanks! Xx :)**

 **NudeFitsLipsandPumps: Yes, men! Haha. Well I thought there is no point delaying it anymore and let's have the good times rolling on! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: Haha! I knew you would. You'll like the next part too :)**

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 **CHAPTER 82:**

 **IRIS POV**

"No, you can't leave," says Dean and I roll my eyes at having to take care of all this again. It's a good thing Seth has Evan otherwise I wouldn't be getting anywhere again.

"Dean, it's two days," I say, going around the bus and making sure I pack everything I need along with ensuring I have all the washing that needs to be done. "You're leaving us for two weeks when it comes to your honeymoon," I point out, placing my hands on my hips. He's about to say something but then realises that he can't.

"Ari!" he yells, leaving the room and I follow him out to where everyone is sitting and chatting. "We're taking Iris and Evan with us on the honeymoon, no arguments," he states, Ariana looking over at me. All of a sudden everyone bursts out laughing, making Dean look even more annoyed. "I'm serious," he states but that doesn't help matters.

"Yeah, ok (!)" says Ariana, shaking her head and making a joke which has Seth in hysterics. This gives Dean the opportunity to try and grab Evan but it doesn't work because Seth knew it was coming and quickly moved away from there, coming over to stand behind me.

"I don't think so Ambrose, this baby belongs to me," says Seth in a cute, possessive-like manner. Dean looks at everyone and then lets out a little scream before going off into one of the other rooms on the bus. I let out a sigh and follow him.

"I don't know how you think it's going to work but we're not going to stay with you forever," I explain to Dean, closing the door behind me and smiling when I see him sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I know but I might as well keep you as close as I can," says Dean, eliciting a chuckle out of me. I sit down next to him on the bed, I feel there is something more than just him wanting to be around us. "I just...I don't got a good feeling," he tells me, looking at me with a serious look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask, placing a hand on his leg. Does he not feel right having us leave?

"I just have a gut feeling...that something is about to...go wrong," answers Dean and I keep a small smile on my face. It's two weeks till the wedding and he's finally starting to feel the pressure of it all isn't he?

"Dean, it's two weeks till you marry my best friend. Feeling nervous or getting cold feet is completely normal," I explain to him, hoping to make him feel somewhat better. He starts to shake his head but I say, "Nothing's going to seem like it's right. But when you walk down that aisle and take those vows, things will fall into place".

"No offence Iris, but that's not it. The wedding isn't it, it's something else," insist Dean but I just don't think he's realising just how much the upcoming wedding is affecting him. He always acts like he's invincible.

"Well what could possibly happen? Everything is good, no trouble from Kane or Randy. We've sorted out any issues with the wedding. This is just you getting yourself worked up over nothing. I don't think you realise just how much the wedding is affecting you," I explain to him and even though he doesn't look convinced, he eventually nods his head. However, doubts have started to play in my mind now because Dean doesn't get worked up over nothing. But I definitely need to see Penny and the dress, these two days off are vital. I wonder if there's any way I can work around this.

* * *

"Are you sure this is what you wanna do?" Seth asks me and I nod my head. I wasn't sure about it at first but there will be times when this will need to be done. It's better we start practising sooner rather than later.

"Seth, this is a good time to do it," I say, looking a few steps away where Dean is holding Evan into the air and making funny faces at him so he laughs. "There will be times when you'll want Evan on the road and I need to make sure I can take a couple of days without him," I explain to him. In the end I decided I would still go but that didn't mean Evan had to as well. He could stay with his Father, Uncles and Aunt. I may be his Mother but Seth is his Father and he has as much right as I do on him.

"Yeah but you really don't need to do this," insists Seth, probably worried that I'll be missing everyone too much. "You'll be completely by yourself out there, at least Evan could have given you some company," he says and he should be glad this conversation is happening away from Dean. He'd be very mad if he knew what Seth is trying to do right now.

"Just because I'm his Mother doesn't mean he has to stay glued to me," I say, nodding my head. It's something people expect but Seth has been such an amazing Father that I know I don't need to worry about Evan for the next two days. "I don't need to worry, you're a great Father. As long as Evan's with you, I know he's safe and happy," I say to him, trying to reassure him a little.

"I love you," says Seth, moving forward to hug me. I keep my arms around his neck, my smile dropping. Truth be told, I am a little scared of taking Evan back home by myself. What if something like before happens again? I'll be fine in the future but I just don't want to go through that again.

"I love you too," I tell my boyfriend, pulling back only to receive a kiss on the lips. Seth places his hands on the sides of my face and gives me a few more kisses before finally letting go. I think that was his way of letting me know that he's going to miss me. I say goodbye to everyone, even Evan before I leave. It will be weird having nobody around me but that's what's best right now.

* * *

Once I get home, I flop down on the couch, too tired to even think. I make sure to send Seth a message to let him know I'm home safe before letting sleep take over me. The next time I wake up it's because my phone is ringing. I see that it's Dean and answer it.

 _"Hello? Iris, are you alright?"_ asks Dean as I try to think of what could be his problem now. He hasn't done anything to Evan has he?

"Dean, I told you you're being paranoid. I'm fine," I say, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and sitting up on the couch. Everything is the same except for the fact that it's loo

 _"Then why didn't you answer my calls before? I've been ringing like crazy,"_ says Dean. I must have really been jetlagged to not even hear my phone go off. _"You did a really dumb thing, I was really worried,"_ he goes on to say and I feel like I'm being told off by my Father.

"Lighten up Dad, I was sleeping," I say, trying not to laugh at the silence on the other end of the phone. I can't believe I just called him that either but it was needed and I just couldn't help myself.

 _"Hi Iris, I think Dean's...too shocked at...the response...he got,"_ I hear my best friend's voice on the other end, amidst a whole lot of laughing. I let out a chuckle, leaning back on the couch. I'm at home by myself. It's not really the best feeling ever. _"Thanks for finally picking up the phone, the carpet won't be stomped on now,"_ she says after which we both hang up. I then check my phone and shake my head.

"What am I going to do with you Dean Ambrose?" I ask aloud, my gaze staying on the 27 missed calls that I have. Wow, I must have been definitely really tired. Should I be offended Seth doesn't care this much? I let out a laugh and put my phone to the side. Well it's evening now. I should probably make some dinner. But there won't be anything stocked. Pizza it is.

* * *

The next day I head to Penny's shop, first thing in the morning. I meet everyone and they're a little upset that Evan didn't accompany me this time. Penny asks them to hold the fort and takes me to the back room. There are a few railings with dresses. Penny then looks for a specific one and holds it out for me.

"Holy crap, is this it?" I ask Penny who nods her head. I unzip the bag slowly and Penny takes the dress out, showing it off to me. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" I exclaim, because it actually is. This is exactly what would be perfect for Ariana, just the way I envisioned it. Hopefully it'll be the same way she thought her dress should be like.

"Really?! Oh thank god," says Penny and I shake my head at her disbelief. How can anyone not like it? It's beautiful.

"It's truly beautiful Penny, Ariana is going to flip," I comment, feeling already excited about my best friend getting to see the dress. "You made it even quicker than either of us expected, than you expected," I point out to her, a little bit of redness covering her cheeks.

"I know, but once I started I just couldn't stop. Did a little overtime, not going to lie," admits Penny and I frown at the whole 'overtime' thing because I know she's been rushed off of her feet lately. "But it reminded me of why I started doing this. For the last few months, I felt like it was a chore. I forgot that I started making dresses to bring happiness into people's lives on their wedding day. So thank you," she says, something which I definitely was not expecting, I can tell you that much.

"No, thank you," I say moving forward and giving her a hug. We manage to get the dress back into the bag and I get invited to stay for lunch. Since I have nothing better to do, I accept the invitation. After having lunch, I leave with the dress and go back home. I place it in the cupboard. I can't wait to surprise Ariana with this when I get back. I my phone starts ringing and I roll my eyes, it's probably Dean checking on me again. "Dean, I've told you everything's fine," I say without even having checked the caller ID.

 _"Wrong boyfriend,"_ I hear Seth's voice on the other end and chuckle at what he said. _"Has he been pestering you that much?"_ he then asks me. Pestering me? That's an understatement.

"I had 27 missed calls, what do you think?" I ask Seth who laughs. I don't think Dean told them all just how many times he rang me earlier. "Anyway, how is my baby?" I then go on to ask him about Evan. But Seth likes to be playful.

 _"I'm doing alright. Missing my hot girlfriend,"_ answers Seth and I let out a laugh. _"Evan is doing great. He's with Ariana at the moment who's playing a game of hide and seek to annoy Dean. He's not seen Evan since morning,"_ he explains and I can't help but laugh again. That's one way to grab Dean's attention and annoy him.

"Don't let her go on for too long otherwise he'll start ringing me again complaining about it," I instruct him. I love Dean, I do but I think I need a break. I don't understand what has him on such an edge. Maybe the guys should take him for a nice relaxing day before the wedding. I suggest that to Seth and after chatting a bit more we hang up. There's a knock on my door soon afterwards and I wonder who it could be.

"Maam," says a man on the other end of the door. He has a bunch of Lillies in his hands. Seth is too much. I sign for the flowers and take them, going back inside. I place them inside a vase and run my hand through them. I wouldn't like them this much if I didn't know they were from Seth. I notice a card and begin to read it. **_To the reason I have a smile on my face every morning x_**

Seth is so sweet. All these flowers are making me think that I need to do something for him. Or at least surprise him with something. I just don't know what. I mean, I know last time I managed to get us time together where we could get intimate. I honestly don't even think that I can top that this time. But maybe a nice candlelight dinner will do.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Summer is such a bitch," comments Paige, walking in with a scowl on her face. I keep Evan in my lap, bouncing him up and down, wondering what the hell is going on. Then again, it is Summer. So it's not going to be anything great.

"Just give her a glare like you're going to beat her up. That always works," I advise her, turning Evan to look at me. "Isn't that right Evan? We'll give the ugly lady a mean face," I coo and he giggles which in turn makes Paige laugh. A baby can always brighten up anyone's horrible day.

"I still can't believe Iris left him. Do you reckon she's handling it well?" asks Paige and I shrug my shoulders. I know she's attached to Evan but so are Seth and Dean and the rest of us. We'll miss him but we wouldn't break down. Actually, my fiancé would. I think he'd be more heartbroken over losing Evan than me at times.

"If she couldn't I don't think she would have left him," I answer her question and she nods her head. Iris wouldn't do something she knows she can't handle for definite. All of a sudden the door bursts open and in walks AJ, looking angry as ever. What have I done to deserve two angry Divas today? I think Evan will need to continue to work his magic.

"Let me guess, Summer tripped you up too?" questions Paige with a bored look on her face. The question itself is answered when AJ lets out a growl and sits down. She's like a tiny little firecracker. I would laugh but she'd get even more angry.

"She's just doing it because she's pissed about me taking a good hit at her during our match. If she'd stop kicking us harder than she should then I wouldn't have twisted her wrist so hard," explains AJ, Summer really causing problems for everyone right now. They should have seen Stephanie about this earlier, it would have been handled by now.

"I would say go see Stephanie but since you've been retaliating, you'd both get into trouble," I say, shaking my head as I try to think of what else can be done. How do we get rid of this problem? Insert a new brain into Summer?

"Then what do you think we should do? My tolerance levels are right here," says Paige, gesturing to the floor. I'm not surprised, with someone like Summer, even Iris's tolerance levels would be down there. "The only reason she isn't walking around with a broken jaw is because I love my job and I've currently got the title," she explains. I know she definitely doesn't want to be losing that any time soon.

"How about we do something else instead?" I ask them both, the girls giving me questioning looks. Hmm, I think it's time I got into touch with my fiancé. We definitely can't do this without him. Although, he's not going to like what I have in store for him. But I'm sure Evan can definitely help me in getting him to agree with what I have planned.

* * *

"Babe! Here's your order of laxatives! But if you're having problems, maybe we should go to the doctor," says Dean loudly and I grab him by the arm and throw him in to the locker room, the girls laughing at his behaviour.

"First of all, those aren't for me," I say, having locked the Divas locker room door from the inside so no one can get in. If anyone sees Dean here, he'll be in lots of trouble. But we can't talk about this any place else without the chance of someone eavesdropping.

"Oh, good. Here you go Paige," says Dean, holding the bag out for her, something she doesn't look too pleased about as AJ bursts out laughing at the scene in front of her.

"We'll see who's laughing shortie when I kick your ass next week," says Paige, referring to the match that's going to take place for their title. "And you," she says, turning back to look at Dean. "You better hope I don't actually make a doll that resembles you and give it to JoJo to stick her hair pins into," she warns him, my fiancé actually looking kind of threatened for a second. I mean JoJo is part of his little gang. Which also includes Evan. And our future children possibly.

"Ok, relax everyone," I say, seemingly playing the buffer no matter where the hell I am. No doubt this is my future with Dean and possible kids. "I didn't ask Dean to bring the laxatives because he's the only person that could walk into a shop and order some. We need him for much more, ok?" I say to both Paige and AJ. I can't have Dean wanting me to beg for him to do this.

"After the way she talked to me? No way," says Dean and I roll my eyes at his behaviour. I knew he was going to act like this. This is exactly why I warned both girls to keep calm before I even got here. Any little thing and he refuses. Now I have to bring out the big guns and give myself a headache whilst I'm at it. I take Evan off of AJ who is still somehow laughing. I hold him in my arms, his back to my chest.

"If you don't then we're bunking with Seth tonight," I state matter of factly. Iris is gone but she's specifically asked if I could keep Evan in the night because she knows Seth is tired from the shows. He's a light sleeper usually but I think work, being a boyfriend and being a Father have just taken their toll. When she asked Seth he didn't seem to mind though.

"You wouldn't," says Dean and I send him a challenging look. I can't believe even after all this time he still questions whether I would do something or not. This is me after all. Why wouldn't I?

"Please help us Dean," I say, putting on a pouty face and holding Evan up who seems to be resembling me at the moment. "Come on Evan, tell your Uncle Dean to help us out," I say to him and he lets out a load of noises which make us all laugh.

"It's Godfather Uncle Dean," Dean corrects me and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Dean definitely wants the Godfather to always be announced but then Roman said a Godfather can be any random person whereas Uncle always means family. So now he insists on being called Godfather Uncle Dean. I think it's stupid. He knows that. "Alright fine, as long as the vamp over there stops glaring at me," he jokes, Paige letting out a curse under her breath which thank god none of us could hear because Evan is here. "Alright, what do I gotta do?" he asks me and I send him a sheepish smile.

"Well," I start, telling him what exactly I have planned right now. By the time I'm done, he looks like he wants to vomit.

"Are you crazy?!" says Dean, Paige smirking at the task handed to Dean. "What the fu-fudge is that?" he goes on to complain and I smile at his carefulness around Evan even though Iris isn't here to yell at him.

"We can't do it any other way," I justify my decision and he lets out a scoff. "Oh come on Dean, it'll be over before you know it," I reassure him, trying to think of how he's going to ask me to make this one up to him. I don't need to be worried he'll decline; he always does something if I need him to do it for me. He's actually quite reliable.

"Yeah, quit being such a sissy," comments Paige and I send her a small glare because those kinds of comments aren't going to help us at the moment.

"I'd owe you one," I quickly say because we probably don't have much time. The shows are nearly over and if Summer leaves then we'll have to wait tomorrow which none of us really want to do, especially considering the amazing plan that I have decided to put together.

"Fine!" says Dean instantly and I roll my eyes because that was the last thing I wanted to use but the only thing that seems to be working. Dean rubs his hands together and then takes Evan from me, playing with him as usual.

"If I didn't think he was such an ass I'd actually say he's being cute," comments Paige after which she gestures vomiting, going to her bag to get a jumper which she then puts on.

"I can't wait for Summer to be shown who's boss," says AJ, an evil smile on her face. We quickly decide how we're going to do this and leave the locker room, making sure no one's looking. We can't afford Dean getting into trouble with anyone by being seen leaving the locker room. They'd create such a big fuss.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"Actually, I can't do this," I say last minute once we finally catch sigh of Summer. She's standing next to a table in the hallway that has some water on it and snacks on it. It's near the ring area for anyone that's just coming back from having been in a match and things.

"Yes you can," states Ariana angrily, she hates it when I don't just get on with things. Yet complains about that specific point in our sex lives. I'm marrying a really weird chick. "Go on!" she hisses, pushing me in the direction of Summer and hiding with Paige and AJ behind the wall. I look at Summer and then back at the girls, I bet Paige is really enjoying this. It's a good thing they didn't bring Evan; he would definitely have given them away by now. He's actually with his Father.

"Hmm, which one puts on the least weight," I hear Summer say, looking at the snacks. I can't help but let out a snicker and her head snaps to look at me. Shit. I bet Ariana's cursing me right now. Ok, play it off cool Dean, play it off cool.

"I just think it's obvious. The apple," I say, making sure she can't tell that I'm making fun out of her. I bet the girls are loving this. Summer sends me a suspicious look before looking back down at the table. "By the way, that was a cool roundhouse kick," I comment nonchalantly, keeping to the snacks side and looking through them myself. The girls need to be able to get to the water.

"You saw that?!" asks Summer, as if her mind is being blown. I nod my head and act all coolly, a big smile overtaking Summer's face. She moves closer to me and I keep the look of disdain off of my face. "That was an awesome kick wasn't it?" she asks and I nod my head not having any idea what she's talking about. She always does one kick for every match, I guessed. Ariana's the one complaining Summer kicks way harder than she's supposed to.

"I think that's one of the best kicks I've ever seen," I compliment her and just like that she gives me the flirty look. Yep, I'm pretty grossed out right now. This means she's definitely going to try and come on to me.

"Thank you," says Summer, flipping her hair which is what Ariana said she would do if she gets trapped by my words. Ok, what else did I need to do? She doesn't have a water bottle opened so I need to open one for her. I grab one and drink from it.

"Wow, this water tastes weird," I comment, having taken a couple of sips. I purposely put on a look of disgust, Summer looking at me curiously.

"Really? Want me to try?" asks Summer and I shake my head. Neither Ariana nor I would be happy if that happened. What do I do? Use your brain Dean, your evil little brain.

"No, can't have any horrible water messing up that beautiful mouth of yours," I comment, not even deciding to put a little thought into it because she falls for anything. The witchy laugh that comes out next confirms that for me. "Why don't you try one of the others? It could just be this specific bottle for now," I go on to say. It's so easy to trick this one.

"I will after you answer a question of mine," says Summer, putting forth a condition which I wasn't prepared for. Why wasn't I prepared for this? It's no big deal. I'll just plough on through. I can wing it. Dean Ambrose wings it all the time. "How come you're not with any of your friends right now? Even Evan?" she asks me and I keep a serious look on my face. Shit, what the fuck do I say? Oh god, I'm going to burn in hell for what I'm about to say. Not to mention my friends will kill me if they ever do hear me say this.

"They're all a bunch of fucking losers," I comment and thank god Summer's too focused on me to have heard that gasp. That sounded like it came from AJ. "I mean, that baby will not stop crying when I have a migraine. And my so called fiancé yells at me for telling him to shut up. Like I could give a fuck. If they can't take care of their own baby, then why did they even make one?" I go on to say, that sounding believable. Hopefully not too believable. I don't want it to come true.

"So you and Ariana fought?" asks Summer and I nod my head letting out a loud sigh. She's preying on this right now but she doesn't know that I'm letting her.

"Yeah, she keeps whining about me needing to grow up. I mean I'm not even 30 yet, I wanna live!" I say, thinking back to the thoughts I use to have before I met Ariana. Who I was back then? I was kind of a jackass to women. "I want to be able to have sex whenever I want. I want to be able to eat what I want. Not have to complain about waking up a baby or even talking about a stupid wedding," I explain and my face drains of colour when I see Ariana come out from the wall, mouthing swears at me. She wanted me to do this. I don't see what the problem is.

"I know what you mean, but that's what happens when you get tied to the wrong woman. Things that are supposed to make you feel happy, feel like chores. Like this pretence wedding," says Summer, grabbing the water as I look at her. She opens the bottle and drinks some saying, "It tastes fine," placing it back on the table.

"Wait a second, pretence?" I ask, looking genuinely intrigued because I actually am. What the fuck does she mean by that? I see Ariana and the girls come out, ready to put a whole load of laxatives into her water. I don't see why all 3 of them need to do it.

"Yeah," says Summer, turning her whole body in my direction because that's what I did. "I mean, come on Dean, you can't expect us all to believe you're happy with settling down with somebody like Ariana who treats you like a dog," she says, Ariana's mouth dropping open in shock at what's just been said about her. "She always makes you do what she wants, where's the happiness in that?" she says and I nod my head just for the sake of appearances.

"I really didn't want to babysit Evan, I wanted to have sex," I complain, seeing right through her bullshit. They all think I do what Ariana tells me to? But they don't know what actually happens. This is all just rumours, speculation and jealousy. All mixed into one.

"Maybe you still can," says Summer, running two of her fingers on my shoulders. Shit, she's propositioning me? In front of Ariana? I smirk, trying not to give anything away when I see Paige holding Ariana back who looks like she wants to beat the living hell out of Summer. AJ quickly puts in the laxatives and helps Paige drag Ariana back behind the wall. I think all the sounds from the stage are getting rid of any noise the girls have potentially made.

"Yeah," I say, thinking of my fiancée rather than the blonde crap in front of me. I mean, I'm a taken man and that still doesn't stop her? Then again, it never used to stop me. Unless a chick was married. That was where I drew the line.

"It was nice talking to you Dean but I have to get back to Layla," says Summer with a smile that's not looking to fuck off any time soon.

"Don't forget your water," I say, making sure all this hard work doesn't go to waste. She nods her head and picks it up, holding it tightly in her hands. She then steps forward and places a kiss on my cheek, surprising the fuck out of me.

"Call me. Anytime," says Summer and walks off, running a hand through her hair. I think she thinks that I'm watching her walk off because she's trying to walk seductively. Nope. Not even a little bit turned on. She's got nothing on my future wife.

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 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	83. Revealment

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. Here's the next chapter. Now, I have some news. Good or bad depends on how you see it. I'm going away on holiday for 2 weeks from the coming Saturday. I am going with my sisters and no one's bringing any work or anything. So I won't be able to post anything whilst I'm away. I shall post a chapter before a head off which is most likely on the coming Thursday. Then I'll make sure to update as soon as I get back :D**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! I know. Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: I know. You gotta love him like that :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Haha! Yes she was. Doesn't seem like she was too happy about it though :)**

 **Nattiebroskette: Aw, thanks for reading them both. And for the reviews you've left. I'm glad you're liking this one so far :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 83:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"What the fuck was that?!" I demand from my boyfriend as soon as that slut is far away from us all. He just carries on casually, grabbing snacks and stuffing his face. He cannot be serious. He can't act like nothing just happened.

"It's not like I could have pushed her, that bitch would definitely charge me with assault," Dean defends himself, putting a grape in his mouth. He could have easily pushed her off without hurting her but he didn't. I know him.

"Damn Ariana, I think I pulled something in my back," complains Paige, her hand constantly rubbing it. She shouldn't have held me back otherwise Summer would have been taught a lesson by now and her back wouldn't have been hurting.

"It's not like you were complaining when she was all over you," I turn back to my boyfriend who puts his arms out with a confused look on my face.

"You said, flirt with her so I did. I got her distracted and you got your job done. What's the problem?" says Dean and even though he's asking me that question he very well knows the answer to it. When the job was done he could have just acted like an ass but instead he let her kiss him!

"I said flirt with her, I didn't say let her kiss you. There is a big fucking difference!" I exclaim but he just gives me a blank look indicating he has no idea what I'm so upset about even though I just spelled it out in black and white for him.

"Ari, I don't think he had a choice. She would have got suspicious otherwise," intervenes AJ but one look from me shuts her up and she grabs a bottle of water herself.

"If you can't take it then don't tell me to do it," says Dean with a non-caring look on his face. He really couldn't give a shit about what just happened? Instead of saying anything I let out a growl and stomp off. I need to not see his face for a while because it makes me want to punch him! I could just kill him.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

I let out a laugh after my fiancée is out of earshot. I can't say it isn't fun seeing her get all worked up and jealous. It's a real turn on. But I think the last thing she wants to do right now is have me take her up to our hotel room.

"You love pushing her buttons don't you?" asks AJ, the only one left standing there because Paige went after Ariana to calm her down. I nod my head at AJ's question but the truth is, me and Ariana do it to each other.

"It's a nice pass time for the both of us," I explain to AJ, shrugging my shoulders. "You know; this one time I hid all her panties because she refused to go commando?" I say, AJ bursting out into laughter at the story. "I was doing it for the day and asked her to do the same. But she wouldn't have it. Eventually she outsmarted me by putting on a pair of shorts underneath her jeans and buying more," I finish the story, both of us laughing now.

"Just so you know, Summer can say what she wants. This wedding is not a pretence," says AJ, shaking her head as she looks at me. "You and Ariana are probably one of the strongest couples around here," she says and I nod my head in appreciation.

"You better go calm her down too now as well, I need to get laid tonight," I say, AJ punching my shoulder jokingly before walking off in the direction the girls went. I never even thought I'd have a wedding and now I can't wait to get married. But something is bugging me still. Iris. Something just isn't right.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

It feels too quiet in this house without either of my boys around. But I'm not sad. I miss them but I know I'm going to see them again soon. I continue on with making dinner, putting a lid on the stew. That's going to take an hour to cook. What do I do with myself till then? I know, wedding. I take out the book and sit at the breakfast table, going through what needs to be done. I hear a noise which grabs my attention. It's only me here. I get up from my place and go upstairs, looking around just for peace of mind. Maybe I was imagining things.

"I didn't leave it open," I say to myself, noticing my bedroom window open. I look around outside and then close it. Maybe it's all this work. I shake my head and sit on the bed, smiling when I see a frame with mine and Seth's picture in it. I pick it up and smile, looking at my incredibly handsome boyfriend. "I love you," I say, not feeling stupid that I'm saying it to a picture. I jump when the house phone rings and pick it up. "Hello?" I say into the phone.

 _"Hey,"_ I hear Seth's soothing voice on the other side. He has a way with timings doesn't he? _"I tried calling on your cell but no answer,"_ he explains because he never usually calls on the house phone. I always have my cell with me no matter what.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm upstairs," I say, shaking my head. "How is my amazing boyfriend doing?" I ask him and I hear his laugh on the other side.

 _"You miss me don't you?"_ asks Seth, not even needing to because of the way I greeted him. _"I'm doing as good as I can, considering my very hot girlfriend isn't standing next to me right now,"_ he says, making me blush over the phone.

"Are you taking care of our son?" I ask, changing the topic. It feels weird not having to take care of Evan, I keep thinking I need to tend to him then remember he's not even with me. But it's ok. I'm going back the day after and I'll be reunited with my boys.

 _"Well he's taking care of me, I know that much,"_ answers Seth, ensuring a laugh escapes from my mouth.

"How'd you figure that one out?" I ask, leaning against the headboard and bringing a pillow to sit in my lap.

 _"Well he keeps putting his hands over my eyes to try and get me to sleep even though he's still awake,"_ complains Seth and I can't help but chuckle at that. _"When I kept opening them he gave me this confused look, but he actually looked like he was telling me off with his eyes,"_ he explains and maybe he really does need that sleep.

"Seth, we have friends who can take care of Evan for a reason," I remind him. I told them all they need to share out Evan's responsibility since they're not used to taking care of him full time like I am. Seth did have that at first but once I bounced back from my coma, he's gotten out of the habit.

 _"I know, but I didn't get to see him much during the day and I wanted to have a little bit of time with him before Ariana takes him for the night,"_ explains Seth which I can't argue with _. "Don't worry, I'll sleep fine in the night. But right now, he needs to stop trying to force me to take a nap because I have a match in a few minutes,"_ he informs me.

"Maybe you should fake it so you can see what naughtiness he wants to get up to without his Father being alert," I suggest to him, making him laugh. I wonder what it's going to be like when I finally settle into our house permanently. I don't suppose it'll be great without Seth but at least I'll have our son. He looks like Seth anyway.

 _"He can't get up to much, he can't even crawl,"_ comments Seth. he's not going to crawl till he's around 6 months.

"It's just another month, then we'll deal with his teething as well as his crawling," I explain to my boyfriend. Babies tend to start crawling around 6 months, as well as teething. It'll mean a lot of waking up in the night because teething is an uncomfortable process. As for the crawling, the guys won't be able to just leave Evan on the bed and go to another room to check something. They'll have to take him absolutely everywhere. Safety reasons.

 _"I can't wait till he starts walking, then I can practice with him in the ring,"_ comments Seth, even though Evan will still be too young for that.

"You do that and Dean will have a fit, accusing you of not liking him as a training partner," I tell him, I don't think any of us want it to get to that stage.

 _"Like I should have done the other week when he spent all his time training with Evan at the gym instead of me?"_ questions Seth. I swear these boys definitely know how to hold grudges. Especially Dean and Seth. I wonder what Seth's going to say at Dean's wedding.

"Speaking of Dean, have you wrote your speech?" I ask Seth. I can only imagine he's going to fill it with crude jokes and insults aimed all at Dean. It is a nice opportunity to do that anyway. Despite Roman being Dean's best man, Dean has told both his friends that he wants to hear from them. They both have to do speeches. I think it's his way of making sure Seth doesn't feel a little left out.

 _"No,"_ answers Seth and judging by his response he hasn't even gotten started yet.

"You've not even looked yet have you?" I ask Seth, shaking my head even though he's not here. "Come on, 2 weeks till the big day. We need a speech ready," I say to him, already having gone through mine for Ariana's.

 _"Have you done yours?"_ asks Seth, not even needing to ask because it was one of the first things I did. It's easier trying to get everything else done than doing the speech so I made sure it was one of the things I did the earliest.

"Most of it, I just need to touch it up a little," I say, happy and content with what I've came up with. I know I'm supposed to talk mainly about Ariana but I've ended up putting Dean in there with her, only because they're both like family to me.

 _"Why do you have to be so prepared?"_ asks Seth, letting out a groan which makes me laugh. _"I just don't want it to be too serious. But then I want to make jokes that Dean won't murder me for,"_ he explains to me and I guess it can be tricky for him.

"Just put something serious and heartfelt if that's what you want in there. It doesn't matter what you write, Dean's going to love it," I reassure him. Between all the fighting and bickering, Seth and Dean are good brothers who love each other a lot. They just don't say it in so many words. "Maybe you should tell him you love him," I joke, Seth letting out a chuckle.

 _"If I want him to call me gay for the rest of my life,"_ comments Seth which in all actuality is true. Especially if he says that at the wedding. Then he'll tease me for having a gay boyfriend. I don't get men sometimes.

"Don't worry, I'll vouch for you," I say without thinking, my face going red when I realise what I just said to my boyfriend over the phone.

 _"I bet you will,"_ Seth jokes and I shake my head at him capitalising on my embarrassment. _"Don't worry though, the speech will be done before the wedding,"_ he says, making sure he reassures me about another thing I don't need to worry about.

"It's going to be fantastic. Even better than mine," I comment, Seth letting out a snort at that last comment. Maybe I did go too far. Oh well. "Now hang up and get ready for your match. Good luck," I tell him but I can tell he'd rather stay on the phone talking to me.

 _"Alright, only for you though. I love you,"_ Seth tells me, an automatic grin appearing on my face as usual when he says that to me. I can't help it.

"I love you more," I say but he laughs saying he doesn't think so before hanging up. I smile and put the phone down, looking at the picture of us together once more. Who would have thought this would be my life? I've always wanted a family and Seth has given me one. I don't think I'll ever be able to love him enough for it. I get up to leave the room, wanting to get back down and carry on with my work before dinner is ready. I get up to leave the room when I swear I hear something. I turn around and see a part of the wardrobe open. I walk over slowly and open it to reveal...nothing. Absolutely nothing. I shake my head with a laugh but then feel my whole body go tense when I feel someone grab me and place a handkerchief on my mouth. I jump up and down, screaming even though I have the handkerchief on my mouth. But after about a minute, I start to feel dizzy. I try to keep my eyes open and fight but then I fall into blackness.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Summer, are you sure you're ok?" asks Layla from the other side of the door to one of the bathroom stalls. In our locker room we have two bathroom stalls, one of which Summer has been occupying for the good part of the last half an hour. I look at AJ who sends me a wink as we both try to control our laughs.

"I'm fine!" snaps Summer, sounding angry and distressed at the same time. I bet she never thought she'd be in this position.

"Wow Nikki, you forearmed me real hard," complains Paige, both girls entering the locker room after their match. I don't even need to ask how it went.

"How could I? I used the same amount of strength as I usually do!" exclaims Nikki. Yep, they still bicker like Seth and Dean do. Nothing stops that from happening. All 4 of them need to be in preschool.

"Well use less!" hisses Paige, Nikki's glare looking like it's going to make anyone in its sights explode. As if we didn't have an enough of a problem with Summer hitting everyone harder and on purpose, now we got to deal with these two doing the same and blaming each other.

"Guys!" I shout out to get their attention. "Come on, play nice," I instruct them both. Normally Natalya tries to buffer these two. If she's not around, then we all take turns because we just cannot deal with it.

"She started it," complains Nikki, sitting down next to me with her arms crossed over her chest. Paige rolls her eyes and sits down opposite us, looking like she'd rather be somewhere else.

"Be happy," I tell them both and receive weird looks in return. I point over to where Layla's stood at the bathroom door, asking Summer if she needs or wants anything. Paige places a hand over her face, laughing but not letting out other sounds.

"Has she lost her mind?" asks Nikki curiously, keeping her eyes on Paige. I lean to the side and put my hand over the side of my mouth and Nikki's ear, whispering what me, Paige and AJ did to get back at Summer for all the crap she thinks she can get away with. "What?" she says and I nod my head, Paige nodding her head too as well as AJ. "Well then, uh, I'm happy," she says, nodding her head and bursting out into laughter making us all do the same.

"What are you all laughing at?!" snaps Layla, narrowing her eyes at us. She probably thinks we find the current situation funny. But she's not wrong, we do find it funny. She just doesn't know the full reason why.

"It's this joke Ariana told," says Nikki, tears coming out from her eyes as she points towards me.

"She'd tell you but stupid people don't get it!" exclaims AJ, lying down on the bench in full blown laughter, which only worsens when we all see the look on Layla's face.

"You're calling me stupid?!" asks Layla, pointing to herself and looking extremely mad. I think stupid is an understatement. "Let me tell you-" she starts but gets cut off by Summer.

"Layla, leave them and get me some roll!" yells Summer, all of us laughing even harder. Layla glares at us before leaving the locker room in search of more supplies. I high five Nikki and AJ, this is the most fun us girls have had in this locker room for a while now. It's pure gold.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"What are you planning on getting Ariana for your wedding?" asks Roman, my movements freezing as I pack my bag so we can head off for the night. "You are getting her one right?" he then asks me cautiously, probably reading the look on my face.

"I didn't know I had to get one," I say, looking at him but he just ends up laughing. He takes a seat on the couch and leans back. Shit. I'm supposed to get her a present? Since when was that a rule. We're spending most of our money on this wedding anyway.

"Ok, then let me inform you my brother that it's an unspoken rule to get your wife a gift for your wedding night," explains Roman and I send him a look. "No, you can't be the gift," he adds on, rolling his eyes at me. When Iris gave me a bunch of stuff to do, a wedding present wasn't one of them.

"Does she really need one more when everyone's gonna give us loads of shit anyway?" I ask Roman, I don't have time to look for a present now. We're working double time so I can have time off for my honeymoon.

"I guess you have a point. But she will be getting you a present anyway," says Roman, getting up and heading off to the bathroom again. Ariana's going to get me a present? Well, oh shit.

"Ok, what the fuck do I get her?" I ask Roman, as soon as he comes back out, phone in hand. Iris isn't even around for me to ask her. I'm not going to call her again otherwise she'll definitely yell at me. Not to mention Seth will as well.

"How would I know? She's not my future wife," comments Roman, being unhelpful which is what he labels me most of the time.

"Thanks (!)" I tell Roman, cursing him under my breath which he seems to find amusing. Iris is coming back the day after, I'm sure she can give me something to work with. Instead of calling her I quickly send her a text, asking her if she can help me.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Hey, is he ready for bed?" Ariana asks me, looking at me as soon as I come out from the bedroom area in my suite. I show Evan to her and she laughs. He's wearing a onesie with a bee on it. It just always makes us all laugh.

"Thanks for taking him on the nights Ari, we really appreciate it," I tell her but she shakes her head. She picks up Evan's bag to make sure everything she needs is in there.

"It's fine, besides, as soon as Dean heard you've started to lose your light sleeper qualities he absolutely insisted Evan would be crying for hours on end without Iris there," says Ariana and I make a mental note of kicking Dean tomorrow the first chance that I get.

"Yeah, would you mind if I kick his butt tomorrow?" I ask, sitting down on the couch, Ariana letting out a loud laugh.

"Just not the face, I need that in two weeks," Ariana makes it clear what I can and cannot do. Not that leaving a mark on Dean's face is easy. For some reason, that always manages to escape him. Even when we had that brawl at a bar, me and Roman got shiners and Dean didn't even end up with a scratch on his face.

"I think I'll wait till you guys get back then," I comment, making her laugh again. "You know Iris has her speech all ready?" I ask, I know she won't mind me sharing this information with Ariana. I think she would have told her anyway.

"Really?" asks Ariana and I nod my head. "That's why my best friend is Iris, you can always count on her to get the job done," she explains and I nod my head. Ariana zips up the bag and then looks at me with a smile. "You haven't done yours, have you?" she asks, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"I just can't think of what to write," I admit to her. I know I talked about this with Iris, but I don't know. "I mean, where do I start?" I haven't had the time to sit down and think and when I do get any little amount of time, there is absolutely no inspiration whatsoever.

"How about you're an ass who got handed a very amazing girl?" suggests Ariana as a joke before sitting down next to me. "I can't tell you what to write Seth, you've known Dean longer than me. This should be easy for you," she says but it isn't. It feels like the most difficult thing to do at the moment. Or that I've ever done for that matter.

"Yeah, except that it's not," I say, letting out a little groan. Ariana pats my shoulder and takes Evan from me, heading off to her room which is only a few doors down. At least Evan's not so far away from me then. I get ready of bed and get underneath the covers. I pick up my phone and ring Iris, hoping to talk to her for five minutes before I drift off to sleep.

 _"Hi, this is Iris, Sorry I missed you but I will definitely call back!"_ I hear Iris's chirpy voice on the other end of the phone which makes me smile. She's probably getting ready to go to sleep herself. I'll just leave a message.

"Hey, it's Seth. I wanted to hear your voice before I go to sleep but I guess that somehow happened anyway," I say, letting out a chuckle. "I'll call back tomorrow and talk to you. I love you. Goodnight," I say, keeping it short and sweet. I place my phone on the nightstand and then lie back down, letting sleep overtake me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I start to wake up, my head hurting. I was supposed to be making dinner right? Then what happened. As the memories of what happened come back to me I try to open my eyes only to find that there's a blindfold over them. I'm about to use my hands to take it off when I find my hands tied behind my back. What the...? Oh my god. Someone's in the house and they...they've...

"Ah, I see you're awake," I hear a voice. A man's voice. That voice sounds familiar. Like I've heard it before. Where have I heard it before? I get myself up to a sitting position, leaning against the headboard. I'm in my room on my bed. At least I know that much. "I was thinking I may have sedated you too much," he says, letting out a little chuckle. I keep my tears in, unsure of what I should do. So I go with the one thing that everybody asks.

"What...what do you want?" I ask, my heart hammering away at the situation I'm in. Maybe this guy just wanted to rob the house? Don't be stupid Iris. This was obviously planned if you recognise his voice.

"I think that much is obvious," says the man and I think he expects me to know who he is. "Unless you don't know who I am in which case, that's heartbreaking," he comments but seems to be taking it lightly. Oh god, I want Seth. How do I get out of this?

"P-please. Just let me go," I say, my mind immediately turning to my family and friends. My little baby. I don't know what I've done to deserve this but I don't want to be here.

"I can't do that Iris," says the man and I flinch when I feel a hand on my face. "Hey, don't be scared. I could never hurt you. I know I've tied you up but it's just till you realise what I've known all this time," he says and I try to manage my resolve as he gently caresses my cheek. This is too intimate. Only Seth has the right to touch me in this way.

"Please. S-stop," I say, even though I probably shouldn't have. All of a sudden his hand is gone and I don't feel his presence anywhere around me.

"I know it'll take a while to come around to the idea," comments the man. I hear him walk up and down, in and out. What is he doing? Damn it, this blindfold is stopping me from seeing who this fucker is. Yes, I used that word. No other word to describe some sicko who's got me tied up.

"Dean," I say his name quietly. He was right. He had a bad feeling and this is it coming to bite me in the ass for not taking him seriously.

"You know, this Dean calls you too many times," says the man, not sounding happy at all. "Who does he think he is?" he goes on to question. He's talking as if he knows anything about me, Dean and our relationship. "If he wasn't getting married then I would have thought there's something going on," he comments and I can only imagine he's waiting for my response.

"He's my...brother," I say confidently. I could sit here and cry about this whole thing that has taken me by surprise. Or I could harden myself and think of a way to get out of here. The old me would definitely not have cried and neither am I. My boyfriend and son are depending on me. I need to get out of this somehow.

"Hmm," I hear him say. What do I have in my room? I know I do have a bat somewhere but with my hands tied, that's impossible to get a hold of. Not to mention, I can't see anything. "Hey Iris. Look, I'm not calling you, I bet that'll make you happy. When you get back could you help me find a gift for Ari? Roman only just told me I need to get my future wife a present for our wedding," I hear him read and I immediately know it's Dean. A smile comes onto my face as I think about him. "What a loser," comments the man, a frown appearing on my face. I'd like to call him a loser at the moment but I can't set him off. I don't even know who he is. "Ok, forget him for now," he says and he's near me again. I feel him messing with the blindfold and he takes it off whilst saying, "Dinner is ready".

"Ah," I say, my head still hurting. My eyes are a little blurry but once they regain their sight I look at who's in front of me with a big smile on his face. "Adam," I say his name, my heart dropping at the sight in front of me. What the actual fuck?

* * *

 **I think a couple of you managed to guess who it was. Well done! Reviews are loved! :)**


	84. Prisoner

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! So this is the last update before I'm off for my holiday! Like I said, I'll try to update as soon as I get back. I see everyone has a lot of thoughts on who this mystery person was but now we know who it was. I hope you like this chapter guys! :)**

* * *

 **Nattiebroskette: Another one that guessed right! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Lol. It's been a while so I unless you'd read Getting Over You recently you wouldn't remember. Go back to that story and look at chapter 29, 30, 32 and 33. Or go straight to 33 if you just want a quick explanation :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! I was expecting your reaction to somewhat be like that :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Moxley Gal1: Dude chill, he was just doing as he was asked. But maybe he did go a bit too far by acting indifferent. But that's how he is. It's not a serious fight, Ariana knows Dean loves her and only her :)**

 **Guest: Hmm, ok cool. I'll try and see what I can do before I finish this story :)**

 **Calwitch: Don't worry, there's been so many chapters between both stories that it's fine if you don't remember. Ready chapters 29, 30, 32 and 33 if you want to know. Or just jump straight to 33. However, you prefer. I was trying to make it look like it might be Kane and Orton, just to surprise you all! Yeah, too bad it's not happened. You can always count on Dean to kick up a fuss! :)**

 **Paisley2: You definitely did! It took and lot in me to not to PM you and say 'you're right!' Haha. I like the nickname :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 84:**

I continue staring at him as he smiles down at me. I don't even understand. He's the one that's tied me up? I did think that the windows being open was just me but now that I sit here opposite him I realise I wasn't losing my mind. The windows were opened. But not by me. By him. He's been in my house. Even when I was here with Seth. I feel bile rising up my throat. He wasn't watching anything was...he? I feel even more sick now that an intimate moment between me and my boyfriend might have been watched by this creep.

"I'm so touched you remembered me," says Adam, about to lean in to touch me when I move my head back. He looks annoyed but tries his best not to show it. "Right, dinner," he says and grabs a hold of my arm. He might be a kidnapper but he's behaving very gentle with me. He takes me downstairs and makes me sit on one end of the table, taking the seat adjacent to me for himself. "I'm sure you'll find the dinner exquisite, it was made by your hands after all," he comments, placing a napkin on my lap and placing a bowl in front of me.

"The stew," I say and he nods his head. I have to do what he says otherwise I'm not going to be able to get out of here. "What about my hands?" I ask as he serves me some. He sits back down and smiles at me.

"Don't worry, they're only temporary till you realise you belong with me and not Seth," Adam informs me. So my thoughts are confirmed. I need to play along to get out of this. How long will that be though? Days? Weeks? Months? No. he can't do that. People will get suspicious. My friends and Seth would come looking for me.

"How...how am I supposed to eat?" I ask him, looking at the stew and the bread that's sitting next to it.

"Only one way," says Adam and breaks some bread, dipping it in. He then holds it in front of my face and I desperately want to chuck it back in his face. But the image of Seth and Evan forces me to lean forward and eat the food from Adam's hands. "Hmm, this is good stuff," he compliments me, eating some himself. I can't believe I have to share food with him. I feel so disgusted with myself. "I've bagged myself a great cook," he says, a grin on his face that shows all his teeth.

"Was it you that took Evan at the supermarket?" I decide to be bold and ask him. He stops his movements of feeding me the next bite when I do so.

"Yeah, I mean I missed our little guy. What do you expect me to do? I've not seen him since he was born!" says Adam, arguing with me like we're an actual couple and Evan is his son. What the fuck is going on?

"Our...little...guy?" I voice the words that confuse me the most. He sends me a confused look in return.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have needed to do that if you'd kept Evan away from me by being with Seth and pretending he's the Father," Adam defends himself and my eyes widen at what I'm dealing with here. He thinks Evan is his son? Am I high? Because that can't be right.

"Seth...is his Father," I say cautiously, observing Adam's reaction to those words. I jump when he slams his hand down on the table.

"Iris. No more lies, ok?" says Adam, a darkened look in his eye before he goes back to normal and feeds me another mouthful. He actually thinks Evan is his? How on earth could he even think that? I'm so confused.

"Fine, no lies. Did you try and separate me and Seth when I was visiting his parents?" I ask, being bold once again. I need answers. I need to know if he's the person I've feared this whole time. If he's the reason I've felt like I've needed to constantly look over my shoulder.

"I didn't do that Iris," says Adam, shaking his head, looking kind of genuine. "It was Isabel that tried to break you two up. I just instructed her to get the job done, which she couldn't," he says, sounding disgusted at the fact that none of it worked. It was him. It was him all this time. I thought it might be Randy or Kane or someone else, but never did I once think it was him. How could things have gotten so far? I didn't spend much time at Dean and Ariana's place in Vegas. Why has he gone to these lengths? Because he wants me?

"Why?" I ask, giving him a questioning look. For him it might be black and white. He wants me so is trying to get me. But no normal person would do all these things for someone they've met a couple of times.

"Because we belong together, obviously. With Evan, we can be a proper family. I just need to make sure that Seth doesn't interfere," explains Adam as if this is common knowledge and this situation is normal. His response gives me the answer that I need as to why he's doing all this. Because he's fucking crazy. We finish off the rest of dinner and he takes me back to the bedroom. I sit in mine and Seth's bed, Adam sitting on a chair next to the bed. I'm just glad he hasn't decided to jump onto it. This belongs to just me and Seth. It's ours and not to be shared with anyone else. My phone rings and Adam looks at it, an angry expression on his face.

"Who is it?" I ask, wondering why he's looking so mad as if he could kill. I need to get my phone away from him or use the house phone and call for help. I would shout but I don't think I'd get away with it.

"Seth," answers Adam through clenched teeth, my heart beating in anticipation that just maybe he'd let me answer it. I need to convince him to let me answer it.

"Can I speak to him? If I don't he'll get suspicious," I quickly point out to him. The one thing he doesn't want is to get caught.

"It's just this one time, he won't think anything of it," Adam justifies, keeping the phone in the hand furthest away from me. "He's left a message. Let's see what the jerk has to say," he comments, my heart jumping in joy that I'll get to hear Seth's voice. Even if it is just that.

 _"Hey, it's Seth. I wanted to hear your voice before I go to sleep but I guess that somehow happened anyway,"_ I hear Seth say, both of us having wanted the same thing unknowingly. I wanted to hear him and he wanted to hear me. _"I'll call back tomorrow and talk to you. I love you. Goodnight,"_ he says and the message ends. That's it for me, because it's like the realisation sinks in that I may never see him again, and the waterworks begin.

"Don't cry Iris, you'll soon forget about that jerk that ruined your life," says Adam, probably referring to my past with Seth which he probably does know about. He knows everything yet doesn't because he thinks Evan is his son. "He doesn't deserve someone as great as you, after all the shit he put you through. But don't worry, I'm going to take care of you," he assures me, placing a hand on the lower part of my leg. Will I ever get to see Seth or Evan again?

* * *

 **STEPHANIE POV**

"Hey Ariana," I say when I see her waiting outside my office. I asked to speak with her because I thought given the circumstances, it would be appropriate. "Thank you for waiting," I say and lead her inside. We both take a seat and I ask, "How are the wedding plans going?" I got my invite not too long ago.

"They're going great. Between me and Iris, we're managing to get everything done. I have no idea what I'm going to do without her," explains Ariana, reminding me of me and my best friend. Close as sisters.

"That's fantastic," I say, happy for both her and Dean. "I wanted to discuss the plans I have for you when you get back. I want you back in the title frame," I state, seeing a positive reaction from her as a smile overtakes her face.

"Really?" asks Ariana and I nod my head. I think it's time she made an impact as much as she did when she first arrived with Iris on the scene and when she joined the SHIELD.

"Yeah, you'll be feuding with Paige and I'm going to be working with creative to get everything ready for when you come back," I say to Ariana. We discuss a few more details before she leaves, happier than when I saw her standing at my door. I get on with my work as usual when someone calls my phone. "Hello?" I say, a pen in my hand as I look through the script for RAW.

 _"H-hi Stephanie. It's Iris,"_ I hear on the other end, a smile overcoming my face at the sound of her voice. Iris is just someone who instantly puts a smile on your face. It's always nice to hear from her.

"Hey Iris, it's nice to hear from you. Are you doing well?" I ask her and there's a silent pause on the other side. "Iris, are you ok?" I ask her, stopping what I'm doing for a moment, feeling concerned.

 _"Y-yeah, fine. I just...well I'm not feeling too well,"_ says Iris and I don't know but something doesn't feel right to me at the moment. _"I know I'm supposed to come back to work tomorrow but could I please take a couple of days off? I don't want to infect anybody,"_ she says, thinking about others even though I know she wants to come to work.

"Seth's forcing you to take time off huh?" I ask in a teasing voice. Iris has always worked through illness, not listening to me or anyone else. If anyone's convinced her to take time off, it's going to be her boyfriend. "Ok, well don't worry I think you deserve a couple of days to yourself. As long as you promise to go see the doctor," I explain to her. People take time off all the time for being sick, but I have to make sure she's doing everything she can to recuperate.

 _"T-thanks Steph,"_ says Iris after which she hangs up. I look at my phone with an odd expression, that didn't sound much like Iris on the phone. Maybe it's because she's not feeling well.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I look at Adam as he presses the button to end the call. I did think about maybe trying to shout to Stephanie for help but Adam has a knife. A knife that I managed to catch a glimpse of. There's no point of me calling for help if I'll be dead in two seconds.

"Good girl," says Adam, putting the phone to one side. No one's going to panic when they realise I didn't come back. I've asked for the time off myself. But I haven't asked for much time off. He can't keep me here longer than a week. Surely. Questions will start arising. But then my heart drops when I think of what he's going to do in the meantime. "Now, I'll be back. I need to make breakfast," he says with a smile on his face. Well obviously he's happy about this whole situation.

"Can I help?" I ask Adam without even thinking. Well I am sort of thinking. I need to be out of these ropes which means I have to abide by his rules. Which means no running away after I get out of these ropes. But he needs to trust me first.

"Not this time. Maybe later," says Adam, throwing me a wink and leaving through the door. At least he didn't spend last night with me in this bed. He slept on the floor. I tried staying awake but he never slept. Eventually I fell asleep and then saw him staring at me first thing in the morning. Yeah, that wasn't creepy at all (!) How do I get out of these ropes. He changed my ropes last night so my hands are now tied in front of me. But my feet still are too and if I try standing up and fall, then he'll hear me and probably tie me up good. I don't know what to do. After a while I hear buzzing and look around, noticing my phone on the floor. I see Ariana's name flashing but can't pick it up without Adam hearing me. I could try though.

"Come on Iris, don't be such a wimp," I give myself a pep talk and put my feet on the floor. I shuffle to the edge of the bed and am about to pick up the phone when I hear footsteps. I quickly move back to my position and keep my gaze on my hands, trying not to look suspicious.

"I hope it's ok, the only thing I can make are scrambled eggs," says Adam, walking into the room as if this is normal. That lets me know he's definitely crazy. Especially since he thinks Evan is his son. He sits on the end of the bed and places the tray down. I don't like this. Not one bit. He's violating mine and Seth's person space. This is meant to be our home and he's ruining it for me.

"Maybe I can teach you," I say, keeping my gaze on the food, pretending to look excited about it. I can tell from the corner of my eye that he's looking at me which means I have him a little bit hooked. Now I need to work on it.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Congratulations," says Seth, walking down the hallway with me. I just told him about my title feud with Paige. It turns out Hunter wanted to talk to him about something so I waited around and we decided to go back to the hotel together. I think the others are training in the gym so I can go give them the good news too. "It's about time they put you back up there," he says and I nod my head, appreciative of the compliment.

"I can't wait to tell everyone. Just act surprised when I tell the others otherwise Dean will chew my ear off about me not telling him first," I explain to him and Seth sends me a look of understanding. We both know what my fiancé is like.

"Believe me, I don't want that kind of aggravation," comments Seth, making the both of us chuckle.

"What was Hunter talking to you about anyway?" I ask curiously. Normally he talks to the boys all together, now here Seth is, alone. I'm not suspecting anything. It's just weird. I trust Seth completely.

"He wanted to ask me how Randy's been? Whether he's been bothering Iris or not," answers Seth which we all know the answer to. Randy hasn't been much of a pain in the ass since we reported him. Maybe that's what I just have done last year, then none of us would be in this position right now.

"Well if he was I'm pretty sure you guys would have had his head, but it's still stuck to his body so..." I trail off, the both of us laughing. Before either of us can say anything further, Stephanie walks down and spots us, stopping in her footsteps. We both greet and she the same.

"It's good that you're both here actually. I just wanted to let you know that Iris told me she'll be off so she shouldn't get into trouble with the both of you," says Stephanie, me and Seth exchanging confused looks on our faces. What the heck does she mean by that?

"What do you mean she'll be off?" asks Seth. Iris is off for a couple of days but Stephanie already knew that. She gave her the two days off.

"Wait a second, you don't know?" asks Stephanie, confusion etched on her face now as well. "She rang me right after I spoke to Ariana saying she's not feeling well so wants to extend her time off. I assumed you guys were forcing her to since she never takes days off if she's unwell," she says, me and Seth looking at each other in worry. She's not well? Why wouldn't she call us about that? She seemed fine when we talked to her yesterday. What the fuck is going on?

"I'll call and ask her. Maybe she didn't want to worry us," I say, dialling her number and trying to find a reasonable explanation for Iris hiding this from us.

"Ok, I have to get going but keep me posted. If I knew you guys didn't know I would have asked her about it. Sorry," says Stephanie but I tell her it's fine and she walks off. She's probably got a million things to deal with. She doesn't need this as well.

"She's not picking up," I say, only hearing rings on the other side but no answer. "You think she's ok?" I ask Seth but he shakes his head. I don't know what's going through his mind right now but I am worried. This isn't like Iris. We'd be the first people to call if she needs to stay out there longer. Oh god, I hope she hasn't faked it for my dress or anything. Otherwise I will kill her. "Maybe you should try calling. She might think I just need wedding things," I comment. She always answers Seth's call unless she's sleeping or is in the shower.

"I can't. I left my phone at the hotel," answers Seth once he starts patting all his pockets. "Let's head back now and do that," he suggests and I can tell he's worried because he's walking really fast. I just hope nothing is wrong and Iris actually is fine. It's just unusual for her to not to tell us first before talking to Stephanie.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I don't understand what is going on. Iris didn't answer my call last night, has told Stephanie she's taking an extra few days off and now she's not even answering Ariana's calls. I have a bad feeling about this.

"Whoa, where you going speedy Gonzales?" asks Dean, nearly bumping into me. I ignore him and continue on to where my room is. I have to speak to Iris right now before I lose my mind and worry over everything.

"Iris isn't answering my calls," I hear Ariana say and just like that all three of us end up in my room. I pick up my phone and ring Iris, anxiously waiting to hear her voice but she doesn't pick up and it eventually goes to voicemail. "She's asked for extra days off from Stephanie and now isn't picking up the phone," Arian states what's been previously said.

"Seriously?" asks Dean and I think the look on my face says it all for him. He starts to look worried too and then says, "I knew this bad feeling didn't go away for a reason". With what's happening combined with Dean's 'feelings', I'm really starting to worry. Where is she and why isn't she picking up the phone?

"I'm going to ring one more time and then I'm off to Davenport," I state, not even needing to think about this. However, this time, she does pick up. "Hello? Iris, are you alright? Why haven't you been picking up the phone? And what's this about you taking lots of days off?" I attack her with all these questions and then pause. I just really want to hear her voice. That'll do it for me. I don't care whether she answers the questions or not.

 _"Hi,"_ I hear Iris say on the other end, sounding very emotional. Is she ok? _"Sorry Seth,"_ she says and I don't know why but I feel there's more to her words than I can comprehend.

"It's fine Iris. I just need to know you're ok and you're safe?" I ask her, both Dean and Ariana looking on in worry. I give them a nod and see looks of relief on their faces.

 _"I'm ok,"_ says Iris on the other end. I find it weird that she's not saying much right now. It's not like her. Normally she talks my ear off and she'd be asking how Evan's coping and everything. _"I...just...I think I have some sort of a c-cold,"_ she says, sounding unsure of herself. She still should have told me she's not feeling well.

"You could have told me or even messaged me. I've been worried sick," I say and hear Iris take in a deep breath.

 _"I know but I just...I've been sleeping a lot because of the jetlag and the...the cold_ ," answers Iris and I nod my head in understanding. I really can't blame her if she's that tired though. But I know I would get the third degree for doing what she did.

"I understand," I say, just glad that she's ok for now. It means I can relax a little. I think I'll feel better when she comes back though. "When are you coming back then? In about 3 or 4 days?" I ask her. She can't be off for longer than that.

 _"Yeah, I-I think so,"_ answers Iris, this cold really must be taking a toll on her. I would have thought she'd want to come to us guys quicker rather than be over there all by herself with no one to take care of her.

"Take care of yourself, ok? I need you running around and healthy. I can't work around here without you," I tell Iris, having made my way into the bed area, wanting a little more privacy from my friends who don't seem to mind since Dean didn't yell at me for walking off.

 _"I-I'll try,"_ says Iris. I've noticed she's stuttering a little. Maybe that's the cold. Maybe she's cold and can't warm up. This girl never takes care of herself yet goes around telling us all what we should do. I think I need to give her a little bit of that.

"And make sure to wrap up, you're clearly feeling very cold," I instruct her and hear a little chuckle on the other side of the phone which warms my heart. "Have nice hot drinks and some soup. If you don't get any better then I'll have to come down there myself," I add on with a laugh.

 _"No! I mean, I'll be fine,"_ says Iris, her response confusing me. What was that? She actually sounded like she didn't want me to come down. _"You just f-focus on your w-work. I'll be as good as new,"_ she says but not sounding very believable.

"I believe you. I know you're not feeling well and all but please answer our calls. The fact that you answer calls and then today weren't, that really worried us. It's not like you," I explain to her and just hear silence on the other end. "Iris, are you listening?" I ask her, I wonder if she's paying attention.

 _"Y-yes, I am. S-sorry. I will do in the future,"_ she says and I realise if she sleeps then she can't do that.

"Whenever you're awake, just message one of us to let us know you're alive and well. I couldn't take it if something happened to you and none of us knew," I go on to explain to my girlfriend. She is there by herself after all. Maybe I can get Penny to check in on her, she is a good friend of Iris's now.

 _"I'll keep that in mind,"_ says Iris on the other end. It's crap that I have to be here working when she's not well. Still, I'd rather have her at home and safe than with me travelling from one place to the next with a nasty cold.

"I'll leave you to have some peace and quiet then, ok?" I say, hating being apart from her for one second. I'm just glad Evan isn't there with her so she doesn't have to worry about taking care of him. She can just focus on herself.

 _"Is Evan alright?"_ asks Iris and I knew this was going to come sooner or later. _"H-he's ok?"_ she goes on to ask again.

"Evan is doing just fine. He misses his Mother though," I inform my girlfriend. Since Dean and Ariana are here, I'm assuming Roman is taking care of him. He's always with one of us four, never with anyone else unless one of us present.

 _"I-I miss him too,"_ comments Iris on the other end of the phone. I know how she feels, I felt the same when they spent a week together in Davenport, away from me. Things just never felt right so they mustn't be either for Iris. If she wasn't unwell I know she'd be calling a lot like I was.

"Don't worry, you'll be back where you belong in just a few days," I reassure her and I think that does it because she doesn't say anything further about the topic. I think she's a little lucky that she's unwell because then most of the time her head will be filled with irritation at being unwell rather than thinking she's away from me and Evan.

 _"I hope so,"_ Iris responds which I shake my head at. She's not thinking logically and it's only the cold that can be put to blame here.

"Iris, your colds never last longer than a few days. This time next week, you'll definitely be here with us," I say as a guarantee. She may take a couple more days off but she can't be absent longer than a week. Plus, when she starts to recover she'll want to come back to work. It's in her nature. As soon as she feels a little better, if she's not already in at work then she'll be back. "Take care of yourself. I love you," I say, glad I can say that to her. I can't imagine what it would be like to not get to say that to her at least once a day. I've not experienced that yet and I don't intend to either.

 _"I-I love you too,"_ I hear Iris say, again, sounding very emotional. Maybe it's the cold. We hang up after saying goodbye and I put my phone away, going out to see Ariana and Dean still standing around.

"She's unwell, got a cold going on and has been sleeping. That's why she wasn't picking up," I explain to them both, Dean and Ariana nodding their heads. Although, Dean doesn't look convinced. "What?" I then decide to ask him, just to settle my curiosity.

"What did she sound like on the phone? Did she sound ill?" questions Dean, acting like someone investigating a case. I don't know why he's suspicious. Maybe not. Maybe he's just curious.

"Well yeah, she kept stuttering because she's cold," I explain to him. Iris wasn't going to sound completely unwell, she was fine yesterday. It must have started last night. That's why she didn't answer my phone call.

"Anything else?" asks Dean and I shake my head, nothing too odd. I wonder what he's trying to get at. This is him getting carried away with his feelings about something not being right since Iris decided to go.

"Dean, don't get too paranoid. She's fine," I reassure him even though he should be doing that for me. I'm Iris's boyfriend. But it seems like Dean worries a whole lot more than me sometimes. If I'm not worried than neither should he. I was when I couldn't get through to Iris but after hearing her voice I feel better. Not fully but still better.

"Well when is she coming back then?" asks Ariana, actually responding with questions normal people have than coming out with what Dean just did.

"A few days, hopefully. She just needs to take care of herself," I explain. Maybe it would have been better if she did have someone over there. I think I will definitely call Penny. Just for peace of mind. I know Iris would do the same if I was in her position so she can't get mad when Penny turns up at her doorstep. Besides, the worst thing when you're ill is not having someone to take care of you or at least check in on you.

"Well we know that girl bounces back quicker than a rubber band," jokes Ariana, gesturing for Dean to move towards the door. I'm sure Iris will be ok. She just needs some rest. She's been running around us for such a long time that it's probably taken a toll on her.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What were you trying to get at back there?" I ask Dean, making our way over to Roman's hotel room. He took Evan earlier to spend some time with him and give me a little bit of a break.

"What do you mean?" asks Dean and I know he's ignoring what I mean on purpose. He knows exactly what I'm talking about.

"You know what I mean Dean," I say, stopping in the hallway and looking at him. I could tell Seth found it weird as well when he was answering Dean's question. "Dean, you're being too suspicious about everything," I say. I know it can be a good thing at times but then sometimes, it's too much.

"So sue me for it," comments Dean with a sigh. I shake my head, a small smile dancing on my lips. "Iris is all there alone and she's not responding to calls and messages like she usually does. Now she's apparently ill..." he trails off, his arms flapping a little in the air.

"You're worried," I state and he nods his head. Months back I never would have gotten this out of him, the fact that he actually cares about someone and is worried.

"Her being there...it just doesn't feel right," explains Dean and there's a look on his face that I've never seen before. "My gut says something's not right," he adds on as if pleading some sort of case.

"And Iris is unwell," I say with a nod of my head. I don't know what to do honestly. He's worried but we all are. Especially since none of are over there with Iris. "Look Dean," I start, placing my hands on his shoulders. He's cute when he cares. "We're all worried about Iris. But she is fine, she's got a cold. Anyone of us could have got it. And you know Iris, she's like everyone's Mother when we get ill. She can take care of herself," I reassure him and then place a peck on his lips. "You know, I can't wait to see you with our kids," I say, leaning back and tilting my head to the side.

"You're not pregnant are you?" asks Dean with a raised eyebrow. I shake my head and lightly hit one of his shoulders.

"Not yet," I say, sending him a wink as I step back and take his hand in mine. "Come on, let's get Evan. He always cheers you up," I say, deciding it's best if we divert Dean's mind. He's just worried for Iris a lot more because of being ill. She'll be fine and back with us in no time.

* * *

 **This one's a little longer for you guys since there'll be nothing for 2 weeks! Please do review! :)**


	85. Help

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Thar's right, I'm back! I had the most amazing time off but now I am ready to get on with this story! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks so much! I hope you like what I have in store :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Nattiebroskette: Haha. I think you're all going to end up quite frustrated with Seth :)**

 **Lourdes1694: I know. Hopefully she can get out of it :)**

 **Ambroserollinsgirl: He is! Yeah I know. You gotta love Dean :)**

 **Calwitch: Now come on, someone acts a little weird doesn't mean you think instantly something's up. You get ahead most of the time but you know I always enjoy it. But given the kind of person Iris is, I think she'd be more focused on being reunited with her friends rather than blaming them for everything :)**

 **Paisley2: Haha! Scoobies. I love it. What can I say? I needed some time off. Lol. I am going to try not to do that but I don't think I have it in me to wrap things up very quickly either :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 85:**

 **IRIS POV**

My phone keeps ringing. It's Ariana and Adam doesn't seem to be too happy about it. But why would Ariana be calling? What could she possibly need? Maybe it's for wedding stuff. I still can't believe I managed to lie to Stephanie on the phone.

"Let me answer it. She'll get suspicious," I say from my seat on the breakfast table. We're having breakfast right now. We were up in my room but then I told him I was still very hungry. Then I told him I didn't want to be left alone and here we are. He'd already picked up the phone from the floor so there was no point in wanting to be up there all by myself. Maybe being down here, I could find something to help me.

"No," says Adam rather quickly. He really doesn't want me talking to anyone. But I showed him I can behave when I talked to Stephanie over the phone. Maybe it's some psychological thing in his mind. I don't want to ask too many questions in case I upset him and end up in the basement. Which is very realistic because that's what does happen. "Finally," he says when the phone stops ringing and Adam moves to wash the dishes. I see a knife on the table and think about grabbing it when Adam turns back around and picks it up as well as a plate.

"You could load them into the dishwasher," I say, not really wanting that to happen since it'll mean he can sit opposite me and pretend like what he's doing is right. But I have to appear helpful don't I? What else is there to do?

"I like doing the actual work," answers Adam and he surprises me. He has me here, kidnapped and tied up, yet he comes out with something like that. Something which if any other person said I would find admirable. He dries his hands and turns around when my phone starts to ring again. He picks it up and sneers, "Seth Rollins". My heart beats faster at the thought of Seth and the fact that I might get a chance to talk to my boyfriend. I have to convince him to let me talk to Seth. I really need to hear his voice.

"I have to talk to him," I say quickly and notice an angry look on Adam's face. "If I don't he'll get suspicious. I never not pick up calls, especially Seth's. Everyone will know something's wrong and they'll end up here," I try to argue my side. Adam doesn't look like he believes it for one second. However, he then presses the answer call button and puts it on loudspeaker, holding the phone out close to my mouth.

 _"Hello? Iris, are you alright? Why haven't you been picking up the phone? And what's this about you taking lots of days off?"_ Seth comes out with all these questions and then pauses. I can't help but feel sad and happy at hearing his voice. Happy because I can hear it and sad because this could be the last time. And I have to lie to him. He mentioned taking days off, Stephanie must have told him. That's probably why he and Ariana have been ringing me.

"Hi," I say, the emotions evident in my tone. I just can't believe I'm hearing him on the other end. "Sorry Seth," I say, apologising for being in this situation. I might never see him again and I can't tell him that over the phone. But I know he'd be beyond angry so I'm apologising when I can which is right now.

 _"It's fine Iris. I just need to know you're ok and you're safe?"_ Seth asks me and I want to scream no. I want to tell him that he needs to come here to save me. He needs to bring me back to him where I belong. But I can't. And that breaks my heart.

"I'm ok," I reassure him. I hope he doesn't think I actually am. I hope for some magical reason he can read my mind and as soon as he puts the phone down he comes straight over here to save me. But that's not possible. "I...just...I think I have some sort of a c-cold," I say, coming up with the excuse Adam told me to give Stephanie. Now I have to play it on Seth too. It's not right. I'm lying to the one person I love the most in the world.

 _"You could have told me or even messaged me. I've been worried sick,"_ he says and I take a deep breath, willing myself not to cry. Mainly because I need to believe I will see him again and because I need to convince Adam that I can slowly get over Seth.

"I know but I just...I've been sleeping a lot because of the jetlag and the...the cold," I answer. I don't want Seth to worry but at the same time he needs to worry. Is there anything I can say that'll make it be known to him that I'm in trouble?

 _"I understand,"_ I hear him say and of course he does. It's a reasonable excuse to anyone. _"When are you coming back then? In about 3 or 4 days?"_ he asks and I feel a sense of fear in me because I have no idea if I'll ever get back to him.

"Yeah, I-I think so," I answer, not being able to help but stutter. I'm not going to lie but I am scared right now. The only thing stopping me from completely breaking down is the fact that I need to be strong for my boys.

 _"Take care of yourself, ok? I need you running around and healthy. I can't work around here without you,"_ Seth tells me, warming my heart. I don't want to be here without him either. I was stupid to just come here by myself. I should have trusted my instincts about the window.

"I-I'll try," I say. I just want to be with him and Evan right now. There's nothing I want more.

 _"And make sure to wrap up, you're clearly feeling very cold,"_ Seth instructs me and I can't help but let out a chuckle. He's trying to tell me how to take care of myself when I'm sick even though he's completely useless at doing it himself. _"Have nice hot drinks and some soup. If you don't get any better then I'll have to come down there myself,"_ he adds on with a laugh and even though I want to sit there, enjoying the sound of that, I can't. I can't let him come down here.

"No! I mean, I'll be fine," I say quickly, definitely not wanting him to turn up here with a warning. It means Adam will be ready for him and the last thing I want is for Seth to get hurt. "You just f-focus on your w-work. I'll be as good as new," I say but I think anyone can question how believable I actually sound.

 _"I believe you. I know you're not feeling well and all but please answer our calls. The fact that you answer calls and then today weren't, that really worried us. It's not like you,"_ Seth explains to me as my gaze locks on with Adam. He thought it was nothing but now event he look on his face says that he made a mistake by not letting me answer the phone calls. _"Iris, are you listening?"_ he asks me and I realise I can't sit here gloating.

"Y-yes, I am. S-sorry. I will do in the future," I quickly tell him, wanting Adam to think I have no voice but to answer the calls.

 _"Whenever you're awake, just message one of us to let us know you're alive and well. I couldn't take it if something happened to you and none of us knew,"_ Seth explains to me but he doesn't know just how close to the truth that is. When he finds out, he won't be happy.

"I'll keep that in mind," I tell Seth. He'll have to let me message them because I send messages in a particular way as well. I can use these as opportunities to get my feelings across to Seth and the others.

 _"I'll leave you to have some peace and quiet then, ok?"_ he says and that's the last thing I want. I need to talk to him about others things, about everyone. Anything. I just need to keep hearing his voice.

"Is Evan alright?" I ask. He must be finding it weird that he's not seeing my face nearly every two seconds. "H-he's ok?" I ask again when Seth doesn't respond. I know he probably is, he's with Seth. But that doesn't stop me from worrying at all.

 _"Evan is doing just fine. He misses his Mother though,"_ Seth informs me which makes me smile. I miss my little guy too.

"I-I miss him too," I comment, hoping Seth can get my sentiments across to my son. I don't even know if I'll be there for Evan's first word. He babbles a lot but it shouldn't be soon when he comes out with his first word. How can I miss something like that?

 _"Don't worry, you'll be back where you belong in just a few days,"_ Seth reassures me but he has no idea what is actually going on. If he did then even he wouldn't have said something like this to me right now.

"I hope so," is the only thing I can respond with. That's actually the truth. I can only hope I can get back to my boys.

 _"Iris, your colds never last longer than a few days. This time next week, you'll definitely be here with us,"_ Seth guarantees but he's so far from the truth that he has no idea just how false that statement is. It means nothing to me because I know the chances of me getting back to them right now is 0%. _"Take care of yourself. I love you,"_ I hear him say, butterflies running around my stomach as I hear those words. I can use the excuse that Seth expects me to say it.

"I-I love you too," I tell Seth, this could be one of the last times I can say something like this to him. And I want him to know just how much I love him and just how much he means to me. We say goodbye and hang up, Adam looking angry. He probably didn't want me saying that last line to Seth but I couldn't not say it. One, because it's true. And two, because it's suspicious like if I don't.

"Well at least now we don't need to be calling them, a message is enough," says Adam, putting my phone back into his pocket. He grabs me by the arm and takes me to the living room, putting on the TV. I laugh along with whatever we watch, hoping he'll get the wrong idea. However, things soon take a surprising turn when the doorbell rings. "Expecting anyone?" he asks me, as if I've known and purposely not told him.

"No," I say, shaking my head and hoping he believes me. But who could it be? Whenever anyone visits, they let me know beforehand.

"I'm going to untie your hands, whoever it is get rid of them. Fast," orders Adam, using his hands to untie my ropes. I rub my wrists with my hands, relieved that they're off for once. "If you even think about crying to them, you and they are both dead," he states in a voice that I don't disbelieve his threats. He will do it. He comes with me to the door and stays to the side. I take a deep breath and open the door, my mouth opening in surprise when I see Penny on the other side.

"Penny, what are you doing here?" I ask. The dress is all sorted and I told her I'd see her before I leave so what business must she have?

"I heard you were ill and just had to see you," says Penny with a chuckle, a smile on her face as she stands there. I look to the side and see Adam's glare. I have to get rid of her but in a way that only I would on a normal day. But the thing is on a normal day I would welcome her in with open arms, which I can't do here.

"Who told you I was ill?" I ask because I don't know anyone around here that would tell her.

"Would you be really mad if I told you your cute boyfriend rang me, asking me to check up on you?" asks Penny, tilting her head to the side and a sheepish look on her face. My eyes well up at Seth's concern for me. "I have been instructed to make you soup which I would have done anyway without being told," she says as if it's obvious. I glance at Adam who glares at me. I need to get rid of her, I have to. Who knows what he'll do if I don't.

"Uh, I'm very tired right now," I say and no doubt the look on my face says it too. I didn't sleep much last night and tears just wouldn't stop running down my face.

"That's ok. You stay lying down and I'll get on with a couple of things," says Penny, waving a hand in the air. This may be my only chance to get help from someone. I need to make sure she comes in without me being able to do anything about it. "Iris, are you just going to leave me standing at the door? Come on," she says, gesturing for me to move to the side.

"I'd much rather...just be on my own," I say with a nod of my head, a small smile on my face. Fight it Penny, please fight it. Please point out that I'm being weird.

"You're acting odd, is everything alright? Normally you can't wait to get me inside," says Penny and I glance at Adam hoping he'll let me bring her inside. He gestures for me to bring her in and I realise I'll have to make sure she can't see him when I do.

"Sorry, it's the cold," I say, sniffling for added effect. I move to the side to let her in and then say, "Let's go straight to the living room". I make sure not to give her a chance to look back because I don't want her getting hurt. Once there we both sit down.

"I thought you have a cold, why don't you have any blankets or tissues lying around?" questions Penny, being very observant. It'll come in handy but not with what she's saying because now I have to lie more to her. And I hate that.

"Oh, uh, I was upstairs in my room," I say, quickly having come up with something. "I'll go grab one now," I say but Penny shakes her head and moves to make sure that I don't.

"No, I'll grab it," says Penny, both her hands on my shoulders. "It's in the store room right?" she asks and I nod my head. As long as she doesn't go into the bedroom, I'll be fine. Penny walks off upstairs and as she does Adam comes out and into the living room, I get up as soon as I see him.

"You get rid of her as quickly as you can," orders Adam in a hushed tone. Penny is my way out of here, there is no way I'm going to push her out like he wants me to.

"How am I supposed to? You saw how suspicious she was getting when I tried to get her to leave before," I explain to him. The last thing he wants is anyone sniffing around which they will do if I get rid of her. I continue to look at Adam as he stays quiet, probably debating it all.

"Do **_not_** let her stay here longer than she needs to," Adam instructs me, pointing a finger in my face. "If she does then..." he trails off and I think that's supposed to be a threat. We hear footsteps and Adam disappears into one of the other rooms. I see a pen lying around and a piece of paper. I grab them and shove them in the back of my pocket. I need to send Penny a message without getting caught and without her realising till later.

"Here," says Penny, handing me a blanket. I unfold it and throw it on myself, lying down on the couch. She takes about 10 minutes in the kitchen before coming back with some soup. I thank her and engage in small talk whilst I have it. "Is it weird being by yourself?" she asks me and I nod my head even though I'm not by myself.

"It's weird not having Evan around," I comment, Adam can't have anything against Evan. I just need to refrain from saying anything about Seth.

"I bet, he's such a sweetie," says Penny. She tells me a few things about everyone at the shop till I say I need to go to the bathroom. I go to the one downstairs because I don't trust Adam here all by himself with Penny. In the bathroom I lock the door and quickly take out the pen and paper, scribbling down a note for Penny.

"Iris!" I hear Adam's voice and then knocking on the door. I hide everything that I used in my pockets and open the tap, washing my hands. I then unlock the door and find Adam standing there with a big grin on his face. I step out and he gestures for me to go to the living room.

"What have you done?" I whisper to him but he doesn't say anything. My heart fills with dread as I get closer to the living room. However, I let out a sigh of relief when I see Penny sitting there with some water in her hand.

"You didn't tell me about your new neighbour," says Penny. I look at Adam and he sends me a wink, he's brought himself into play. "He was outside knocking so I thought to let him in. If Seth knew someone was actually checking in on you then he wouldn't have sent me," she says absentmindedly. How am I going to get the note to her now? Crap!

"Between you and me Penny, I don't think Seth's too fond of me," says Adam and they quickly fall into a banter with me sitting there quietly.

"Nonsense, he's probably just a little jealous like he is with all guys who smile at Iris, it's a man thing," says Penny, both of them laughing. At least I know he isn't going to hurt her. But how do I get the note to her. "So I'm guessing Seth doesn't know he's here?" she goes on to ask, looking at me.

"Well Seth doesn't really know Adam that well," I inform her and her face changes of one to confusion.

"I thought your name was Nicholas?" asks Penny, looking at Adam. I look at her in confusion and then at Adam, realising my mistake. He had a cover name. Crap! He's not going to be happy with me.

"It is. That's a middle name. Some friends call me that," Adam brushes off, sending me a little bit of a glare. "But I'd prefer Nicholas, Nick if you don't mind. Till we get to know each other at least," he says and she nods her head with a smile on my face. "But please don't tell Seth, he'll just give Iris a lecture over the phone," he says and Penny agrees to keep it quiet. Why god why? She needs to be shouting it from the rooftops!

"Pinky promise," says Penny with a laugh. They talk some more till Penny finally decides to leave us, needing to get back to her shop. We all stand up and Penny says goodbye to Adam, gesturing for me to walk with her to the door. I do and realise this is my chance to hand her the note. "Ok, well it looks like you're in good hands," she says and I know Adam's listening in.

"Yeah, he's a great neighbour," I tell Penny, not really meaning it. This is the worst thing that could ever happen to me.

"Well take care, ok?" says Penny, hugging me goodbye. I notice Adam is on the right watching us and it's a good thing too, that's what I expected. I had the note half in my left hand and half up my sleeve. I place it in Penny's coat pocket and move back, giving her a smile. "Get well soon, ok? Well it already seems like you are because you don't have much of a cold. Seems like Nicholas is doing a good job taking care of you," she says, finally turning around to leave. I stay stood at the door and wave to her as she backs her car away and leaves from there.

"Well, that wasn't so bad huh?" asks Adam, making me jump since he appears from nowhere. "Now we can close the door," he says, looking right into my eyes. I close the door and follow him to the living room. He picks up the rope from before and keeps it to one side, sitting down on the couch and patting the space besides him. I sit down and realise I've just shown him that he can trust me. I can still get out of this if nothing comes out of that note.

* * *

 **PENNY POV**

I go around finishing tidying my shop, everyone left a while ago but I couldn't leave till I sorted a few things out. But the only problem is I can't stop thinking about Iris' neighbour Nicholas. He's so cute and funny. I enjoyed talking to him and I'm pretty sure he flirted with me. Maybe I should ask iris what she thinks? He can't be a bad guy if he's Iris's friend right?

After I've finished doing everything I pick up my coat and I'm about to leave when I notice something in one of the pockets. It's a piece of paper. I didn't put anything like that in there. Curiosity getting the better of me I unfold it. My eyes widen in shock when I read what's written on it. Oh. My. God.

 ** _He's keeping me hostage in my own home. He's not a neighbour. Help._**

If I didn't have any context, then I wouldn't have assumed this was Iris talking about Nicholas. But this is her writing and this paper only appeared after I visited her house. Oh my gosh, Iris is in trouble. I have to get her out of there. But I can't just go in there by myself and hope to save her. What do I do? I know. I have to go to the police.

* * *

"Can I help you Maam?" asks an officer, walking into the room I'm seated in. I came here as quickly as I could and asked to report a crime. The officer takes a seat himself as I try to gather my thoughts. This needs to come out coherently, I've been panicking ever since I've seen the note. I mean, I nearly hit a cyclist on the road. I tripped once I got out my car and I spilt water on my shoes.

"Y-yes," I say, resting my hands on the table. "I need to report a crime," I state and the officer nods his head. "I went to check on a friend today, s-she's supposed to be ill. Her boyfriend asked me to check on her. This other gentleman turned up at her house and said he's a neighbour but once I left the house I found this note," I explain quickly, unfolding the note and placing it on the table so he can read it. "Sir, I think my is being held in her house against her will," I go on to say in concern.

"Are you sure that note is from her?" asks the officer and I nod my head, without a doubt.

"That's her handwriting," I say, hoping to god that he'll believe me because who knows what Iris is going through whilst we're all out here.

"Is there anything that would suggest this could ring true?" asks the officer and I start to think about everything whilst I was there, I've already came up with some things before I came here.

"Y-yes. She wouldn't let me straight into the house, she tried to get me to leave. She never does that," I say with a nod of my head. I found that weird at the time but then brushed it off afterwards. "There was no blankets or tissues lying around downstairs. When the gentleman was around she seemed really quiet," I explain, trying to rack my brain to see what else there was.

"Does this gentleman have a name?" asks the officer and I nod my head.

"Nicholas," I say and he notes it down like he has been with everything else. Oh god, I hope he isn't hurting her. "The whole thing was weird from the start. Iris asked for days off work without even telling anybody and all of a sudden she has a cold? She's worked through colds as far as I'm aware," I explain to him, wondering why the officer seems to be looking at me in shock.

"Is her boyfriend Seth?" asks the officer and I nod my head. Wait a second, how did he know? "Wait a second here Maam," he says and leaves the room for a few minutes. He comes back with another officer and this time they both take a seat. "I'm Officer Charlie and this is my Partner, Alan. You need to tell us absolutely everything from the beginning to the end," he instructs me with a serious look on his face. I nod my head and begin to tell them all about the phone conversation that I had with Seth.

"Excuse me sir, what's going to happen?" I ask after I've told them absolutely everything I know and they get up to leave. "Is my friend going to be ok?" I go on to ask eagerly. Iris is such a nice person; I can't believe someone would do this to her.

"We're going to get a team and go to the house. She should be fine," says Officer Charlie, sending me a reassuring look before leaving the room. I have to sign a couple of things before they say I can leave. But being Iris's friend, I realise I can't do something like that.

* * *

"Officer!" I call out to Charlie once I notice him leaving the station. I go up to him and ask, "Can I come with you? I need to be there. Iris will need a friend". If the first thing she sees are men in uniform whom she doesn't know, it's not going to help her. She needs a friendly face.

"I think it's too dangerous Miss Penny," says the Officer and I try not to blush at the way he puts the 'Miss' at the start of my name. It is cute.

"I don't care, Iris needs a friend and since I'm the only one around here, it has to be me," I explain but he doesn't seem to look convinced. "Officer, Iris would do the same for me," I say, not looking to back down anytime soon. I continue looking in his eyes and he finally nods his head, opening the door of the car to let me in. Please be ok Iris. I can't believe I left her and didn't check my pockets sooner. Who knows what that monster could be doing to her.

We get to the house and police manage to surround it. Everyone takes a different entrance route, barging in and hoping to take Nicholas by surprise. I eagerly wait outside by the car. Charlie said he'd wave me in as soon as they get Nicholas under control. I see Charlie come out just then and immediately run over, Iris will need me.

"Iris?" I say her name and end up in the living room. A confused look overtakes my face when I realise she's not here. "Where is she?" I turn around to ask him. Maybe she's in the bedroom, it is dark outside anyway.

"Sir, we've checked everywhere. There's no one in the house," another Officer reports and my hands cover my mouth, my heart dropping at the news. They're not here. But how can that be? I just saw her earlier.

"Thanks," says Officer Charlie, saying a few nice words to me before escorting me out of there. We're too late. But I don't get it. How could he have known I was coming? Iris didn't tell him she left me a note right? Of course not, why would she? Unless he saw her? Or maybe nothing like that happened and this was the next part of the plan he had in mind for her. I don't know. I voice my concerns to Officer Charlie who then does his best to reassure me, but my concern for my friend will just not go away. Not till I know that she's safe.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Where are we going?" I ask Adam, looking at him after glancing at the road once. We're in his car, heading off to some place. I don't even know where. He hasn't told me. As soon as Penny left, he was acting on edge. Eventually he had enough and decided that we need to get out of there, probably paranoid she'll somehow figure things out. I don't know whether she read my note or not. It was a good couple of hours after she came that we left. Maybe she never found it. Or if she did, maybe it was too late. I got so hopeful that the note would just solve everything and now that it hasn't, I don't know what to do.

"Home," is the answer that I get from Adam as he sends me a smile before returning his gaze to the road. Home? My home was that house back there in Iowa. The one that I decorated myself with Seth. The one that I come back to with my family, my boys. Now I'm off to who knows where and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I just want to see my family again, one last time. But Adam would never let that happen. How do I escape this? I see no way to.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated :)**


	86. Test

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys like it! :)**

* * *

 **Debwood-1999: Just a little bit, lol. Just kidding. Yeah, I know what you mean. I try not to do that but then sometimes I don't want things happening too quickly because that's unrealistic for me. Haha! You don't have to, I'll spare you the horror!  
We will have to see what happens, as I always say. You are being bloodthirsty, just a little bit. I'm trying not to! I'm going as quick as I can! I promise! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Haha, yes it is! She needs to get away from him as soon as she can! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Lol. Hopefully :)**

 **Calwitch: Oh my gosh, I totally loved that last comment. Made me laugh to no end :)**

 **Adtrfangirl2020: Oh, hiya! You've disappeared for a while, I hope everything is ok! Well you're about to find out :)**

 **Paisley2: Who knows where he's taking her. Anyone's guess really. Hmm, you're gonna have to wait to see how things pan out. I'll try not to be that sadist. I honestly didn't expect it to go on this long but when the writing takes over, there's nothing you can do :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 86:**

 **SETH POV**

"If I wanted to get him a tattoo, would you be ok with that?" I hear Dean and glare at him as he looks at me from where he's sitting on the couch. We just finished our training and are getting ready to go out and grab a bite. I wasn't going to but Evan just woke up from a nap and he's wide awake. So there's no chance of getting any rest when I head back to the hotel.

"Dean, if you ever get him a tattoo then even Iris will make sure you lose your Godfather status," I comment. No matter how lenient Iris is being, the tattoo would definitely be her limit.

"Not if he's over 18," comments Dean, being a smartass as usual. "Where the fuck is my fiancée? She keeps disappearing today," he complains as if it's something completely new. Or maybe he's only just noticing today. I mean, the girls are pretty excited she's getting married the week after. They don't leave her alone for a second and it's getting on her nerves. Dean would know this if he ever listened to her. But I suppose he doesn't. He just stares at her till she gives in and they have a round of sex. Can't say that out loud though, he'd have my head.

"Oh look, in less than two weeks it'll be 'where the fuck is my wife?'" I remind him and the look on his face tells me he seems to like that thought. He loves her, of course it's something he'd really like. I feel the same when I think about Iris being my wife.

"It still doesn't explain why she's not here? Does it Tidbit?" he says, continuing to talk to Evan. I shake my head and pack the rest of my stuff in the bag. We're heading off tonight to the next city in the bus.

"Maybe she's trying to tell you to leave her alone," I comment, Dean ignoring me and telling Evan some people are really smelly. Real mature (!) I wonder if Penny managed to check on Iris. I have messaged Iris a couple of times, not wanting to disturb her by ringing her. Penny is supposed to ring me once she's seen her. Which is weird because when I rang her earlier today she said she's going in the afternoon. Unless she changed her plans. Just then my phone rings and I feel happy seeing that it's Penny whose ringing.

 _"Hello?"_ says Penny on the other end in a timid voice. Maybe she's still with Iris as well. Then that'll mean I can talk to my beautiful girlfriend.

"Hi Penny. How did the visit go? Is Iris ok?" I quickly ask, not bothering with exchanging pleasantries. I just want to make sure my girlfriend is well looked after. Especially since she's so far away from me right now.

 _"Yeah. Um, she was fine,"_ says Penny on the other end, sounding kind of weird. I hope nothing is seriously wrong or anything. Why does it sound like something's wrong?

"What's up boys?" asks Ariana in a loud voice as she enters the room. I glance at her before refocusing on the phone. I just don't have a good feeling right now.

 _"I'm sorry Seth I had no idea,"_ apologises Penny on the phone which has me confused. Why is she apologising? Did she not stay long enough or something? Or is Iris even more sick than she let on before?

"You need to stop hanging out with the girls!" Dean says, both him and Ariana beginning to argue over the issue which is the last thing I need right now.

"So I'm supposed to stay surrounded by testosterone the whole time I'm at work and at home?" Ariana argues back with him and I swear Penny said something which I couldn't hear. It sounded important.

"Penny, what was that?" I ask for her to repeat what she just said to me. I place a finger in my other ear and hold the phone tightly. It doesn't help that Penny isn't speaking in a normal voice, she's quieter than usual. Then there's these guys arguing like cats and dogs.

 _"Iris, she's in trouble,"_ says Penny which has me on high alert. Trouble? My heart starts beating faster in worry for my girlfriend. Trouble? What kind of trouble?

"You have Iris, don't play her down," Dean continues to argue with Ariana who then tells him to cover Evan's ears because the next thing you know she starts to let out a bunch of swear words. Dean probably deserved it too. "That's no way to talk to your fiancé," he says in shock and I swear I have had enough of this.

"Be quiet! Both of you!" I shout and then put the phone back to my ear, attempting to listen to Penny once more. "What do you mean she's in trouble? And what kind of trouble?" I ask. Her cold isn't something worse is it? It can't be. She honestly has sounded worse on other occasions. I notice both Dean and Ariana now looking intrigued, Dean on his feet with Evan in his hands.

 _"Seth. Iris...she...she's been kidnapped,"_ I hear on the other end, the phone slipping out of my hand. Kidnapped? No. she can't be...what...I don't understand.

"Seth," I hear Ariana's voice and realise she's right next to me, her hand on my shoulder. I look at her and then scramble to find my phone. Iris needs me. I have to keep it together. Once my phone is in my hands I hear Penny's voice saying my name on the other end.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Seth," I say his name but he's frozen in one place. what the hell is going on? I immediately go over to him and place my hand on his shoulder, saying his name again. He looks at me and then quickly moves to grab his phone from the floor. What must have been said for him to have reacted like that?

"Penny, tell me everything. From the beginning," says Seth and stands there listening to whatever she's saying. All me and Dean have managed to get is someone's in trouble and its Iris. Only because Penny was supposed to be seeing her today and reporting back. "I'm coming back but keep me posted till then," we hear him say, me and Dean glancing at each other before looking at Seth once more.

"Is everything ok?" asks Dean but Seth doesn't say a word. Instead he takes Evan off of Dean and holds him close, like as if his life depends on it.

"What happened? Is Iris ok?" I ask Seth, fearful of the answer because the kind of vibes I'm getting off him are telling me otherwise.

"No. Iris has...Iris...she's...she's been kidnapped," says Seth, my heart dropping at the revelation. Seth then tells us both slowly what Penny told him over the phone. By the sounds of things, he's still trying to come to terms with it himself. I don't understand how any of this could have happened.

"Who the fuck has done it?" asks Dean, standing in the middle of the room in between his pacing which he does when he's angry or worried, in this case both. He handed Evan to me and I'm glad he did because of his state of mind right now.

"I don't know...some guy," answers Seth, shrugging his shoulders. "We don't know much about it. I guess it's the police's job to find out who exactly," he says. I think about who it could be from my position on the arm of the couch.

"Randy's here. Kane's here," I state the obvious, just to exclude people we know I guess. They're the only two people who could stoop so low that actually have issues with Iris. "Rick's having the time of his life in Chicago with his new girlfriend," I comment and then bite down on my tongue as both the guys look at me confused, I wasn't supposed to let that slip.

"Rick? How do you know that?" asks Seth, sitting up straighter than before. I pass off a look of indifference, trying to come up with an excuse but realise there's no point hiding it anymore.

"We ran into him when me and Iris were packing her stuff before you guys moved out to Iowa. We all went for a coffee and did some catching up. Well they did, I was just there," I explain, looking on guiltily. Iris decided not to tell Seth and I respected that. I wouldn't have told Dean if the tables were reversed. Besides, it's not a big deal. Iris and Rick have kept in touch over the phone.

"He wouldn't do something like that, he might have acted like a creep a couple of times but he wouldn't hurt Iris by doing something like this," says Seth, shaking his head. I actually agree with him. When we did meet Rick he sounded like he was in a better place, moving on with his life.

"Just because Kane and Randy are here, doesn't mean they weren't involved. Someone could be doing their dirty work," points out Dean, which again, is another possibility.

"Or whoever was brewing trouble in Iowa," adds in Seth, again, possibility. We all stay quiet for a few minutes. I can't believe this has happened. We just saw her the other day and now some asshole has decided to take her. Who knows what he's doing with her or what he's planning on doing. She must be so scared. All by herself. We shouldn't have let her go in the first place. Not alone anyway. But then how were any of us supposed to know this was to occur.

"What do you wanna do?" asks Dean, his arm around me. He's directed his question at Seth. Dean was right. He said he had a bad feeling and we all ignored it. But it's a good thing Iris took it somewhat seriously and left Evan here. If he was there too? It would be even worse.

"Let's find Stephanie and Hunter first of all," says Seth, all of us leaving the locker room. Roman's not even here, he left early to go on a date with Paige. We're going to have to find him and tell him the bad news.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I continue watching the scenery go by, thinking of how to get out of this mess. I just want to be back with my family. This may be the only chance to escape and have that. He's not telling me where we're going, just that it'll take us about a day to get there. I have an inkling about where we might be going but I can't say for sure.

"Are we stopping soon?" I ask hesitantly. Adam looks at me with a questioning look and I say, "I-I'm kind of hungry," I lie and he nods his head. This may be a chance to escape. After all, we're out in the open. It'll be harder for him to find me. All I need to do is get to a phone and call Seth.

"Sure, we can get something," says Adam with a big smile on his face. I try not to show too much excitement. Ok, we'll either go together or he'll go to grab something. If we both go I can make the excuse of going to the bathroom but if not, then I can just escape from the car. Simple. Ok, I can do this. For my family. "What do you like to eat?" he asks me, again acting all normal. Like as if we're a couple getting to know each other. But I suppose I'll have to entertain him. Till I can get away at least.

"Uh, I like pasta," I say, being honest. What if he decides to surprise me with something I dislike? Then I won't even be able to eat it. I smile in memory as I think about the first time Seth asked me what I liked to eat.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _I can't believe me and Seth are finally on a date! I've been waiting for this moment for so long and finally we're doing it. And all it took was one conversation in the gym where he caught me looking at his butt._

 _"The food here is really good," says Seth as we both browse through our menus. I can't help but sneak glances at Seth. Once he catches me and he smirks as I let out a giggle at being caught. I swear I am going more red as time goes on. As I look through the menu I realise I don't understand half the things that are written on here. What the hell are they? It's not even in English is it?_

 _"Why don't you order for us both then?" I suggest, not wanting to embarrass myself by pronouncing any of these things. I don't want him to think I'm an idiot. Seth looks happy at the thought and I get lose in his cute grin an eyes that when the food comes, I realise it was a mistake to let him order. I think it's some sort of a mushroom dish or something. I hate mushrooms. But I can't let him know that. I pick up my fork and take a bite._

 _"Do you like it?" asks Seth and I fake a smile, nodding my head as I chew on whatever the hell it is that's been constructed and is sitting in my mouth right now. "Really?" he asks me and I nod my head again._

 _"It's...different," I comment, grabbing another forkful to keep Seth happy. I don't know how he can eat this stuff. I can't even guess what's been put in it._

 _"Really?" asks Seth, sitting back in his seat. I once again nod my head and am about to eat a third bite when Seth's hand is placed on my wrist. I send him a questioning look and he says, "No offence, but I can tell your fake smile from your real one". I sit there in surprise and Seth gently moves my hand and lowers it to the table. "What do you like eating?" he asks me with a curious look on his face._

 _"Pasta," I answer, not even being able to say anything else. He could tell I was faking it? Was I that horrible at acting? I do pretty great at work. I am a good actress. Maybe Seth makes me nervous and I didn't do as well as I should do. It's weird like that. Even Ariana can tell when I'm lying or saying something that isn't right._

 _"Waiter," Seth calls him over and says something in a low voice to him. Within the next five minutes we have a nice couple of pasta dishes on the table. "What are you waiting for? Dig in!" he says and I do exactly just that. I serve myself and Seth and I actually end up feeding him, asking him to taste the one that I like better._

 _"Oh my god, this is amazing," I say, nearly moaning from how good it is. He was right, they do make good food. Only when it's the right one though._

 _"I have never seen anyone eat that much pasta before," comments Seth which has me worried about what he thinks of me. But then he laughs and I laugh along with him. He'll get to know just how true that statement is within due course._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

"I like good old burgers," says Adam, snapping me out of my thoughts. He starts to go on about things he likes as I try to formulate some sort of a plan. I look down at my hands and realise I need something first.

"Can you please untie me? My wrists hurt," I complain to Adam who glances at me with any hint of a smile having gone from his face. He sends me a suspicious look but I say, "Look, I'm not going to run away. I'm already enjoying my time talking with you more than anything else in the past months". He thinks about it for a minute before pulling over and parking the car.

"There," says Adam after he undoes the ropes, as soon as he does I rub each of my wrists with a smile on my face.

"Thanks," I say and lean over, placing a kiss on his cheek. I resume my position and run my hands through my hair. From the corner of my eye I can tell he's definitely surprised. I'm going to need a whole lot of mouthwash later on. Adam starts to drive again and I decide to turn the radio on, switching between channels and telling him what I like or what I can't stand. Lulling him into a false sense of security before I strike and get the hell out of here.

"Ok, we're here!" announces Adam, stopping the car in a car park near some place. I look to see it's some sort of a diner, I doubt they do any great pasta. "I'll go get the food," he says and I internally do a little victory dance. This is my chance to escape! He leaves the car and goes into the diner, I see him talking to the lady there. I put my hands on the handle and open the door. Wait a second, he left it unlocked. I know I can unlock it from the inside but he left it like this. I open the door and get down from the car, closing the door. I'm about to walk when I get a strange sort of feeling.

"Something doesn't feel right," I say to myself, looking back at the diner, not seeing Adam anywhere. Surely this is the best chance to escape? Then why aren't my feet moving? Instead of running away I find myself heading into the diner as well. I look around but don't see Adam. Hmm, that's weird. Even for him. I open the door and go in, going to the counter. "Excuse me, could you please help me? I'm trying to look for someone. He's about 6 foot, dark coloured hair, green eyes?" I describe him. She can't not remember him; he was here just a couple of minutes ago.

"Oh, that cutie?" asks the woman and I feel bile rise up my throat. Creep would some him up more like it. "He went that way to the bathrooms," she informs me and I realise this is actually my chance to get away. Still, it doesn't feel right.

"Right. Could you please put a strawberry milkshake with our order? I forgot to tell him I wanted one before he came in," I tell her and she sends me a suspicious look. She looks like that right now and it's how I feel. Suspicious of this whole thing.

"And who might I say has asked for that?" questions the lady, sending me looks that could kill. What am I supposed to say? His kidnapee? The object of his twisted fantasy?

"Uh, his girlfriend," I state with a nod of my head before turning around to leave. I walk right back out and head to the car, I could see his reflection in the coffee machine that was sitting on the counter. He could see me from where he was near the restrooms. He was watching me. Keeping an eye on me. Testing to see whether I would fail or not. Making sure he can trust me. Looks like I won't be escaping anytime soon.

* * *

 **ADAM POV**

"What was she saying to you?" I ask the waitress, having instructed her to tell Iris I'm in the restroom if she does appear. I've untied her hands but I don't know whether I can trust her not to go running off to Seth. He doesn't deserve her but she doesn't seem to understand that. I want to believe her when she's asking me questions about myself but I don't know if I can. This will tell me if I can.

"Just that she wanted to add a milkshake to her boyfriend's order," answers the waitress before she goes back to doing what she's doing. Boyfriend? She referred to me as her boyfriend? Looks like Seth won't take long to leave the picture. Then she's all mine. But first, I need to find a way of getting Evan to us. Then we're the perfect family.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey," I say to Adam once he gets back. I noticed him talking to the waitress and something she said put a smile on his face. I bet it was the fact that I called myself his girlfriend. Nothing anyone else says could have done that I don't think. He hands me my food and I immediately start to eat it. It isn't the greatest but I am hungry. The only thing I had was the soup Penny made me during the day. And now it's dark outside. I wonder if Seth's eaten. I wonder if Evan's had his milk. Is Evan napping? Does Seth even know what's going on? "This is really nice," I comment, keeping up an appearance if I'm ever to see anyone I love ever again.

"I'm happy you like it. It has nothing on this burger though," says Adam, happily eating his own food. He then hands me the milkshake with a smile. "Here, I believe you ordered this?" he says and I take it from his hand, our hands accidentally brushing each other's. I force myself to send him some sort of a smile and have the milkshake. Seth, where are you? If Penny managed to alert the authorities, you must know by now.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Stephanie!" I call for her before she can get into her car and drive off back to the hotel. She sends me a strange looks which only gets stranger when she sees the others behind me.

"Is everything ok?" asks Stephanie and how I wish things were. But they never seem to be. All I can think about is how scared Iris must be because of this guy who has kidnapped her.

"Iris has been...kidnapped," I reveal to her, her eyebrows rising in surprise. I explain everything to Stephanie inside her limo. She insisted on us all getting inside so I could explain it all and discuss what's happened.

"You have to get Randy and Kane arrested," states Dean, breaking the silence and sounding completely idiotic at the same time.

"For what exactly?" asks Stephanie, not sounding happy about that at all. They do help me the company a lot of money. Not to mention, we don't have a single piece of evidence that it was them. We can't just go around throwing names. "Look guys, I'm sympathetic with you all. Iris has always been a great employee and she's a good friend. So of course, any help that's needed you got it. But don't even think about following around Kane or Randy. Am I clear?" she says, mainly looking at Dean at the last part.

"Seth needs to go home. To go and talk to the police," speaks Ariana and Stephanie nods her head without even thinking.

"Of course. If there's anything me or Hunter can do, then let us know," says Stephanie before we all get out. I glare at Dean as we do and head off inside, pissed off with what he did. He shouldn't have gone after Kane or Randy like that. What if they think we've done this on purpose to blame them for something and get them fired or jailed?

"What was the need?!" I yell at Dean as soon as we're back in our locker room to grab our things.

"To point out who it is that's done this?" asks Dean as if I'm the one that's being stupid. "One of them has done this right under our noses! Don't you want them to get caught?" he says as if I don't care about Iris at all.

"Of course I do but not like this! What if she thinks we've done this on purpose to get rid of them two? Did that ever cross your mind?!" I shout back at him. He could cause us to be in even more trouble than Iris is already in.

"Hey!" says Ariana in a loud voice, getting both of our attention. We look at her and then realise that Evan is crying. I feel my heart drop at the sight of his tears falling down his face. "Stop fighting, it's upsetting him," she says in a softer tone. Me and Dean look at each other before going over to where she is. I take Evan out of her hands and keep him close, trying to get him to calm down but it doesn't work.

"It's ok Tidbit," says Dean, using his hand to rub Evan's back. I use my hand to wipe his tears but he's still crying. "It's like he knows his Mother's in trouble," comments Dean with a sad face.

"It ok Evan, we'll get her back," I reassure him, myself and the others. I don't know what to do. Actually, yes I do. I need to go back to Iowa. I need to go home and talk to Officer Charlie. In case he can give me anything more about what's going on. That might help in figuring out exactly what's going on.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I can't handle this. Pretending I like him and acting like as if everything is ok when it isn't. It's sickening. I actually will throw up as well. I glance at Adam who's chatting away happily, at least someone's happy considering the shit that is going on. I'm fed up!

"So you've been pretty close with Ariana right?" asks Adam, suddenly deciding to talk about my best friend. I'm surprised he hasn't said anything bad about her yet. He's said stuff about Seth and Dean already. The only person left is Ariana. And Roman. But I don't think he cares for Roman. He doesn't see him as someone that's a threat.

"Yeah, we've been like sisters since we were kids," I answer casually. If it wasn't for Ariana, I wouldn't know what a family is. She welcomed me into her home and as a result, her parents welcomed me too. They gave me a lot of love. I can't ever forget it.

"I bet your heart was broken when you found out she was trying to seduce Seth behind your back," comments Adam. So he's trying to make me see I should hate her too? Hate everyone so I don't ever go back. However, I get a better idea.

"She wasn't trying to do that," I defend my best friend, turning to look at Adam, displaying anger in my eyes. Although, it's all for him. None of it for my best friend or boyfriend. "The problem was Seth. He couldn't ever keep it in his pants," I say, using Adam's hate for Seth to gain his trust. He'd rather have me hate Seth than hate Ariana.

"The asshole never deserved you," comments Adam, his anger very evident. His anger is the one thing that I can use to have things go my way. "Think about it Iris, he cheated on you, tried to sleep with your best friend and didn't care about you when you left? Someone like that could never change and love you," he says as if trying to make me see Seth isn't good enough.

"And now he doesn't have me," I say, keeping my eyes on the road, noticing Adam looking at me from the corner of his eye. He wants me to hate Seth and I have to let him believe that it's working.

* * *

 **Do leave reviews :)**


	87. Clue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I am back with this next chapter :)**

* * *

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks! I've really enjoyed writing it. Trying not to go too crazy here. Haha. You never even guessed him! When you started repeating guesses then I though, no she don't got it. Good for me though because then I surprised the hell out of you :) Xx**

 **Bella315: Haha! No worries, even I've been trying not to confuse myself. If you go back to 'Getting Over You' and look from Chapter 29 to 33. Or you can go straight to 33 depending on whether you want to know what happened whilst him and Iris met :)**

 **Paisley2: We shall find out when they get wherever, won't we? Thanks. I'm trying to hurry things along. That last part will be cleared up soon in the coming chapters :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 87:**

 **ARIANA POV**

"Here," I say to Seth, handing Evan over to him so he can give him one last hug. Seth's decided that he needs to go back home, look for anything out of the ordinary that can help us in trying to track down Iris. He can't be taking Evan around to do this so he's staying back with us. I don't think Seth can risk anything happening to Evan and neither can we.

"There's your ticket," says Dean, coming back. We know we need to get Seth out there as fast as possible so we all agreed to leave it to Dean. To let him work his magic and do whatever needs to be done. "You're leaving in about half an hour so you should probably get checked in," he advises Seth.

"Thanks man," says Seth, taking the ticket and slipping it into his back pocket. He places a kiss on Evan's forehead and then gestures for me to take him, Evan squirming as I do. I don't think he wants to be separated from either of his parents.

"I have a friend over there at the station, he can hook you up if you need anything," says Dean and I shake my head. How does he manage to do that? Never mind.

"I will," says Seth, picking up his duffel bag. I can't imagine what must be happening to Iris right now. I just hope she's safe. But we've not had anything alarming to suggest otherwise.

"Take care," I say, giving him a hug. He leaves and I stand there with Dean, watching him go. "Hopefully he manages to find some answers," I go on to say. There's nothing else we can do at the moment. Except wait and watch. Whose got Iris and why would they want her?

"Don't worry, he will," says Dean, putting an arm around me. We leave the airport and head back to the hotel, gathering our things together and putting them on the bus. The live shows are in Vegas next so we're driving there. We're leaving tonight since we might hear back from Seth by then. Plus, I don't think any of us will be able to sleep considering the situation. Which reminds me, Roman still doesn't know.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I stir and open my eyes, feeling the sunshine in my face. I let out a yawn and rub my eyes. I then open them and notice it's day time. At least there's a little bit of light even though I'm going through hell right now. I sit up alert all of a sudden, not seeing Adam anywhere around. I look around out the windows and see we're at a gas station.

"Hmm," I say, opening the door and getting out of the car. This doesn't make any sense. Where is Adam? And why has he left the door open? "Never mind that Iris, get going," I say to myself, quickly walking over inside the shop. I begin to walk over quickly to the counter when I notice something move near my car. I stop and think about it. "Don't be stupid Iris," I say to myself. I walk on over the counter.

"Good morning dear," says a woman behind the counter. I smile at her and think this is a good opportunity to get someone to send a message to Seth. I pick up a packet of gum and find a few dollars in the back pocket of my jeans. I hand them over to her and she gives me some change.

"I like the look of this place," I say to her, starting a conversation so wherever it is that he's hiding, he can see what I'm doing and begins to trust me more.

"For a gas station?" asks the lady, making the both of us laugh. We fall into easy conversation and I notice a pen sitting next to her. I need to do this discreetly.

"I need you to keep smiling, despite what I'm about to tell you," I say with a happy smile on my face. I use my hands to gesture around the place. The woman at first appears confused but then just smiles. "There's a man with me who's kidnapped me and is forcing me to travel with him someplace. He's watching me right now so I can't have you or me look distressed," I quickly explain, the woman freezing at first but then nodding her head. "Slide some paper across so that I can write my boyfriend's number. You need to call him and let him know where I am," I explain to her and she nods her head. She turns around and hands me another flavoured gum, doing exactly with the paper as I asked.

"Don't worry darling, I'll do what I can," says the woman and I hope she can tell just how much it means to me. Luckily some sweets are stacked to the side so it can't be seen that I'm writing something. All of a sudden I hear the bell ring and quickly roll the paper and throw it to the floor on the other side. I just know it's him.

"You really reckon the raspberry flavour is a lot better than the mint?" I ask, changing the subject completely and holding both the gum packets up in my hand.

"The raspberry actually has some flavour, mint is just if you need to make sure you mouth doesn't stink," says the woman as I pretend to ignore the fact that I know someone has entered the shop. But at least I got something out from Adam testing me. Something good.

"I think I'll wait for my boyfriend to turn up before deciding which flavour. I don't even know which one he likes better," I say and let out a chuckle. We hear a throat clear and I close my eyes for a second before plastering a smile on my face and turning around to look at him. "Speaking of the devil," I say and turn to look at the woman again.

"Oh, so this is the handsome fella," says the woman, acting well considering the situation I just put her in two minutes ago.

"Handsome? Is that what you call me when I'm not around?" asks Adam and I look away from him, pretending to act shy. I never needed to act shy around Seth. It's always something that's just naturally happened.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _I try not to burst out into a dance. Me and Seth had our first ever date last night and I just can't stop smiling since. It was absolutely perfect. We had dinner, we danced, we talked and we even left it with a kiss at the end after he walked me to my hotel room. Now I just can't stop smiling._

 _"Why is your smile more annoying today than any other day?" asks Ariana, even though she knows the answer to that question. I swear she needs to lighten up sometimes. Especially if she ever wants to find someone that can sweep her off of her feet._

 _"You detest my happiness?" I ask Ariana, walking alongside her down the hallway at work. She sends me a little glare and I laugh. That's something I can't accuse her of since she went to the spa with me yesterday. "I still think you should come on a double date with us next time, with Dean," I suggest and she lets out a sound of disgust._

 _"You get Seth Rollins and try to pair me off with that disgusting prick? Thanks best friend (!)" says Ariana, I still don't get what her beef is with Dean. Ok, he flirts a lot. But he's probably still looking for the right girl._

 _"Don't sound like that, I know you think he's hot," I say, teasing her but she sends me a little glare. He might be everything she says but you can't deny he's good looking._

 _"The only thing that's hot about him is...oh look, nothing," says Ariana which is a very lame comeback. I think she knows that too. She likes him, she's just in denial. "The guy is an egotistical, self-loving, man-whoring, arrogant, boastful, big-headed, detestful, careless, dishonest, intolerant moron!" she says and if anything that means she likes him for sure._

 _"Ouch, don't be so hateful Ariana. You can't be mad at him because you like him and it doesn't make sense to you," I say and she calls me something which I dare not to repeat. I laugh at her reaction though, too busy staring at her to realise someone's coming my way. "Oh crap, sorry," I say and look up to see Seth standing there with a devilish smirk on his face._

 _"Well hello there," says Seth and I look away out of shyness, the red appearing on my cheeks even though I begged it not to. I look back up at him and he lets out a chuckle. "I love it when you blush," he whispers in my ear. He places a kiss on my forehead and smiles at Ariana, before he leaves._

 _"You always look like a tomato when he's around. How is he attracted to that?" asks Ariana as I watch Seth leave. I realise what she said and turn around just as she runs off._

 _"Ariana, get back here!" I shout, running after her to teach her a lesson. It's not my fault I go red. Seth has the automatic ability to make that happen._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

"Uh, raspberry or mint?" I ask Adam, holding up both the packets of gum. He shakes his head and hands over more money to the lady.

"We shall get both," says Adam, as if displaying how good of a boyfriend he is or can be. Buying stuff never means anything if someone truly likes you, they wouldn't care about it. "Shall we get going? We've still got a bit of a way to go," he says and I nod my head in agreement.

"It was nice meeting you..." I trail off realising I don't know this lady's name. Despite the fact that she might be the person to reunite me with my boyfriend and family.

"Tracey," says the lady, offering me her hand to shake. I take it and she says, "And you are?"

"Iris," I say automatically, without even thinking. I feel Adam put his arm around me and try not to shudder. "And this is-" I get cut off because Adam decides to introduce himself.

"Nicholas," says Adam, using the alias he used with Penny. He doesn't want anybody to know who he is. But surely there are cameras here which will capture his face. "Nice to meet you," he says and then gestures for me to head out from there. We walk back to the car and I get in, opening the gum to have some. I offer him some and he takes it.

"Raspberry is actually the better one," I comment with a chuckle. Adam starts the car and drives us off. I really hope she can get my message to Seth. I really need him right now.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Hey, it's ok Evan," I say, bouncing him up and down, trying to get him to stop crying. One parent has been kidnapped and the other has gone to find her. I do hope everything resolves itself, if anything for Evan's sake.

"Here, give him to me," says Dean, taking Evan off of me and holding him close. He tries soothing him but it doesn't work. Nothing works. Dean then switches on the TV and puts it on the WWE network. Luckily for us a match with Seth in it comes on and that settles him, for now. I think he just needs to have at least one parent in the background because after that he's fine playing with Dean and laughing. His usual self. "How are you holding up?" he asks me all of a sudden.

"As well as you I guess," I say, sitting opposite the boys and just watching him. This is a really fucked up situation. None of us know what we're supposed to do. "I wish it was me in her place" I state, only realising what I've said after I've said it. I notice Dean staring at me.

"I don't," says Dean, shrugging his shoulders. Now that makes me curious.

"Shall I assume you'd rather have Iris there than me?" I ask him and he nods his head without being hesitant.

"Of course. She can handle it better than you," says Dean and I shake my head with a smile on my face. "I know Iris is going to be ok. She's not stupid, she's a smart chick. We'll get her back," he says and I don't say anything further. I don't think I need to.

* * *

 **ROMAN POV**

"Finally," I hear Dean's voice when I get on the bus, having gotten back from my date with Paige. I give Dean a look. I've had to wait till 3 in the morning sometimes till he used to get back, in his bachelor days of course. He was never considerate. Yet, here I am. And it's not even hit evening.

"The amount of times I've been waiting up till the early hours in the morning, especially when you and Seth decided to go off to a bar 10 miles away from the hotel we were in," I remind him but the look on his face says something else. I look at Ariana and I can already feel the bad news coming. "What's happened this time?" I ask, in a position I've been in many times before.

"Here," says Ariana, handing me a drink. I take it and have it in one go. Well this is exactly what we needed.

"Is Seth alright?" I ask and Ariana shrugs her shoulders. I guess we won't know how he really is considering he'll probably hide it. "And the police have nothing?" I ask her and she shakes her head. "This is shit," I state.

"You got that right brother," comments Dean, Evan sleeping on his chest. This isn't fair on him.

"Excuse me," I say and leave the bus. I stand outside, taking in some fresh air. It all feels surreal. Iris is kidnapped? It just doesn't feel real. What's worse is we don't know where she is or where to look for her or who has her. What the fuck is going on?

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Will he be ok?" I ask, not having ever seen Roman walk out of a room. The fact that he looked furious doesn't help the dreaded feeling I'm experiencing.

"You should have seen him when we got into the infamous bar fight of 09," comments Dean, not even looking fazed. This isn't how Roman reacts to anything. Of course I'd be concerned. "Talk about being hostile and starting a fight," he comments, my eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Roman started the infamous bar fight of 09?" I ask, always having assumed it was Seth or Dean that started it because of which they all ended up fighting and eventually in jail. The other party ending up in hospital.

"Hard to believe right?" asks Dean, a smirk on his face. Hmm, maybe I don't know Roman as much as I thought I did.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

I stare at my home, standing on the outside. I can't help but hesitate going in there. This was supposed to be a safe place for my family but now I've lost Iris in this exact same place. We picked this house out ourselves. At first we were going to move into my apartment but then we decided a proper house would make more sense. We'd have the room and in the back of my mind I always thought this would be a great place to raise more kids than just Evan alone. I rang Officer Charlie before I got on my flight and he told me they were done with finding evidence in the house. So I'm fine to enter my own house.

"Here goes nothing," I say to myself and unlock the door, stepping foot into it. I feel chills just entering this place. It's dark inside, except for the rays of sunshine shining through a few of the windows. As I walk further into the house I see some things scattered, this must be the work of the person doing the kidnapping. Iris would never have let things get this messy. He was obviously trying to get Iris out of here quick because he didn't trust Penny. I look around, nothing looking too out of the ordinary. Finally, I sit down. Just thinking for a while about what to do. I don't even realise when it starts to get dark outside till I hear the doorbell ring. I answer the door and see Penny on the other side.

"Seth," says Penny and her eyes water. I move forward and hug her, I think she needs it since she's been dealing with this on her own over here. She was the last one of us to actually see Iris.

"Thank you," I say, pulling back and squeezing her hands. I let her in and close the door behind her. There's no point blaming anyone here, otherwise we'd all be faulting each other. "Everything mostly looks the same," I say, asking her to get comfortable whilst I look around upstairs.

"She didn't even look ill," says Penny, looking around with me after having gotten antsy just waiting downstairs. "I should have just gone with my instincts but no, I fed her soup and then went back to my stupid shop," I hear her say from the other room as I try not to let out a chuckle.

"You believed her because Iris doesn't lie," I state matter of factly. Even I thought Iris was ill when I rang her, I didn't question it or ask her why she didn't sound very ill. "Anything?" I ask, standing at the door of Evan's room but Penny turns around and shakes her head.

"Maybe he hurried her so much that she didn't have time to leave any clues," suggests Penny and I nod my head. "Maybe we should head to the station and see if they have anything," she goes on to say and I nod my head. I head to my bedroom and go into the adjoining bathroom. However, I notice something odd.

"What the..." I trail off, taking the picture off from the mirror. "Ariana and Dean?" I question, wondering why a picture of them in their apartment in Vegas was attached to the mirror in mine and Iris's bathroom. That's weird. The kidnapper wouldn't do that. But why would Iris? I keep the picture in my back pocket and head out. Me and Penny get something to eat first. I don't know if I'm just holding off getting bad news.

* * *

"I won't ever forget his face," says Penny, still seemingly affected by everything. I think she's just too much in shock at everything that happened.

"Did the police not get you to do a sketch?" I ask her. From my understanding, they should normally use an artist to try and get a picture of how the person looks.

"The person that normally does that is off sick, the other one is busy with more important cases," explains Penny, both of us rolling our eyes at that last reason. "They said they'll try and get someone from an independent agency to come in. They're supposed to ring me when he does," she says and I nod my head, suddenly not hungry. I wonder if Iris has eaten. Or is she hungry? Maybe he's not feeding her.

"What if something happens by then?" I can't help but voice my thoughts. I look at Penny and immediately apologise, "Sorry. Considering that time is ticking, they need to do everything immediately. Not waiting for people to turn up". Iris needs us to hurry up and find her.

"Hopefully they can. Charlie sounds like he knows what he's doing," says Penny and I nod my head. From what Iris told me he was quite understanding when she first went to him. It's a good thing he's handling this case since he knows the both of us.

"Let's get going then, see if he found anything," I say and get up from my seat. We pay the bill and leave from there. We enter the police station and get seated in a room with a table and chairs.

"Seth," says Charlie, a smile on his face. Well as much of a smile considering the situation. Just as I thought, there's nothing new from the case. They haven't managed to find where Iris is and they don't have any clues as to where she might have gone. Charlie says the artist will be here tomorrow but that's little comfort for me know as each second goes by, Iris is being held somewhere against her will.

"We'll find her Seth," Penny reassures me and I nod my head as we walk out of the room, heading to the front to leave. However, I feel like I've begun hallucinating because the next thing I hear, is someone's voice.

"Yo Charlie baby!" I hear Dean's voice, confusing the hell out of me. I stand still as a statue when I actually see him too. Wait, did he just call this guy Charlie Baby?

"You are kidding me," says Charlie, walking forward and receiving a hug from Dean. I look at Penny, realising I'm not hallucinating since she's seeing it too. "How long has it been? 2 years?" he asks, Dean going on and on about something.

"I came here because I got a friend, well a sister, who's in trouble," says Dean, not even noticing that I'm standing right there. He's supposed to be my best friend.

"Since when did you have a sister?" says Charlie and Dean's about to say something when he glances in my direction and looks surprised.

"Seth?" says Dean but then confusion is replaced with understanding. "Should have known you'd come here. Do we got any more info on Iris?" he asks me and I shake my head. If he was going to come down here, he should have just come with me.

"No, nothing," I say and he pats my shoulder in sympathy. "Charlie's the one handling the case. You two know each other?" I ask him and Dean looks back at his friend with a grin.

"He was the guy I ran havoc with in Cincinnati during the school days," says Dean and a look of realisation passes on Charlie's when he connects the dots.

"Iris is your sister?" asks Charlie and Dean nods his head, looking quite sad I have to admit. So Charlie was Dean's connection up here. At least for once we get to meet someone he claims to know.

"Definitely," says Dean, looking at me. I nod my head and pat his back. Since Charlie's finishing his shift we all head out to have some drinks, discussing our next strategy. "Can't you guys do more man?" Dean asks Charlie but he shakes his head with a sad look.

"This guy has literally left nothing for us to follow up on, our best bet is to hope she pops up on a surveillance camera, we have circulated her photo," explains Charlie, all of us wishing we didn't need to just base all our hopes on it.

"How come you came here?" I ask Dean, still confused about that aspect. The last time I saw him he was handing me my ticket and sending me on my way.

"Felt like a dick sitting there when she's out there, needing my help," answers Dean simply. It's not in his nature to sit around and wait for news, he has to be at the forefront. Which isn't bad in this case. It actually feels kind of nice to have one of my best friends with me. "So I hopped on a plane not too soon afterwards, after we found Roman and told him everything," he goes on to say.

"I really wish we had more to go on guys," says Charlie and I can sense that's very genuine. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way.

"Oh hang on," I say, reaching my hand into my back pocket and taking out the picture of Ariana and Dean. "Here. I found this at my place in the bathroom on the mirror," I say, still confused about the whole thing.

"Where the fuck did you even get this?" asks Dean, shaking his head and looking at the picture closely. "Ariana took this on her phone. Why would she print it out and give it to Iris?" he goes on to say.

"Maybe she left it lying around, they were using the pictures for some wedding stuff a while back," I explain, Ariana putting together an album of sorts as Dean's wedding gift. No matter the situation I can't spoil the surprise.

"It still doesn't make sense why it was stuck to your mirror," comments Dean, something that I agree with. "Iris must have done it, but why?" he goes on to ask, Charlie and Penny now taking an interest.

"Maybe it's a clue," comments Penny, me and Dean looking at each other. How is a picture of Dean and Ariana a clue as to where Iris is this moment in time?

"Well it does seem off that it was there. But what's the message she's trying to get across?" asks Charlie, taking a look at the picture himself. "Were you guys on holiday?" he asks Dean who shakes his head.

"At home," answers Dean, taking a gulp of his whisky. "But we're not going to find her there are we?" he says and I let out a small chuckle. Even in this situation, Dean can still make others laugh. In a good way of course.

"Nicholas!" exclaims Penny all of a sudden, frantically moving her hands around and gibbering on.

"Are you alright?" asks Charlie, looking on in concern. Penny starts muttering things, none of us understand. Dean looks at me and gestures that Penny is crazy which I ignore.

"He said it wasn't...she said it was...he said he preferred Nicholas," says Penny, all of us waiting for her to come round. "His name isn't Nicholas!" she says and I sit up in my seat properly. "Iris introduced him and he said he prefers being called Nicholas, that the other name he didn't really like," she explains and we wait for her to give it to us.

"Which is...?" asks Dean, gesturing for her to hurry up. This could be it; this could be us finding out who Iris is really with. If he used a fake name, then surely we'll know who it is if we have a real name.

"Ah...it was...ah...Adam!" Penny finally comes out with, that name instantly ringing a bell. I look towards Dean once again, the look on our faces showing how terrified we are for Iris.

"Vegas," we both say at the same time. Dean quickly takes one large gulp of his drink before we both set off and leave from there. Charlie follows us out from there, Dean managing to hail a taxi.

"What is going on? Where are you guys going?" asks Charlie, confused as ever. But he would be reacting like us both if he was ever in our shoes. Adam has Iris. Was he behind everything that happened then? I don't know why but I have an inkling that he was.

"Look Charlie, Iris is in Vegas. This guy Adam, we met him there. That's the clue from the picture, Dean and Ari live in Vegas!" I exclaim and then instruct him to take Penny back to her place. Me and Dean are going to rush off to Adam's apartment, that's where he must be. Charlie says he'll contact the police there and send over all the information.

* * *

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	88. Vegas

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I hope you like this next chapter :)**

* * *

 **Lourdes1694: Haha! That legit made me burst out laughing :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thank you! I've literally been putting the effort into it and I'm so glad you're enjoying it :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you so much! :)**

 **Paisley2: Thanks! I'm glad you think so. Haha. It's great to hear you're loving it! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 88:**

 **IRIS POV**

I don't know how to feel when I see the Las Vegas sign as we drive by it. I knew he would bring me here. It's where he lives after all. Dean's apartment is right across from it. But I don't know if that'll help at all. I don't think the show is in Vegas anytime soon. I don't even have the list on me to know where we were supposed to head off to next. My mind soon wanders to Tracey and whether she managed to call Seth and give him my note.

"When we get to our home, I can guarantee that you will love it. It's your favourite colour as well, yellow," speaks Adam and if I wasn't creeped out before then I sure as hell am now. How does he know that? He shouldn't be able to know that.

"How did you know?" I ask. I mean, I know I work for the WWE but in line with my character I always said my favourite colour was my in-ring gear. Which is purple.

"Oh come on, we know each other enough to know about colours," comments Adam, brushing the whole thing off. No, we don't! I barely know the guy. I'd scream that at him but I don't think it would do me any favours. I have a feeling I'm in much of a worse situation than I initially thought I was.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"What do you mean you have no seats? There must be something!" I nearly shout, not taking it well to being told there's no available flights to take us to Vegas till the day after. We can't leave Iris that long. I suppose we could drive but that would take a whole day in itself. It might be too late by then.

"I'm sorry sir, but all our flights are full," says the lady in front of me, looking displeased at my demeanour.

"That's such bullshit!" I say, hearing gasps from people behind me in the queue. I roll my eyes and think about what we're doing to do.

"One minute Maam," I hear Dean say and he grabs my arm and drags me off. "Stay here," he orders me and then walks off back to the desk. I watch him talk to the lady and see her hand him something. No. It couldn't be. "How the fuck...?" I trail off, Dean looking at me with a smirk on his face.

"Dude, you need to make sure you don't blow up when you need something desperately," advises Dean and I realise he must have said or done something to deceive the woman.

"What did you tell her?" I ask, keeping my hands in my pockets. I know I never need to worry when Dean is with me.

"That you're rushing to get to your fiancé whose suffering from cancer. There's a big possibility you might lose her," says Dean, saying that last part softly. I nod my head and we head over to the gate, we need to get on that flight as soon as we can. My phone rings before we're due on.

"Who the hell is this?" I say to myself, never giving out my number to people I don't know. My close friends and family are also instructed not to give anyone my number without my permission. "Hello?" I say, eventually deciding to answer it.

 _"Mister Seth Rollins?"_ I hear a woman's voice on the other end.

"Yes?" I say, waiting for her to speak. I hear a deep sigh on the other end and I get this feeling that I'm about to get some horrible news.

 _"Hi. You don't know me but..."_ she pauses and I wonder what she has to say to me. _"My name's Tracey. I have...I have a message...from...from Iris,"_ she says, sounding upset on the other end, my heart jumping out of its chest at the mention of Iris.

"Iris? What? How?" I go on to say eagerly.

 _"She...she came into the gas station I work at and... we were just talking. She then wrote a note with your name and number,"_ explains Tracey, Dean nudging me with a questioning look on his face. I hold up a finger, listening to what else Tracey has to say. _"She wrote 'VEGAS' on the note,"_ she explains to me and I feel a bit of relief to know we're headed the right way.

"Was there a man with her?" I ask, Dean pointing to the fact that we needed to start boarding but stopping when he hears me say that.

 _"Yes. He introduced himself as Nicholas,"_ answers Tracey and my blood boils at Adam going around with my girlfriend like this. _"He said he was her boyfriend and left with her,"_ she goes on to say, my anger reaching new heights at the mention of this.

"Tracey, did he have dark hair and green eyes?" I ask her and she gives me a positive response on the other end. "Thanks for calling, the police will be in touch," I say, hanging up and trying to maintain my composure. That bastard.

"What the fuck is going on?" asks Dean, looking frustrated at the lack of responses he was getting whilst I was on the phone.

"That asshole is going around calling Iris his girlfriend!" I exclaim, Dean looking even more confused. I tell him what Tracey told me and then call up Charlie, giving him this information. I don't know if it's still useful considering we know she was on her way to Vegas. But it still might be helpful.

* * *

 **CHARLIE POV**

"I just...I feel like all this is my fault," says Penny as I sit there with her. After them guys ran off I told Alan to handle things and took Penny to a coffee shop. She's just been traumatised since everything that happened, happened. "If I caught on earlier, he couldn't have disappeared with her," she says, trying to keep in the tears.

"It's not your fault, I'm sure neither Seth nor Iris blame you. It's that idiot's fault who's done this," I explain to her and she takes a sip of her coffee to calm herself. My phone rings and I excuse myself, stepping outside for a second. "Is everything ok Seth?" I ask him, I thought he'd be well on his way to Vegas by now.

 _"A woman rang, Tracey. She runs a gas station just outside of Vegas. She rang and mentioned Iris,"_ starts Seth, proceeding to tell me who this woman is, why she called and what he wants me to do. _"Just find out what you can from her, I'm getting on this flight,"_ he says to me.

"No problem, we'll get him Seth," I reassure him before I hang up. I go back inside and explain to Penny that we've got some new information. She insists on tagging along and doesn't back down. One thing which I seem to really like about her at this minute. But that's something to act upon later. Right now, we need to figure out how we're going to help Seth and Iris.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Can you say Aunt?" I ask Evan, keeping him sat on my abdomen as I wait for Roman to come back for some milk for Evan. Between Seth and Dean being gone, it's a whole lot quiet. Especially since Roman's wanting to be over there with them, finding Iris. He hasn't said it in so many words but I know what certain looks are on my friend's face.

"I think that babble means Aunt," comments Roman and I look at him with a smile on my face. We're still at the babbling stage with Evan but with some luck we'll manage to get a lot more out of him. "Here," he then says, having checked the milk first. I keep Evan in my arms and feed him.

"Did you talk to Seth or Dean?" I ask Roman. We made a pit stop not too long ago and Roman said he'd ring them. But I forgot to ask him whether he managed to or not.

"Yeah. I mean I rang Dean and he said he was with Seth and that they were just leaving the police station," answers Roman and I nod my head. I'm guessing they would have told us if anything important came up.

"Why do I get the feeling something's happening that we don't know about?" I ask Roman who simply shrugs his shoulders and places a bottle of water next to me.

"The guys know how important this is to us, I mean it's Iris. They wouldn't hide anything from us unless they were too caught up in something else," explains Roman and he's right. But as time goes on by and I get more and more worried for my best friend.

"Let's hope that's all it is," I say with a sigh. I look down at Evan who's drinking his milk. _I promise you Evan, we'll get your Mom back to you._ We didn't go through everything we've been through just to have Evan separated from her. The birth or the coma.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Here we are," says Adam, stopping the car and sending me a smile before switching off the engine. How can we already be at his place? This doesn't make any sense. I don't recognise where we are. This isn't his apartment.

"I've never been here," I say in a confused manner. Adam just laughs and gets out of the vehicle. Ok Iris, just stay calm and act all happy I guess. I unbuckle my seatbelt and open the door, Adam already on the other side. I guess he's not taking any chances with me running off.

"This is our home," says Adam, taking his hand in mine. I really want to just snatch my hand from his, scream that I don't belong to him and then run off. But that's a fantasy scenario, isn't it? I look up at the house, inhaling a deep breath when I think about the first time I saw mine and Seth's house.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"Don't even think about trying to peek," orders Seth and I let out a laugh. He's so cute when he gives me orders like that. Only because of the way he says it, like he knows I'm going to do it._

 _"How can I when your big, masculine hands, are covering my eyes?" I tease him but he doesn't seem to mind. Seth asked me to move in and I said yes but his apartment was too small. We needed more room and he only had one bedroom. I don't know how we even ended up talking about houses but he we did. Then he told me there was one on the market not too far from his apartment. Now here we are looking at it._

 _"Ok, we're right in front of it now," says Seth, announcing that I'm about to see it in so many words. I clap my hands and brace myself. "And, open!" he says, removing his hands. I open my eyes slowly and look at the house in front of me. It looks amazing. I can see nice big windows everywhere and the porch already looks great. I mean, it has a swing and everything. There's a nice big front garden too, grass on either side. The footpath to the house in the middle of it. I smile when I see flowers as well._

 _"Oh wow," I say, this being better than any dream house I ever conjured up in my mind that I would be living in with Seth. "It looks absolutely beautiful," I say. Just the fact that it's mine and Seth's makes it feel even more special and beautiful._

 _"Wait till you see the inside," says Seth, grabbing a hold of my hand and leading me inside the house. The more I see of it, the more I'm sure that this is the place where I want to raise Evan with Seth. And possibly more children in the future. "And this, would be our bedroom," he shows me around the house. I look around the room with a smile on my face. The windows are directly above our heads; we have an adjoining bathroom. I can just imagine us here, doing what we do._

 _"I...I love it," I say, a little bit surprised Seth actually found a place that looks so very homey. His bachelor pad is anything but. I turn around to look at Seth and he walks over, taking my hand in his._

 _"From the moment you've told me you love me, I have been wanting this," admits Seth and I lean forward and place a kiss on his lips. "Maybe we can finally get some_ _ **real**_ _alone time together," he adds on as a joke which makes me laugh._

 _"I can't believe we're actually going to be doing this. Me and you and Evan. In our own home," I say, the smile on my face not disappearing anytime soon. In fact, with each passing second, it's getting bigger and bigger._

 _"Well believe it," says Seth, putting his arms around me in a hug. "This is where we're going to raise our family," he says, giving me Goosebumps as I think about us and our future. That's the second best thing I've heard come out from his mouth. The first being when he tells me he loves me._

* * *

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

"Iris," I hear a voice, bringing me out of my thoughts. I look at Adam and feel a sense of sadness. I'd rather be in that moment with Seth than where I actually am right now. "Shall we head in?" he asks me and I nod my head. He takes a hold of my hand and leads us inside. Where are you Seth? Please come and find me soon.

* * *

 **CHARLIE POV**

"Maam?" I say, walking into the gas station with Alan beside me and Penny walking behind us. We thought the best way to get a control of the situation is by being at the forefront. We're going to speak to this witness then head off to Vegas. Seth and Dean can't go there and look for Iris themselves.

"Can I help you officers?" asks the lady on the other side of the counter. This must be Tracey.

"Hi, my name is Officer Charlie and this is my partner Officer Alan," we introduce us both and then show her our ID badges. I decide to leave Penny out of this, she's just here to observe and help. She nods her head and then I say, "I hear you have some information pertaining to Miss Iris Buckley". Her eyes widen a little in response and she nods her head. "We spoke to Mister Rollins and he asked us to come here. We'll need to take a statement," I inform her. She happily closes the gas station for the time being and sits down with us in the back.

"Was anything mentioned about where they were heading?" I ask Tracey and she shakes her head. She seems quite shocked still about everything that's going on.

"He had dark hair and green eyes?" asks Penny, not being able to stay quiet despite me having instructed her to do so before we came out here. I send her a look and she sends me an apologetic one.

"Yes, but something felt dead strange," says Tracey, looking unnerved, as if she's thinking back to it all. "The look in his eyes...I hope that poor girl is ok," she says, shaking her head and taking a sip of the water in front of her. Penny leaves abruptly and it takes a lot in me not to go after her. We need to finish off this interview.

"Was Iris alright?" I ask, thinking back to when I first met her. She reported what happened with Evan. My first impression was she was a worried Mother and a kind-hearted person. I can't comprehend why this person would force her into a position like this. She's not someone who deserves that to happen to her.

"She seemed fine, physically I guess," answers Tracey, closing her eyes for a second before rubbing them. "But you could tell from the look on her face she was frightened. That's not something you can mistake," she explains and I'm glad Penny isn't here to listen to this. She doesn't need to hear this and get more upset.

"Do you have any camera footage? We noticed you have some up," says Alan, the one thing that could help us in capturing this guy.

"I've been waiting a whole week for someone to come and repair it," answers Tracey, me and Alan sending each other looks. That's not good news. Now we still don't have a face to this guy.

"Thank you for your time," I say and gesture to Alan to get up so we can leave. We head out and I notice Penny outside. I smile when I see her focusing on her breathing. That girl is cute.

"Sorry I couldn't stay inside," says Penny, once she notices both me and Alan making our way out. "What else did she say?" she asks and I glance at Alan, I don't want to lie to her but I can't tell her the truth.

"Nothing useful," says Alan, stepping in for me. He sends me a nod and heads over to the car, leaving us both to it. I put my hands in my pocket, looking at Penny who's staring at the floor.

"Are you alright? I know it can't be easy," I say, never having been so good at this whole comforting a person thing. And I never really cared. Till I met Penny and just wanted her to stop being so upset.

"I'm...fine. I just want to find her quickly and make sure she's fine," answers Penny, looking up at me through her eyelashes. I gesture for her to head to the car. I place a hand on her back, guiding her as we walk down together. I notice Alan raising his eyebrows as we get there but just ignore him. I'm going to get teased mercilessly for this.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Seth, we can't just go and barge in there!" exclaims Dean, forcing me to stay round the corner from where Adam's apartment building is. "We need to make sure she's alright and he's not anywhere near her. As soon as we go in there, he'll have her and use her to threaten us. We can't have that," he explains, as if he knows exactly what we're going to find once we go in there.

"Sorry, you're right," I say, never having thought I'd ever come out with that. I take a deep breath and look up at him. "I just want her back," I tell him and he nods his head, looking like he understands.

"We all want that Rollins," says Dean, using my surname when he's concerned about me. I know it's weird but it's how Dean is. "This is what we'll do. I'll go in first and you come in behind me. Just in case he has some sort of a trap set up," he says and I shake my head at that stupid plan.

"And if he has you'll get the brunt of it? I don't think so Dean," I say adamantly. Iris might be my girlfriend but I don't want anything happening to one of my best friends.

"Seth, we don't have time to argue about this. Iris is in there and needs our help. So, this is what we're doing. No negotiations," he says in a firm voice, leaving no room for argument. I nod my head and follow him. We go inside the building and head off to the apartment. Without warning, Dean kicks the front door and runs in. I quickly follow behind, frowning when I don't see a person in sight.

"Iris!" I call her name, both of us splitting up to check different rooms. I don't find anything and when I get back to the living room, the look on Dean's face tells me he's not found Iris either. "Where are they?" I question, looking out through the window at Dean's apartment across the road.

"No idea," answers Dean, running his hands though his hair. "It has to be Vegas," he says to no one in particular.

"That gas station is just outside Vegas, that's the message I received from Charlie before," I comment, knowing that information isn't wrong. "You don't think he could have taken a detour?" I then go on to ask.

"No," answers Dean, both of us looking around the place. "It doesn't seem like anyone's been here. I mean, nothing seems out of place. No food remnants lying about," he observes, looking around the kitchen. I continue to look around the living room, a frown appearing on my face when I look through his window once more and notice how he could have seen us all when we were out here in Vegas months back.

"What the...?" I let out when I see something I never expected to see in a million years. "Dean?" I say his name, staring at the wall in front of me. That can't...no it can't...then who...

"The fuck?" asks Dean from out of nowhere, making me jump in the process. "Holy shit! That chick looks so much like Iris," he comments, reading my mind exactly. She looks so remarkably alike. How's that possible though? "Is this the whole you have seven people in the world who look exactly like you thing?" he asks and I have no choice but to agree with him in that sense.

"You think he's mistaken about who it is?" I ask Dean, hoping that it can all be resolved just like that. But I don't think it will.

"Not with his history remember?" asks Dean, reminding me of what he told me when we came to Vegas and Dean warned Iris to stay away from Adam. But that all means he'll be ruthless. And I can't think about that right now.

"He's not here Dean. Where has he taken her?" I ask him, hoping my best friend has all the answers but I know he doesn't.

"I don't know Seth," says Dean, looking into my eyes. And I know that he's having a hard time telling me that considering the look on his face. "But we...can find out," he reassures me. He pats my shoulder and we leave from there, searching the apartment but coming up short. We head over across the road and go to Dean and Ariana's place.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I keep myself situated at one end of the couch, watching Adam go around the place, fixing things. Even if Seth figures out the clue or gets my message, he'll end up at the wrong place. We only knew Adam lived in that apartment. But here I am in this house. This stupid house that he keeps calling 'ours'. I bet he bought it under an alias as well which doesn't help the situation. They won't know where I am unless they search every house in Vegas. This is a disaster. But it looks like it's up to me now, to get out of here and go back to where I belong. The only way I can think of to do that is to either get Adam to trust me more or send a message to the outside.

"Adam?" I call his name, using a sweet voice. He is smart but an idiot at the same time. How could he think I could just move on from Seth just like that? That's going to be his downfall.

"Yes my love?" Adam responds and it takes everything in me not to cringe at the sound of that.

"I'm a little hungry, can we get some pizza please?" I ask him, a pleading look on my face. Adam laughs and nods his head.

"Anything for you," he comments, finding the phone and placing an order. Once he's done he makes me a coffee and puts on a movie. Maybe this will distract me from things. I realise it won't when he comes and sits down right next to me. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Wow. I am becoming more ballsy. I don't even feel so scared anymore. Just very annoyed. "I bet you love romance movies, right Iris?" he asks me and I nod my head. How does he know that?

"I like a guy who can read me inside out," I go on to say. I don't know how long I can keep this up. I just want to be with my family already. He still has my phone. He keeps it in the right pocket of his jeans. But I've not had the chance to maybe swipe it. The doorbell rings and Adam gets up, grabbing some money from the drawer to the side. I quickly get up and answer the door. "Hi," I say to the person on the other side.

"Here you go," says Adam, appearing from out of nowhere and handing the man some money. "Keep the change," he says and grabs the pizza, closing the door. "Come on love," he says and grabs a hold of my hand, the pizza in the other. I sit down and try not to wallow in self-pity. That's it then. I'll either need to swipe my phone or get him to trust me so much more so that I can run away. I can't stay here like this for the rest of my life.

"So, uh, honey," I say with a smile on my face, grabbing one of the two plates he placed on the coffee table. "What do you do for a living?" I ask him. I don't know anything about him. Maybe something can pop up that will be of some use to me.

"Have I never told you that?" asks Adam as I take a bite of my slice of pizza. I shake my head and grab the wine he set on the table for us too. "I'm a writer remember?" he says to me as if I should know. Adam's really weird **.** Sometimes he acts like we don't know each other much and other times he makes it seem like he knows me well. But the even weird thing is he's right when he says what he does. Like he did with the movie.

"Oh...yeah," I say, acting like as if I know what he's talking about. "When was the last time you wrote anything?" I then go on to ask. I'm trying to understand what his deal is.

"Way before I lost you," answers Adam, which again confuses me. How can he have lost me when he never had me? "I'm thinking about doing it again," he then says to me.

"Did you use an alias?" I ask him curiously. He laughs and nods his head. Next thing I know he gets up from the couch and goes to a different room. He comes back the next minute with a book in his hand.

"Here," says Adam and hands me the book. As I look at the name, I realise that's where he got it from.

"Nicholas," I state. I did think that wasn't a name that you can come out with just like that. It's an old-fashioned sort of name that isn't very common. Most people are more likely to come out with Nick rather than Nicholas. I read the back and it sounds like any normal story, a girl and guy falling in love or something. I guess I'll read it if I ever get the time.

"I don't really like the name but I guess that means people won't guess it's me," says Adam and then continues going on with himself.

"How long have you lived in Vegas?" I question him and he takes a huge gulp of his beer.

"What's with all the questions?" he asks and I realise he might be getting suspicious. I need to stop for the time-being.

"Last one," I say with a sheepish smile on my face.

"Since I turned 18," answers Adam, grabbing another slice of pizza. "I've never met anyone that likes pineapple on their pizza," he comments and I let out a laugh. Obviously a fake one. Which he can't tell the difference too.

"Everyone's different," I comment, eating my pizza. I remember the look on Seth's face when he first found out I like pineapple on pizza. He...did not hold back on how weird he thought it was. But I'd give anything to be in that moment again.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	89. Inaccuracy

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey guys. I hope you like this next chapter! I would have posted this yesterday but believe it not I actually forgot! I know, I'm terrible :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks so much! I think we're all hoping that :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Calwitch: I know. I have something different planned. I have a feeling you will like it. Haha. I like that idea :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 89:**

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"What shall we order?" asks Seth, looking through his menu. We came to a random place after the show, both of us starved. I wonder where Ariana disappeared to though. I tried finding her but couldn't. I wanted to invite her to join us. I have messaged her where we've ended up. Maybe she ran into Dean and he pissed her off enough to make her go back to the hotel as soon as she could. Why can't the guy just tell her he likes her? Or why can't she tell him she likes him? It's beyond me._

 _"Hmmm, how about pizza?" I suggest, that sticking out to me right now. I haven't had a pizza in ages! Come to think of it, I've not had one since I've been with Seth. We dated for around two weeks, during which I made sure not to show him any part of me that he may think is weird. And we've been a couple for a whole month. It's like a beautiful dream._

 _"Now we're talking," says Seth, pointing in my direction but keeping his eyes on the menu. "I'm thinking pepperoni, beef and ham," he says which is a total guy pizza. All meat._

 _"On your side. I want just pineapple on mine," I say casually, putting the menu down and taking a sip of my wine. However, I stop midway when I notice the look Seth is sending me. "What?" I ask, looking at him curiously._

 _"Did you just say pineapple or did I just mishear?" questions Seth and I realise I have another Ariana on my hands. Another person in my life that doesn't get my love for pineapple on pizza. I was hoping Seth wasn't going to be that guy, but clearly he is._

 _"What's wrong with pineapple?" I ask genuinely. I end up having this conversation with nearly everyone that I know._

 _"Uh, what's right with it?" asks Seth, acting as if I'm weird for even asking that question. "Oh come on Iris, that's horrible," he says as if speaking from experience._

 _"Have you ever tried it?" I ask him and he shakes his head with a laugh._

 _"Like as if I have a death wish," comments Seth. Ok, why has the universe sent me the perfect guy with an imperfect stomach?_

 _"You're acting like it's poison," I comment, shaking my head. Once I notice Seth staring at me I realise he thinks it is. I'm about to say something when we're interrupted._

 _"My, oh, my, what do we have here?" asks Dean, approaching the table with a smirk on his face. I sit back in my chair, Seth sending me an apologetic look. I was very scared of Dean at first, he was always glaring at me. But then somehow, I've managed to see the other side. The good slash caring slash funny side._

 _"A date on which you're not invited," answers Seth as I place a hand on my mouth, giggling. Seth looks pleased at the reaction his words have caused._

 _"Really?" asks Dean, grabbing a chair from one of the other tables and sitting in between me and Seth. "You find that funny, do ya?" he then asks me, giving me one of his meanest glares._

 _"That would be a whole lot scarier if I hadn't caught you singing whilst coming out of the shower," I say to him, taking a sip of my water. That one instance has caused me to see Dean in a whole other light. I don't think he likes it since the only people he's allowed close to him are Seth and Roman._

 _"Break up with her Seth," Dean orders his best friend, turning his head to look in Seth's direction._

 _"No thanks dude, she's too much fun not to keep around," says Seth, leaning forward and grabbing a hold of one of my hands. "And too sexy to let any other man have," he adds on, making me blush immediately._

 _"Seth," I reprimand him. I swear he does this on purpose to make me go red. Dean makes a vomiting noise and we both glare at him. "No one invited you," I state and his eyebrows rise of his own accord._

 _"You gave her a backbone?" Dean asks his best friend after which he looks back at me again. "You're supposed to be scared of me," he reminds me but I shake my head because that isn't the case anymore._

 _"Not anymore Michael Jackson," I say, trying not to laugh because it was the song 'bad' which I caught him singing. Poor guy couldn't look me in the eye for days. "You know Dean, you're actually a very nice guy. Why do you always insist on being an ass more than half the time? Me and you could be partners in crime," I say to him but he makes another vomiting noise._

 _"Over my dead body," says Dean, getting up since he's heard enough I guess. Maybe he was hoping he could push my buttons but wasn't able to._

 _"One day Dean, you are going to be defending me against everyone, including your best friends," I say to him but he just lets out a laugh and leaves from here. I am determined to make him a best friend of mine, whether he wants to be or not. "What?" I ask Seth when I realise he's looking at me._

 _"Two things," says Seth, holding up his fingers. "One, I like your determination but Dean is an entirely different being. And two, pineapple?" he says and I shake my head at going back to the topic at hand._

 _"At least try it," I say to Seth but he makes a face. We place our order and go half and half since we won't agree on something we both can have._

 _"You know Iris, don't worry about this whole pineapple thing," Seth says to me, waving a hand in the air. I raise my eyebrows in questioning and he says, "I still like you just as much as I did before. The pineapple changes nothing". My mouth opens of its own accord._

 _"Seth!" I exclaim and throw my napkin at him as he bursts out laughing. I am going to shove pineapple pizza in his mouth one day and then bask in the aftermath. Then we'll see who has the absolute last laugh._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"What the fuck?" asks Dolph as I continue to sit in my place with Evan in my lap. I don't even let him out of my sight for a minute, not wanting him to disappear like Iris. I look back up at Dolph and see AJ rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

"And you don't have any idea whose doing this?" asks Paige and I shake my head. We decided we needed to let close friends know, just for the time-being. Obviously, Paige can know since she's Roman's girlfriend. Then there's Dolph whose very close to Iris and it makes sense to ensure AJ is aware of it too. I've decided to let others be unaware of it for right now.

"The police are on it but coming up short," comments Roman, a sullen atmosphere in our bus right now. Once we got to Vegas, I called them all and had them come over to our bus.

"That sucks," states AJ after which everyone stays quiet. I don't think anyone knows what to say really, this was probably the last thing that they expected. "Look, we don't have any idea who it is, I mean that's the assumption we're under. But what if we do know who it is?" she then goes on to question.

"What do you mean?" I ask her, sitting up straighter and stopping Evan from trying to roll off my lap. He always likes moving around and doing things, he's so close to crawling. Iris really needs to be here for that. I don't want her to miss it.

"Just because Kane and Randy are here doesn't mean neither of them have done it," says AJ, something I have considered but since I've not run into either of them I just dismissed it. Both of them like bragging about what they've done. Since they haven't, I just thought maybe it wasn't them.

"Remember what Kane said to you Roman?" says Paige, hesitantly, something none of us still know. Roman never ended up telling us and we left it. "You can't ignore it," she says and I look at Roman who seems to be considering it.

"I can't go in all guns blazing after what happened last time, they'll suspend me for sure," says Roman we all go back to being quiet. Actually, I can't stay quiet like this.

"What did he say Roman?" I ask because even though he didn't want to tell us then, he might have to now. It's important. Roman stays quiet and I repeat myself, "What did he say to you Roman?" If there ever was a time for him to tell us, it would be now.

"He said...he enjoyed doing what he did to Iris," admits Roman and I close my eyes for a second, calming myself. Although Evan is managing to do that to me anyway. "That he'd...do it again. That he...will do it again," he says and I have a feeling he's kept that very brief.

"Ok," I say with a nod of my head. I think he sends me a surprised look before I hand him Evan and get up, leaving from there immediately. I go down the steps, the others asking me all sorts of questions.

"Ariana, where are you going?" asks Roman just as I begin to walk through the arena. I've always tried to keep the guys calm no matter what the situation, but this is one time where I can't keep myself calm enough to do that.

"Ari!" I hear Paige as well but all I do is look around till I can find what I'm looking for. My best friend is god knows where and if I even have the slightest hint of who is behind this then that fucker is going to get maimed. No matter what.

"Ariana, where are you going?" says AJ, being quick enough to get in front of me and halt me in my tracks.

"To kill," I state before moving around her and walking off once again. That may have been an exaggeration but that's what I feel like doing at the moment. There's no way Kane is getting away with this. I remember everything from when me and Dean were in his locker room. He's getting what's coming to him.

"Someone please put some sense into her," I hear AJ plead to the others but because I'm fast walking and not willing to listen, they don't manage to stop me.

"Ariana, don't do this," says Roman, probably speaking from experience but that doesn't matter to me right now. All I know is my best friend is being held captive and if I think it's Kane or anyone else around here, then I'm confronting them. Without even bothering to knock I open Kane's locker room door, glaring at him when I see him standing next to the window. He turns around and forms a glare of his own.

"What are **_you_** doing here?" asks Kane, looking angry when he see the rest of them behind me.

"Ari, leave it," says Paige with a hand on my arm. But she backs off when I turn my head and glance at her. I must look even more scary than I thought because nothing backs off Paige that quick.

"You want to kill Iris so much you decided to kidnap her first before completing the job?" I ask Kane outright, not beating around any bushes. And look, a surprised look on his face. Like as if he knows nothing. Well I'm not falling for that shit.

"Leave," is all Kane says menacingly but he'll have to do much more to scare me off. Iris is my sister; I am not going till he tells me where she is.

"Or what?" I ask, walking further into the room, not caring. "What are you going to do? Kidnap me as well?" I go on to say, like as if he hasn't tried that in the past before to get inside the SHIELD's head and break them up. But it didn't work then.

"Ari, maybe it's best we go from here," says AJ and I turn my head to glance at her, noticing Roman's behind Dolph, probably wanting to keep Evan as far away from Kane as possible. The thing is, Evan might be. But Iris is not.

"No, I'm not leaving till I get some answers," I say in a determined manner. "I heard you, on the phone that day. Talking about making things going from good to bad to worse," I say to him, Kane looking at me in surprise. "You mentioned Seth and Iris, you even said you didn't care about Evan. Then you went off to Iowa," I detail what I remember, Kane not looking happy.

"You were...hiding in here?" asks Kane, walking a few steps forward and standing opposite me. He might be taller and I might have to lift my head to look up at him but I don't feel intimidated at all at this moment in time.

"Yeah, yeah I was. What you going to do about it?" I ask cockily, beyond caring about anything but Iris at this point. "You better tell me where Iris is before I call the police," I then threaten him, I hear a growl. He's not taking that too kindly, is he?

"You can't prove anything," says Kane and I feel my blood boil at those words. That means he does have her, doesn't it?

"No, maybe I can't," I say, keeping my hands on my hips. "But Evan's sock being in your locker room just might right?" I go on to ask, the smirk dropping from his face. He stares, well glares, at me for a good few seconds before going to the lockers. He opens one of them and throws Evan's sock at me, me just being able to catch it.

"He dropped it. I picked it up. End of story," says Kane and I'm about to unleash every swear word I know of when someone comes in and interrupts us.

"What did I say to you all?" says Stephanie McMahon's voice as she walks into the room, glaring at all of us. So, this is a nice glare-fest of some sort. "One small instruction of 'stay away from each other' isn't enough?" she asks us all but I don't feel bad.

"No offence boss but I would have done if I didn't think he had anything to do with Iris's disappearance!" I defend myself because I don't have time to listen to a lecture. Iris is struggling each minute we spend time doing absolutely nothing. "Look? He took this, it's Evan's!" I say, holding up the sock in my hand. "He went to Iowa around the same time Seth and Iris were there. AND he's been on the phone to someone talking about them," I explain to her my side of things. I can't know all this and not do anything about it.

"You're accusing Kane of taking Iris?" asks Stephanie for clarification and I nod my head. "Fine. To put a stop to this once and for all, I'll be open minded. Kane?" she goes on to say and he looks pissed off at having to answer. I smirk in his direction and he lets out a grunt.

"He dropped it, I found it," Kane says as minimal as he needs to. "I needed to get a job done for a friend and he warned me that Seth and Iris and Evan were near to where I had to go. I told him...I didn't care," he seethes which is so transparent in its falsehood.

"That's such bullshit," I say and earn an extra glare off of Stephanie.

"Watch your mouth," says Kane, pointing a finger in my direction. "I was talking to a friend doing things to annoy his neighbours because he cannot live next door to them, they irritating. He lives in Iowa and didn't want me to get into any trouble because Evan and Iris are there. You happy?" he says and as I look at the others, realising that they all believe what he has to say. "You think I give a shit about you and your friends? I've got strict instructions; anything happens and I lose my job. Iris isn't worth that hassle, she isn't worth anything," he goes on to say. I'm about to say something when someone else does instead.

"That's enough," says Stephanie and then walks forward, standing to the side of both of us. "If I find out you had anything to do with this Kane, you won't even see daylight again," she threatens him and he looks at her, not even seeming bothered. Which means he really hasn't done this. "As for the rest of you, my office!" she says, pointing to the door. We all head out one by one and leave from there. What the fuck have I done?

"I can't believe I am here and about to say what I am, especially to you Ariana," says Stephanie and I know what she means. We all thought it'd be Dean she'd be having this conversation with. But this is to do with Iris, my best friend. I couldn't have just let it go. "What did you think you were doing?" she questions, standing on the other side of her desk which usually means she's furious.

"It just seemed very likely that he had her," I try to explain my side of things. I genuinely thought he might have had her otherwise why would I have gone after him?

"And you didn't think to alert me first? Or the authorities?" questions Stephanie as if it's common knowledge. But I just went with my instincts. "Considering what's happened in the past I would have taken your concerns very seriously," she goes on to say.

"She...she was just trying to get to the bottom of it," interrupts Roman, defending me despite the fact that what I went to do he wasn't in agreement with.

"By barging in on someone like Kane?" she goes on to question, probably wanting me to identify the common sense in that scenario. "And it's a good thing I was informed what you were up to otherwise who knows what would have happened," she goes on to say. So, she's had someone keep an eye on us?

"Someone's been watching us?" asks Roman and Stephanie doesn't give anything away on her face.

"Yes. Because I know how you guys can get, I wanted to make sure you'd do nothing wrong that could get you into trouble later on," answers Stephanie, not looking like she regrets that decision at all. "Just when I thought you guys have it all controlled and there won't be any issues, low and behold," she says as I stare at the floor.

"You can't really blame anyone Stephanie, we're all just really worried," speaks Dolph from the back of the room. He's been standing there quietly with the girls, none of them saying a word till now.

"I understand that, I am too. But that doesn't mean you can go around hurling accusations without consequences," she says in a strict manner, clearly not liking having to explain her actions. "I just...help me figure out why you out of all people would do something like that Ariana?" she goes on to ask as I stand there quietly.

"Because she's my sister," I answer, looking up into Stephanie's eyes. Iris has been around since I was a child. She actually is my sister. You can't just go on like normal when family are missing. Especially when you believe someone specific is behind it.

"Can I please have a moment with Ariana?" says Stephanie, sounding like she's deep in thought about something. One by one and quietly, all my friends leave. "I know it's hard Ariana, you and Iris have known each other since you were kids. But by acting like you did, do you really think you would have been helping her? Even if it was Kane that was behind it all?" she asks me and I eventually end up shaking my head.

"No," I answer honestly and I can tell that she appreciates that.

"I think the best thing you can do at the moment is get in touch with Seth and Dean. Find out where they are up to with the police," Stephanie suggests and I nod my head. She tells me I can leave and I get out of there as quickly as I can. I understand her point of view of things but at the same time I know I would do what I did again within a heartbeat if it was Iris or anyone else. But she's definitely right in terms of me needing to call Dean and Seth. They've not contacted us and we need to find out what's going on. Maybe they have more information than the last time we had contact.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Iris?" I hear my name being called and turn my head to look at Adam who's sitting there with a confused look on his face.

"Hmm, what?" I ask, thinking about the past once more. We've spent the whole day watching movies and I was thinking about Seth again just now. I can't help it now that I'm so far away from him.

"I was saying it's late, we should get ready for bed," says Adam and I nod my head with a fake smile on my face. "Are you alright? You seemed deep in thought," he says and I decide this is where my improved lying skills will come in handy.

"Yeah, it's just...well Ariana's wedding is soon," I start as I get up and grab my jumper from the couch. "I was supposed to get everything done and I feel stupid for leaving things halfway," I explain, playing on his feelings as I grab the pizza box and go to the kitchen, Adam following me instantly as he's consistently been doing.

"Oh, of course you'd be upset," says Adam and I go and pour and glass of water in for myself. "But you know we can't go, she's going to have to sort it out by herself," he goes on to say. Guess I'm going to have to think a lot harder.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head and not arguing about it. "You know, as kids me and Ariana talked a lot about getting married," I start, turning around and leaning against the sink. "We always said we'd be each other's' Maid of Honour. Ariana even joked about her walking me down the aisle," I say with a laugh. This is a total lie by the way. Ariana couldn't care less about being in a relationship, marriage was a long shot. "We promised each other that we'd stick together the whole day, being there for one another. Doing what blood sisters would do," I say, discreetly sneaking a glance in Adam's direction whose looking like he's in two minds.

"You guys are...that close?" asks Adam and he obviously has no idea just how much Ariana means to me. Seth does though. Because Seth is my boyfriend, not this creep.

"Closer," I state after which I wash the glass and put it back. I look at him and he gestures for me to follow him. I do so slowly, wondering what he's thinking.

"I know you'll love the bedroom, it's your favourite colour," says Adam, leading me to a bedroom. It's yellow. How'd he knows that? Well there's the internet Iris, duh! How else would he have known something like that?

"It looks...great," I say, not really liking it. Or maybe it's because I'm not supposed to like it since I'm here against my will. Adam comes over to me and places an arm around my shoulders, looking at the room once more.

"Did you notice all the pictures?" he questions and I look up. As I look around the room I realise he has pictures of me nearly everywhere on the cupboards and the desk. How did I not notice that? I walk forward to the desk in the corner and pick up a frame. Hang on a second, that's not me? I know for a fact because whoever it is doesn't look like me. I couldn't tell from a distance but whoa, she does look very similar. Who is she?

"When was this taken?" I ask, forgetting that I'm supposed to be playing a role here for a second.

"You don't remember that? It's before you ever went to the WWE, we met at a coffee shop and I asked for a picture to go with your number," answers Adam, laughing it off before going over to the wardrobe and looking through it. He's even more crazy than I thought. I met him for the first time in Vegas when I was pregnant.

"Wow, there are a lot of pictures," I comment, trying to make it seem like I'm comfortable here. I go and sit down on the edge of the bed, feeling grossed out as I do.

"Well you're very beautiful," says Adam and if he hadn't kidnapped me and make himself look like a creepy stalker slash kidnapper then I would have thought that was sweet. "Here," he says, turning around with some clothes in his hands. "I've got all your clothes still here, you can change into this and then we can go to bed," he says, myself feeling alarmed at us both going to bed.

"We?" I ask and realise it shouldn't have slipped out since I'm supposed to be acting as if he's my boyfriend. I stand up as he takes a few steps further.

"Yeah, in our home," says Adam, looking at me suspiciously. I don't want to be in the same bed as him, I might as well be cheating on Seth.

"Yes, of course," I say, nodding my head and taking the clothes out of his hands. I'm about to go into the bathroom when he grabs me by my elbow. I close my eyes for a second before turning to face him.

"Don't think I don't know what you're worried about," says Adam and I feel surprised at what he could possibly mean. He places his clothes on the bed and then looks to me again, placing both his hands on the sides of my arms. "I know you're scared about us being intimate again. It's been a long time, but don't worry. We're not going to do anything until we fall back into our routine and get to know each other again," he explains to me. I nod my head and he sends me a smile.

"Ok," I say and his hands start to move up my arms till they reach the sides of my cheek. I glance at them and then at him.

"I love you," says Adam, leaning in close as my heart starts beating fast, scared that he's going to do what I don't want him to do. I stand frozen like a statue as he places a kiss on my lips. What I feel is indescribable. The only thing I can think about is how this is all so wrong, how I love Seth and how no man other than Seth should be touching me like this.

"I'm going to go change," I announce quickly, before he can go any further and start using his tongue or something. I leave and go into the bathroom, placing a hand over my mouth, silent tears running down my face. "Forgive me Seth," I say, feeling absolutely disgusted with myself. I can't believe I allowed him to even do that. Will my boyfriend ever get to me? And if he does, how can we get past this?

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	90. Escape Plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! Here's the next chapter. It's a day early since I'll be at work all day tomorrow! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! I think everyone was. But he has nothing to do with it, surprisingly. Thanks! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Yeah, they really need to get to her fast :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 90:**

 **SETH POV**

"Seth!" I hear my name being called. I wonder what Dean wants now. He's been making me go crazy with different theories about Adam and why he'd want Iris. But I can't deal with that right now. All I want is my girlfriend. It's night time. I wonder what Iris is doing right now. Is she sleeping? Is she scared? Is she crying?

"What happened?" I ask as soon as I get to the living room area. I see Dean with the phone in his hands.

"Charlie's coming with his partner first thing in the morning, they talked to the lady from the gas station," Dean informs me at which my ears perk up. The lady that saw Iris and Adam?

"What did she say?" I ask eagerly, wanting any news that I can get my hands on. It might help us in finding my girlfriend.

"Pretty much nothing useful. She definitely saw them together," says Dean and I notice he's looking uncomfortable about something. Uh oh, that can't be good news. It means something's not right. He knows something bad.

"Dean, what are you hiding?" I ask, not even beating around the bush. I can't take it anymore. He breaks eye contact and I say his name again, "Dean" with a little bit of a warning in my tone. This is no time to mess around.

"They introduced each other as boyfriend-girlfriend," states Dean, my eyes closing for a second. I can't explain what I feel the moment I hear that sentence. I know I don't feel anger towards Iris, she can't help the situation she's in. But Adam. Well, I feel some very unfriendly things towards him. "Sorry," he says and I shake my head.

"Not your fault," I say, putting my hands in my pockets and trying to breathe evenly to stop myself from getting angrier. That won't help Iris at all right now. She needs me thinking with a clear head to be able to get to her.

"We didn't get much from her, that was just like Iris calling out for help to let us know where she is which we already knew. She's not given an address or anything so we've got nothing else to go on," says Dean, talking as if he's a detective at this moment in time. I doubt even Iris knew where it was exactly that she's heading.

"How do we find out where she is?" I ask him, looking up at my best friend. He might be loony at times but he knows what to do in these kinds of situations.

"We search for properties he owns; they'll be in his name since those will be legally binding documents. Unless he's rich and can pay off a big hefty bribe for a different name to be put on," says Dean which is highly unlikely considering the state of his flat. Nothing in there screamed that he has money.

"How do we find out what ones he owns?" I ask Dean another thing, something that I know he'll have the answer to.

"I've already asked Charlie to start tracking them down," answers Dean and I can't help but smile. Dean mirrors my face and he pats my shoulder. "We're gonna find her Seth, by hook or by crook. Then we'll burn the motherfucker alive," he says the last part so normally that I actually believe if given the chance, that's what Dean will do. And I definitely won't stop him. I'll probably join him instead.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I bounce Evan up and down in my arms, attempting to settle him. He's not crying but he keeps squirming and looks very unhappy. I hope nothing serious is wrong. Maybe Roman's right. It's all just because he's not seeing his parents and it's having a little bit of an adverse reaction on him. Which is to be expected since either Seth or Iris have always been around.

"Why isn't the fool answering?" asks Roman out loud, staring at his phone from where we are in the middle of the hotel room. We decided not to go to mine and Dean's home, feeling safer if Evan's around the company. Whoever has Iris may want him too and if we have people around that know Evan then he's safer.

"You already gave the answer, he's a fool," I comment, sitting down opposite him on the couch and keeping Evan against my chest. Maybe a nap will help him feel a bit better. He hasn't been sleeping much either.

 _"Hello?"_ says a voice which gets both of our attention. This makes me angry because we've been sitting here worried sick and all he says is 'hello'.

"Where the hell have you been?!" I almost shout but don't since I have Evan with me. Me and Dean will seriously need to control our tempers if we're ever to have kids. Otherwise it'll be like world war 3.

 _"Calm down woman, I've not been gone that long,"_ says Dean as if me and Roman shouldn't be pissed that he's not contacted us for a while. Well we are.

"You didn't even leave any messages," says Roman and I try not to smirk at Dean letting out a sigh. That's right bitch, Roman's on my side.

 _"Sorry, we just went from one thing to another,"_ Dean explains himself, involving Seth in it now too. Why would he think of informing me and Roman? Apparently Iris means nothing to us and we're not worried (!)

"Well we have been as well, Ariana got told off by Stephanie for accusing Kane of kidnapping Iris," Roman decides to tell him, giving me a look which tells me he knew I wasn't going to mention it, at all. Personally, neither Seth nor Dean needed to know any of that.

 _"What?!"_ Dean all but shouts. Great (!) Now he's going to go off on one. _"After all the crap I got for doing something like that, you decide to do it too? That is so hypocritical of you,"_ he goes on to say. I knew he'd have a field day with this, that's why I didn't want to tell him. But Roman just had to, didn't he?

"I'm sure you'll get over it (!)" I say, rolling my eyes and leaning back into the couch. I realise Evan's stopped squirming and notice he's dozing off. Thank god.

 _"I still can't believe you did that, especially when it's not even him!"_ says Dean, mine and Roman's eyes meeting in confusion which then turns into realisation.

"You know who it is?" Roman is quick to ask the question, leaning forward even though that won't get the information any faster to him.

 _"Yeah,"_ says Dean and there's a certain unhappiness in his tone. _"It's that freak Adam,"_ he announced and at first I'm confused as to who this person is but then it comes to me. Vegas.

"That creepy fucker that lives across from our holiday apartment?" I question and I hear a positive response on Dean's end. He's kidnapped Iris? "So it's been him this whole time?" I then go on to ask, referring to all the shit Iris went through at Seth's house.

 _"I'm assuming so,"_ says Dean on the other end of the phone. _"He's the only sneaky fucker that could have done,"_ he adds on. So, Iris is with Adam? He has her? That does nothing to settle anything in my heart because she is in real danger.

"So we know where Iris is," says Roman, my eyes widening at the thought. She's right here in Vegas. Hang on, does that mean she's right across from mine and Dean's apartment?

 _"Not really,"_ says Dean on the other end of the phone, giving us some bad news. _"As soon as we realised it was him, we headed straight to Vegas, to his apartment. He's not here. It actually looks like no one's been there in months,"_ he explains to the both of us. So, we've hit a dead end? Great (!) More good news (!)

"How do we find them then?" asks Roman with a look of confusion all over his face.

"Hang on a second, you're in Vegas?!" I ask him and only hear silence on the other end. He's in the same fricking place as us and still couldn't ring or message us? "Where the fuck are you exactly?" I question him.

 _"Our place,"_ answers Dean and I somehow manage to keep my anger in check. _"Look, I would have checked in with you guys earlier but Seth's been really down. I couldn't just tell him to hang on whilst I call you guys,"_ he explains and for once his excuse actually makes sense.

"Doesn't he want to come and see Evan?" asks Roman and I nod my head. Neither Dean nor Seth can stay away from him, not if they can help it.

 _"Of course he does, we're meeting a couple of officers from Davenport tomorrow morning and then we'll come straight there. Seth's just dealing with everything that we found out, he needs time to process it,"_ explains Dean, another valid point. No point Seth being here when he can't gather his thoughts together.

"Why, what else has he found out?" I ask curiously, Dean letting out a sigh before filling us in completely. Once he's done I say, "At least we know she's alive and well". That's something we can take from that. He hasn't harmed her. Not yet anyway. But that fills me with dread, what does he have planned for her?

 _"I think that's the only thing keeping us going at the moment_ ," comments Dean on the other end. We just need this to be over soon. We just need to find Iris and get her back to us. Easier said than done though.

"I think we need to give Iris a little more credit," says Roman all of a sudden, having stayed quiet for a while now. "Iris is one of us. She's smart. She'll know what to do to get out of this situation," he explains and I guess he's right in that aspect.

"It took pretty big balls to give Penny a note as well as that woman from the gas station," I comment, never having thought my best friend would be able to do that. Well not the version of her that appeared after she broke up with Seth.

"And he doesn't have her tied up or anything, she's freely walking into gas stations. He must trust her to some degree, don't normal kidnappers have the person tied up at least?" Roman points out and he's actually onto something at the moment. Iris is doing something, we just don't know what. But that gives me hope we'll find her very soon.

 _"True. She could be pretending to go along with it all, which is the best thing for her to do till she can find an outing,"_ Dean gives his opinion. I just hope she understands what she's doing, this guy could do anything to keep her with him if he's gone to so much trouble.

"We can't underestimate Iris; she's been with us forever. She's picked things up and gotten far more ballsy," says Roman which elicits a chuckle from me. "What? It's true," he says and I nod my head, agreeing with every single world.

 _"Like when she started with the ear pulling, I'm glad that chapter of my life is over and done with,"_ comments Dean and I hold in the laughter threatening to spill out on the number of occasions I've witnessed that. Dean hangs up not long after and me and Roman get ready to get some sleep. Hopefully we hear some good news tomorrow. My wedding is in a week and a half and I need my sister there with me.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Whoa," I say, jumping a little when I exit the bathroom and see Adam standing right there. Although why should I be surprised since he seems to always be around me when I enter and exit the bathroom?

"Did I scare you?" asks Adam, letting out the most annoying laugh. "You just took so long in there," he says suspiciously, a smile still on his face. I wish Dean was around to just clock him without waiting for an explanation.

"I was just...having some trouble...with my...bowel movements," I manage to come up with an excuse, a pretty disgusting one at that too. But I couldn't help it, I can't seem to think of anything else. This is such a Dean thing to say as well. I remember some weeks back when I was taking ages getting ready and Dean decided to use his own initiative and embarrass me in front of Seth.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"Thanks for agreeing to take care of Evan so me and Seth can have a date night," I say to Dean, although I know it's not a chore for him to take care of Evan. It's like a hobby so we both win in that aspect._

 _"No problem, me and Evan have something we need to discuss," says Dean in a tone that suggests it's serious. I glance at the clock and see that I have two hours, that is more than enough._

 _"What's that?" I ask, turning my head to look at him once again, sat on the couch adjacent to him._

 _"Sleeping arrangements for after Ariana's my wife," answers Dean seriously which makes me burst out laughing. He laughs too and I shake my head at his joke._

 _"On a curious note, what do you talk about when we're not around?" I question him, the 'we're' referring to all our friends._

 _"How we're both gonna kick Seth's ass if he ever hurts you," answers Dean nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders._

 _"That's never going to happen," I state with a frown on my face. Dean raises his eyebrows and I say, "I know the same way you know Ariana won't cheat on you". He seems to take that well and nods his head before putting Evan down on the couch and dangling toys in his face. I watch them for a while and then look at the clock again, my whole body freezing when I see it's still the same time. "How's it still 5?" I go on to say, standing up from the couch._

 _"It's not. The thing's broken," says Dean and I stand there with both my hands on my hips._

 _"You knew this whole time didn't you?" I ask and he nods his head, still focused on Evan. I reach over and smack the back of his head for good measure._

 _"Ow! What the hell was that for?" questions Dean but right now all I feel like doing is smacking him one more time._

 _"For being inconsiderate! I've been waiting around to get ready and you couldn't even mention that I'm going off on the wrong time?!" I might as well shout, something which Evan seems to find funny because we both hear him laugh._

 _"I thought you were ready," Dean justifies and for that I give him another smack on the head. "Will you stop picking things up from Ari?" he complains which means that must have hurt. I think maybe I should go back to the ear thing._

 _"And why on earth would I go on a date in this robe?" I complain, gesturing to myself. I'm literally only in this robe, if I went out like this then Dean, Seth and Roman would all kill me._

 _"I don't know, maybe your date was going to be in a secluded area," answers Dean and I hold my hands up to stop him from embarrassing himself any further. I need to focus on things that are more important right now._

 _"What time is it?" I demand from him, pointing to the watch on his wrist. He looks at it and then looks up at me, an amused look on his face._

 _"Uh...six..." he trails off and I let out a sigh of relief. "Thirty..." he trails off and I start to panic._

 _"Ok, not the best result but I think I can be ready by 7," I say, all I have to do is go at super speed. It's not like I will definitely be done by 7 but a few minutes late won't hurt anybody._

 _"Nine," I hear Dean say and before I even have time to say anything I find my hands have already decided to smack Dean on the back of the head one more time. "Ow! Will you quit it woman?!" he yells but I hit him one more time before running over to my bedroom. Seth said to be exactly ready for 7 because he needs to be up early tomorrow for some sort of a signing._

 _"If Seth comes, stall him or make up an excuse!" I shout to him as I close my bedroom door. I quickly jump into the shower, blow drying my hair on the highest heat just this one time. When I've managed to do that I hear Seth's voice. Not being able to help myself I go towards my door and listen._

 _"How long has she been in there?" asks Seth. Dean better come up with a damn good excuse because he could have prevented all of this._

 _"Uh...a while," answers Dean which I guess is way better than some of the things he could have come out with. They're loud enough for me to hear so I move away and grab my dress._

 _"Is she having trouble getting ready, what's wrong?" asks Seth and he can sense stuff like that only because I'm always usually on time and incredibly punctual. I can't even go late to a doctor's appointment. I run a comb through my hair and grab my make-up kit. Just some light work, nothing over the top of course._

 _"She's not having any trouble getting ready," answers Dean and it makes me wonder what excuse he's actually going to give. Seth asks a couple more questions which Dean doesn't answer directly for which I'm glad, I can never tell if Dean is managing the situation or is about to completely fall apart._

 _"What is it really?" asks Seth and he can stop the questions because I am ready to go out. I grab my shoes and place a hand on the door knob. Unfortunately, as soon as I do, Dean's mouth opens at the same time._

 _"Fine, I'll be honest. Iris is having...some trouble with...her bowel movements," says Dean just as I've opened the door and made my entrance. Both men look my way as my face starts to turn red as a tomato. Awkward isn't even the word for something like this. I look at Seth who looks away, letting out a cough._

 _"Dean," I say with a fake smile on my face. I lean against the wall and take off my shoe, throwing it at him which he just manages to duck, Seth looking perplexed at the entire thing. "Next time you want to make up an excuse, let's leave my bowels away from it," I instruct him but he just snickers finding the whole thing funny._

 _"You're the one that wanted me to make the excuse instead of just telling him the truth," Dean points out, standing at this point and letting out a load of chuckles._

 _"Telling me what truth?" questions Seth, looking relieved that Dean made up the whole 'bowel movement' thing._

 _"That Dean's a moronic jerk," I complain, going over to where my shoe is and putting it on my foot again. That's the last time I ask a favour off of him. "And by the way, when I see Ariana tomorrow I'm telling her you have herpes, no way she's gonna touch you then," I give him a piece of good news before turning around and walking out of there. Seth laughing his head off and Dean cursing underneath his breath. Who the hell goes with bowel movements?_

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

"Oh," says Adam, giving me that same uncomfortable look that Seth did. But in defence to Seth, he did try to cover it up, you could tell. Adam is giving me his full on horrified look right this minute. Hmm, so this is Seth's reaction on the inside I would imagine. I walk past Adam and somehow manage to gain the strength to sit on the bed and lean against the headboard. It feels weird being in these clothes, they're some other woman's. Some other woman's who looks so much like me it's scary. I think I've understood by now that Adam isn't in the right frame of mind, he's mistaking me for someone else. And this is their home. But the curious thing is, where is she? And has something happened to her because of which she isn't here?

"Iris, how about tomorrow we take a walk around? Go out and maybe spend some time in the park?" suggests Adam, changing the topic. My ears perk up and I look at him, maybe I can get a message to someone else. Then Seth can come and find me.

"That sounds great!" I exclaim, maybe too enthusiastically since he sends me a weird look. I notice him putting my phone in his jacket pocket near the cupboard. "It might be a bit cold but we need the fresh air," I say, pretending to be fiddling with the bracelet on my wrist. This is my chance. I just need to keep acting in front of Adam and then find a way of getting into contact with my friends or the police.

"I agree," says Adam, turning to me with a smile on his face. He comes straight over and sits down next to me, leaning against the headboard himself. "Well don't be a stranger darling," he says and I nod my head with a fake smile, moving and leaning my head on his shoulder. "This is nice," he comments and I roll my eyes, less scared and more annoyed by him. I just feel like screaming in his face to piss off and leave me alone.

"Yeah," I say softly, my thoughts drifting back to Seth. He'd be furious if he knew what was happening or saw it. I'm furious myself but there's nothing else I can do. At least if I pretend to be compliant, I can control what happens. If I resist, who knows what he'd force me to do.

"You know; we'll go get breakfast somewhere nice tomorrow. That café down the road was where we always used to go, we'll head there," explains Adam and I nod my head. I don't know how much longer I can take this. He moves and lifts up the covers, getting inside as my eyes widen at what he's doing. He wants to sleep in the same bed as me?! "Iris," I hear my name and look at Adam. "Aren't you getting in?" he goes on to ask me.

"Uh, sure," I say hesitantly, pulling the covers back and climbing into bed. I make sure to face his direction so he can't hug me from behind or anything. No, I can't stay here like this with him. It's too much. But then a voice in the back of my mind is telling me that I have to bear this if I'm ever going to see Seth or Evan again.

"You know Iris, I'm glad we're here again. Just us two," says Adam, his face a good few inches away from mine since I refuse to move forward. It doesn't seem like he cares about it much right now. He places his hand on mine and I bite down on my tongue to stop a curse coming out. Yep, it's gotten to that point. I've reached a point where my limits are going to be tested. He switches off the lamp next to him and returns to the same position. "Goodnight," he says to me in the darkness.

"Goodnight," I say, knowing tonight I will not be able to rest. Not with him at my side. I can't trust what he might end up doing.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"What are you doing?" I say and Seth literally jumps out of his pants, both his hands on his chest as he turns around and looks at me.

"Dean?! What the fuck?" he asks me and I just shrug my shoulders. He's the one going around the apartment as if he's a thief. And I can be a light sleeper when I'm really stressed. So, I'm on full alert and then this idiot decides to make a hell of a noise. "Will you lower your torch?!" he demands and I roll my eyes before listening to him.

"Don't blame me when you're acting like a thief," I say, leaning over and turning on the kitchen lights. I take off my torch and put it down on the counter. I always keep a torch on the bedside table, never know when you're going to need one. The lights could one day go out, then what are we going to do? Cry about it?

"I was just...grabbing a bite," says Seth, giving me a look that says he's in trouble. I cross my arms over my chest with a smirk on my face. I told him to eat before, I knew he was hungry but he kept acting all sulky. "Don't," he says when he looks at me.

"I'm not saying a word," I say, figuring he doesn't need me to give him a hard time with everything that's going on. "All I will say though is, you need to keep yourself healthy. If you don't eat then you won't be able to focus on finding Iris or taking care of my Godson," I explain to him, not missing the eye roll when referring to Evan.

"Yeah, I get that," says Seth, moving to sit on one of the stools at the breakfast table. I grab some water and sit down next to him. "I just...I can't help but think that I'm here eating when she's..." he trails off, not being able to finish off the sentence.

"And if she ever found out you've not been eating then she'd get me to kick your ass," I comment, earning a chuckle from my best friend. "I'm sure if she wasn't eating, then she'd be picking up food rather than chewing gum at that gas station," I decide to be a bit logical because that's the only thing that can keep any of us sane right now.

"Still," says Seth and I know what he means. How dare he sit here and eat when his girlfriend has been kidnapped?

"We're all worried for Iris, she's family. But if we let our emotions control us, that'll stop us from finding her," I decide to lay down the law for him. "I'm not saying emotions won't be a driving force to finding her, but if you keep pining and overthinking things, we're not gonna get anywhere," I go on to say. We need to be 100% focused.

"I see what you mean," says Seth, nodding his head with a small smile. I decide to be a prick and take half of his sandwich, running off with it. "Dean?!" I hear my name being yelled after me.

"You woke me up, the least you could do is feed me!" I shout back to him before entering my bedroom once more. Everything will be as right as rain, as Iris says. Well I hope so anyway. If not, then I'll kill that creep with my bare hands.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

Nope, sleep is not overtaking me in any way, shape, or form. Adam is snoring lightly which means he's knocked out. Hang on, is this an escape opportunity? I slowly manoeuvre my way out of bed, gently taking out my hand from underneath Adam's. I then stand up and move away. I go over to where his jacket is, grabbing my phone from out of there. I see loads of messages and missed calls which I know are from my friends and Seth. I could call someone but the battery is too low. I take it with me and go down the stairs. Shit! I don't know where the front door key is. I try looking around for it but don't spend too much time because who knows how much time I have to get out of here.

I decide to head to the back door. I go through the living room to the kitchen and go straight for the door. I smile when I see there's no key, it's a lock from the inside. I quickly unlock it and twist it, opening the door and smiling when I feel a gentle breeze hit my face. This is it. I'm out of here. Back to my friends and family.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I hear a voice as the lights come on all of a sudden, the smile on my face dropping instantly as my hands start to shake. I take a deep breath and slowly turn around, my worst fears standing right there in the form of Adam.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	91. Locket

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I know, I'm too horrible these days because I never update on time. But I manage to in the end and that's the important thing. I have literally been dividing my time between work, Wrestlemania, Raw and Smackdown. Finally managed to watch it all! Ok, my favourite part is definitely the Hardy's returning. Hands down. Let me know your favourite moments! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Only a few left now :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: You know how much I love cliffhangers! Yeah, uploaded that early and this one late. Not a very good combination :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Haha! Maybe she needs those words of encouragement from you :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **Paisley2: Oh wow, thanks. Ha ha. I'm dying to let you know about that. But patience is a virtue :)**

 **Sistergrim: Hi! Really? Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Sorry for keeping you waiting long on the next update. I hope you like it :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 91:**

I stand there staring at Adam, thinking about what to do as he stands there waiting for an answer. I just have to make some shit up, it doesn't have to even sound true just as long as he believes it. Come on Iris, you've known Dean Ambrose a long time. Some of him must have rubbed off on you in some way.

"Thief," I blurt out as somehow my mind manages to conjure something up. "I heard some noises so I came down to the kitchen. I swear I could see somebody outside," I say, purposely making my face look innocent to make it seem like I'm telling the truth.

"What? Hang on a second," says Adam and leaves through the back door, missing the disappointed look on my face at my chance to escape being taken away from me. He comes back after a few minutes and shakes his head. "There's no one out there," he states, staring at me suspiciously.

"Maybe the lights scared them off," I offer up as an explanation, appearing genuinely confused. "Oh god, I'm glad you woke up," I then go on to say, letting out a fake sigh of relief.

"Why didn't you just wake me up? And why do you have your phone?" asks Adam, the second question being asked in what sounds like anger.

"Oh, this?" I say, looking at it as if I've forgotten about it. "I got up to get water and accidentally stepped on it. Then when I picked it up I realised the battery is low so thought it could do with being charged. That's when I heard the noise. I didn't think the noise was anything problematic and went to investigate, I used to the torch on the phone instead of switching all the lights on because you looked so peaceful asleep," I explain to him, making sure to cover my back in every way possible. I don't think I've missed anything.

"Iris," starts Adam, taking the phone off of me and leaving it to the side. He places both his hands on the side of my arms, giving me that eerie feeling. "Your safety is the single most important thing to me. I don't care about my sleep," he says and I decide to sucker him in more.

"Well I do," I say, placing a hand on the side of his face which he seems to like because he melts into my touch. Eugh. I'll need an antibacterial bath when I finally manage to get away from him. "Otherwise you won't be functioning right during the day," I go on to say.

"I love it when you get all caring," says Adam, changing his position so both his hands are now at my waist. I try not to show how uncomfortable I am on my face.

"Come on, lets head back to bed, whoever or whatever it was ruined my sleep," I complain, Adam letting out a laugh before grabbing a hold of one of my hands and leading me back to the bedroom. He lies down and like before I can't sleep. Eventually, I manage to remove my hand from his and put a pillow in between us. I don't care if he questions it in the morning, it's the only way I'll be able to sleep right now.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Nothing," is the answer me and Dean get from Charlie, sitting across from him and Alan at the coffee shop we agreed to meet at. I think Penny went to grab a muffin from somewhere. I was surprised to see her with them but according to Charlie she wants to stay and help in any way that she can. She shouldn't feel guilty though, it's written all over her face. None of this is anyone's fault except for that psychopath.

"Excuse me?" I ask, needing to hear that again. They can't have found nothing. There has to be something.

"We're sorry but he doesn't own anything else," repeats Alan, shrugging his shoulders because at this point they probably don't know what to do. "We've looked into all his records and...nothing as Charlie put it," he explains to us further. We were relying on this to help us find Iris.

"So we're at a dead end?" I ask for clarification. When nobody answers I stand up to leave.

"Wait!" says Dean all of a sudden, using my wrist to pull me back down. "You searched it in his real name, what if he's doing it by his alias. The other name. What was it?" he asks and turns to look at me.

"Nicholas," I answer and he nods his head, pointing at me.

"Dean, do you know how common that name is? Unless you can give me a second name to go with it I don't have anything to go on," Charlie explains his side of things which is fair enough. He can only do so much with what he has.

"We do have a second name," says Dean and pulls out his phone. "Nicholas Trench. Eugh, I'd kill myself if that was ever my name. Why would someone do that to themselves?" he says mainly to himself, the rest of us staring at him.

"Trench? Where did you get Trench from?" I ask my best friend and instead of answering my question he shows me a picture of a book on his phone.

"This book was at his place, decided to take a picture of it," Dean finally decides to explain. "Surely that's something to go on, especially since we do have a date of birth," he says, the previous information Dean racked up on Adam coming to use right now.

"Yeah, we'll get on it right away," says Alan, both of them getting up to leave just as Penny gets back. They inform her of what they're going to do and she keeps herself glued to them. They say they'll call us soon but they have no idea just how antsy I am about wanting to get all the information right away so we can go and rescue Iris.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I open my eyes and feel a sense of relaxation when I don't see Adam besides me on the bed. I see the pillow is still there and let out a sigh of relief. Thank god. I wouldn't be able to take it if I'd woken up and not seen it there. My mind would be wondering what could have happened during the night or even this morning. I get up and see a note has been left for me on the bedside table.

"Iris, there are clothes in the bathroom. Make yourself even more beautiful and then come downstairs," I read aloud, holding back from making a vomit noise just in case he has cameras around this place that I don't know about. I do what the note says though and head into the bathroom. I suppose you're wondering why I don't use this time to escape. Well the windows are fixed shut and he doesn't have phones in this house. So, it's escape free.

I have a shower and then put on the dress that he left for me. It's white with different coloured flowers on it. Once I'm ready I head downstairs, Adam right there in the living room, moving around and doing something.

"Morning," I say in a fake happy voice with a fake smile on my face. That's all my life is nowadays, fake.

"Good morning my darling," says Adam, stopping what he's doing immediately and coming over, placing a kiss on my cheek. Thank god he didn't got for the lips; I wouldn't be able to hide my emotion of how awful it feels to me if he did.

"What have you been getting up to?" I decide to ask him; I'd rather not have any nasty surprises later on.

"Just sorting through some old things, deciding what to keep and what not to," says Adam, going back over to the junk in the middle of the living room. "Look, this is from when we went to the UK, this from our trip to Greece. And how can we forget this from when we went to Hawaii," he says, holding up different ornaments or trinkets. As I stand there and look at him though, I feel a sense of sadness. Whoever this woman he thinks of me to be, it seems like he really loved her. They put this house together and collected all those things on trips. Yet here he is now, having kidnapped me and apparently holding onto something that isn't there anymore.

"Uh, shall we head for breakfast?" I ask him, changing the topic. He asks me to give him five minutes before we head out and end up at a place down the road. Adam places our order as I sit near the window, looking around. He's too much in my line of vision for me to try anything. He'll catch me within two seconds.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"I'm telling you dude, she was totally hitting on you," says Dean, referring to the waitress at the coffee place we were at moments ago.

"And what am I supposed to do with that?" I ask, shaking my head. I don't understand what he wants me to do with that information exactly, go and ask her out on a date?

"Nothing. I'm just pointing out an observation," Dean defends himself and I shake my head with a laugh. He comes out with the most random things at times. We spend some time in one of the parks close by. It's not like I don't want to see Evan, if course I do. Just the thought of seeing him and not being able to promise that we'll have Iris back with us soon is just heartbreaking. I can't face up to it. But I know my son needs me so I have to go. No matter whether I have good news, bad news or any news. Dean wanders off to answer a phone call as I take a seat on one of the benches.

"Miss you Iris," I say aloud even though she probably can't hear me or anything. I just hope she knows how much I love her.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"What?" I say to myself and look around. I swear I...I heard...no. It has to be my imagination. I just have this feeling that Seth said something to me. I don't know what but a strange feeling is overcoming me. Like as if he's calling out to me or something. Or maybe this whole kidnapping thing has finally made me lose my mind.

"There we go," says Adam, placing a coffee in front of me. I smile up at him before taking a hold of it, my eyes scanning the park across the road. I have a feeling he's close to me. A feeling that Seth is somewhere near me but I can't see him. "What's wrong?" asks Adam, looking at me suspiciously as my gaze keeps straying to the park.

"Oh, uh, nothing. It's just quite chilly today," I make up an excuse, bringing the coffee to my lips and taking a sip. Maybe I'm just missing Seth too much or he is me.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Nothing," says Dean as he returns to where I am and takes a seat next to me. "Charlie and Alan found absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada," he says with a big sigh. That's another step further away from us finding Iris. Why does it seem like everything is opposing us finding her? I don't expect it all to be a walk in the park but it shouldn't be this difficult either right?

"Where do we go from here then?" I say, having expected that to be the news anyway. I think I made myself understand that there's not much of a chance to anything being found. This guy is way too clever.

"Evan I guess," says Dean, both of us looking disheartened from the news, Dean more so than me. I think he pinned more hopes on getting something back than I did. After the first time, I decided to not get too hyped up over it. But my brother here did. And that's why he's so upset right now.

"Come on," I say, patting his shoulder and getting him to stand up. We head off out the park, to catch a cab and head to the hotel. But as Dean gets into the cab I look up and down. I then look up again, nobody sat by the window of the coffee shop. I could have sworn I just saw Iris. I swear I saw her, a small smile on her face.

"Are you getting in or what?" asks Dean, snapping me out of my thoughts. I look up at him and then at the coffee shop one more time. Maybe it's just me. I'm missing her so much that now I'm thinking I'm seeing her in some places. That can't be good if I've started hallucinating. I just hope hallucinating isn't the last way I ever see her again.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

I smile as I watch Seth playing with Evan, Evan smiling like he's won the lottery. He's so happy that he's seeing his Dad again. I also smile at watching Dean giving them space because that's always something impossible for him to do. Instead, he's deciding on massaging my feet that are resting in his lap.

"You have amazing hands; you know that?" I tell my fiancé who just chuckles, continuing on.

"That's not the only amazing part of my body," comments Dean, not being able to leave a sweet moment, 'sweet'. I use one of my feet to give him a slight kick before leaving it. Seth and Dean came and told us the bad news. They've not been able to find other properties that Adam owns, in his actual name or alias.

"They're so cute together," I comment, Seth now having gone to the window, showing Evan the view.

"Agreed," says Dean, his gaze not moving from his best friend. "He's a great Father," he comments, something he probably hasn't ever said to Seth's face.

"Why don't you ever tell him?" I go on to suggest, these boys' weird relationship not ever leaving time for compliments.

"And let him think he's doing a good job?" asks Dean, looking at me with a confused expression on his face. "Nah. He'll get a big ego," he says at which I shake my head. "Relax babe, Seth knows just how great of a Father I think he is," he says, sounding so sure of himself.

"He was amazing when Evan was first born, remember?" I say, thinking back to it all. Seth didn't even know he was the Father till after Evan was born and despite the fact he didn't have any time to prepare, he was pretty damn good at it.

"Yeah. My favourite part was when he told Andrea that he was the Dad even though he hadn't read the results," explains Dean, leaning his head back on the couch.

"And the look on her face when he kicked her out," I say, nodding my head in agreement. We both let out a chuckle. I always hated Iris's mother and she made sure she created an enemy out of Dean through everything she did and said.

"He really took on the role well," says Dean which no one can disagree with. "He didn't even complain either. Made sure he was there for everything. Even there for Iris," he says, those being one of the hard times. Iris was in a coma and we didn't know whether she would ever wake up.

"He could change a nappy better than me, I really hated him for it," I admit, that much being obvious since I would glare at him whenever he would swoon in and do it in two seconds, despite the fact that it would take me ages.

"We all know," says Dean, patting my legs and then deciding to use them as a drum.

"I don't know if you've thought about this yet," I start, something that's been on my mind ever since Iris was taken. "But what are we going to do about the..." I pause for a few seconds but it seems like Dean's been thinking about the same thing.

"Wedding?" Dean finishes off my question for me and I nod my head. "I've been thinking about the same thing," he says and it looks like he's actually seeming quite stressed. "On one hand everything's been booked and done, there's no getting any of our money back," he states the obvious.

"But on the other hand we can't have our wedding without Iris there," I say, that being something that is impossible. It wouldn't be our wedding without Iris. I know it's supposed to be about me and Dean but a wedding includes all the family and friends that have been there for us since forever. Iris is my family. She can't not be there.

"I have a solution, not the best thing but the only thing I can offer," says Dean, turning on his side as I bring my legs back and we both face each other, sat on the couch. "I say we hope to get Iris back. If she gets back in time, then go through with it. It won't be perfect because of what she's been through but she'll be there," he explains and I nod my head. What else can we do?

"And if we don't get her back in time? You know Iris will kill us for not getting married. You don't know how much shit she's given me for postponing it the first time round," I explain to him. She was so unhappy and said nothing should stop us from tying the knot this time round.

"I wasn't finished babe," says Dean, giving me a look as if I should have thought he would have thought about this. "If we don't find her by then, then we elope. I don't think either of us could have a whole day where we're celebrating our happiness knowing that one of our best friends is in trouble. We wouldn't be able to fake it that day and the next thing that will happen is we get berated for being miserable on our wedding day," he goes on to tell me what he has in mind.

"Since we're going to lose the money either way, we might as well miss out on something that's not going to bring us any joy," I state. The reception and everything, that's to celebrate with family and friends. Again, if she isn't there, we won't truly be happy.

"But still get married like we planned and postpone the honeymoon which she can't tell us off for," Dean thinks ahead as usual. "I mean, she can yell at me all she wants but there is no way I'm going off for two weeks of sun and sex with you and be able to enjoy it while some weirdo keeps her hostage," he says and for some reason I just burst out laughing.

"Is she ok?" asks Seth, coming in just as I started. Dean nods his head, looking proud of himself that he got me to laugh like that.

"I'm going to be marrying a funny man," I comment once I calm myself down. I lean back and try to breathe normally again.

"So that's...still going ahead?" asks Seth and me and Dean look at each other, it seems like we weren't the only ones thinking about it.

"Yep," says Dean, popping the 'p' for extra measure. Seth looks surprised at first but then a smile makes its way onto his face.

"I'm glad, it's what Iris would want," says Seth, knowing Iris just as much as the rest of us. We're going to make sure Iris has nothing to complain about when we get her back. As long as we get married, I think she'll be fine with however we do it. "I know there's a chance we might not get her back before the wedding. And if we don't, then we're ordering you to get married," he says, using Evan's hand to tell us this.

"I wouldn't dream of going against the boss," says Dean, referring to Evan of course, saluting him in the process. "But you don't worry about that, it's all sorted," he reassures Seth with a nod. This is such a shit situation at the worst possible time.

"Too bad we can't track her movements. Would have made things a whole lot easier," I comment, looking at Dean when I feel him freeze in place. What the hell is wrong with him now?

"I can't believe this!" yells Dean within the space of a few seconds, now standing on his feet.

"Are you trying to make my son deaf Ambrose?" asks Seth, holding Evan close who seems mystified looking at this side of Dean.

"Seth, does Iris still wear the locket given to her by her Dad?" asks Dean. I can see the wheels turning in his head but I don't know why they are.

"She never takes it off," says Seth which is true. You don't even need to question that. I stand up myself, Dean muttering something to himself now.

"Yes!" exclaims Dean all of a sudden, pumping a fist in the air before going over to grab his laptop.

"You know Dean, for us common folk that don't live inside your head it'd be nice to know what the hell is going on," I say as nicely as I can because I know he's not deliberately being ignorant.

"Oh yeah," says Dean as if it means nothing. "You remember a few weeks back when me and Iris were arguing and we got into a tussle, her necklace broke?" he asks us both and we nod our heads. We were all there for that. It was horrible to watch. And painful.

* * *

 _*FLASHBACK*_

 _"Girls are too strong as boys," says Iris, arguing with Dean who just made another sexist comment. He's only doing it to push Iris's buttons as she tries to train for to get back into shape to start wrestling again._

 _"Then why could I lift that weight and you couldn't?" asks Dean as me and Seth take a seat on the couch, Evan in Seth's arms who seems to be enjoying the argument._

 _"Well while you rely on physical strength to do something, women rely a lot on mental strength. It might have taken a while but I would have got there eventually," explains Iris which isn't a bad argument I must say._

 _"How does that prove you're stronger than me?" asks Dean cockily and I shake my head. He should not be messing about with her like that. He'll only end up complaining about his ear when she eventually rips it off._

 _"If we ever got kidnapped and the kidnapper was stronger than you, then you've lost. But not me, my mind will get me through it and I'll find a way through it," says Iris at which me and Seth laugh. Not because it's not true but just because of the example she came up with._

 _"That is such bullsh-" Dean however, does not get to finish his sentence because out of nowhere Iris grabs his ear just like I thought she would. They argue a bit more and eventually Dean manages to get Iris in a headlock who ends up shrieking. "Calm down, I haven't killed you," he says, backing off and staring at her as if she's grown a second head._

 _"My necklace," says Iris, her voice sounding like it's going to break. I look and get up as soon as I spot the necklace on the floor given to Iris by her Dad. I could really kill my fiancé right now._

 _"Relax, I'll buy you a new one," offers Dean like as if he can replace something valuable like that._

 _"You can't just..." Iris stops talking and I know it's because she's about to cry. This necklace means the world to her. Her Dad couldn't be here with her but through this, he kind of his. Every day._

 _"Her Dad gave her that doofus," I say through clenched teeth, immediately going over to Iris whose staring at the necklace in her hands._

 _"Oh fuck," says Dean, not even caring about Evan but this is one of those situations I guess. "Sorry. Don't worry, I'll get it fixed," he promises, his hands out as if he's panicking to the limit._

 _"You better, I don't want my girlfriend upset," says Seth, standing on the other side of Iris. Iris eventually hands over the necklace to Dean and he promises her he will get it fixed. For his sake, I sure hope so._

* * *

 ** _DEAN POV_**

 _I walk down the street with the Iris's necklace in hand. I've got this. I went on google and found a couple of places that will get the job done. I even looked at the reviews for these places because I want to make sure Iris has no room to complain. I find the shop and go inside._

 _"Hi," I say to the man that's there. I explain the situation and he lets me know it's one of the easiest cases he's had for anything that needs to be repaired. I don't know why there was such a big kerfuffle. But I suppose it helps her through things. Like when everything was going down in Iowa, she still felt like her Dad was there as opposed to us being there._

 _"It'll be a few minutes," says the man and I nod my head. I'll stick around. If anything ever happens to her, she'll only have this necklace to get her by won't she? Hmm. This person that was trying to ruin her and Seth, what if they never stop? What if they come after her again? We can't chance that at all. We'll need to know where Iris is at all times._

 _*END OF FLASHBACK*_

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Wait a second, are you saying what I think you're saying?" I ask Dean, trying to make everything clearer. Dean nods his head and my eyes widen slightly. "You put a tracker in her locket?!" I ask and accuse at the same time, Dean's face telling me everything that I need to know.

* * *

 **I appreciate all your reviews! Keep them coming :D**


	92. Old Faces

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Debwood-1999: Interesting theory, I have to say. No. Dean honestly just forgot. It can happen you know. Lol. I guess things would be interesting if that did happen though. Hmm, I'm still trying to work out some kinks. We'll see what happens. Haha. Aw, that's such a sweet thing to say. Thanks for being here for the ride! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: I hope so too! :) Xx**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Yep! :)**

 **Paisley2: I think we all do! I'll try not to make you guys wait too long before each chapter :)**

 **Calwitch: Well she was in the coffee shop and he was in the park across the road. Still pretty close though. He is a silly man. How could he forget something so important? Things never make much sense with Dean Ambrose, haha! :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Yes they can! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 92:**

 **DEAN POV**

"Well basically...yeah," I say to my fiancée and best friend as they both look at me like I lost my mind for doing shit like that. I couldn't help myself, something just didn't sit right and considering everything that had happened, I was concerned for Iris.

"Dean, how could you?" says Ariana off the bat not even thinking that right now it was a brilliant idea. But she'll see it once she stops ranting. "Iris told you to get it fixed, not put a tracker in there to keep an eye on her every move," she reprimands me as I open up my laptop and place it on the desk. I turn it on and wait for it to load. I can't believe I didn't remember I put the tracker in there. I mean, it should have come to my mind way before Ariana even mentioned it.

"She's going to kill you when she finds out, you do realise that don't you?" Seth says to me and I nod my head, very well aware of that at the moment. I knew I couldn't hide what I'd done forever. But I did think at the time it would be a lot longer before I got caught out. Well in this case, I gave myself up.

"Not if it stops her from getting killed," I point out to the both of them. I put in my login details and put up what I need to be able to track Iris to exactly where she is right this second. "There," I say, pointing to the screen, both of them rushing over and standing behind me. "She's right there. Hang fuck a second," I then say when I realise something.

"Dean, stop swearing in front of him. He'll be talking soon," Seth tells me off at which I roll my eyes. I've cut down so much but whenever I let one slip, they give me a lot of shit for it.

"Iris isn't even that far away from us!" I exclaim, completely ignoring his last comment. "She's a 15-minute car ride away," I point out, kind of mad at myself right now for only remembering this stupid locket tracker now. We could have had her back by now.

"Then what are we waiting for?" says Ariana, going to grab her jacket and getting it on. I put down the laptop screen and pick it up, we'll need that just in case.

"Wait. Hold on a second," says Seth, me and Ariana sending each other confused looks. Why's he stopping us? Shouldn't he be the first one to run out of that door? "Listen guys, we know how dangerous this guy is. I want to run in there and save Iris too but...we do this by the books," he says, something which seems like a bitter pill to swallow.

"Do what by the books?" asks a voice and we look to see Roman's back from his time in the gym. Ariana explains everything to him quickly because the more time we waste here the more trouble Iris could be in over there. "Seth's right," he says and I roll my eyes, saint Roman. I hate it when they double team me.

"Well how are we supposed to do this by the books anyway? Besides, we're not doing anything wrong by going over there and blasting the guy. It's not illegal," I explain to them all but it seems like Seth isn't going to back down. Just fucking great (!)

"I'm not saying we don't go down there. But I say we involve Alan and Charlie. Let them know what's happened and we meet them down there. We do exactly as they want us to do," instructs Seth, particularly looking at me as he says the last part. So I'm not so great at following instructions. Sue me.

"You are kidding me, right?" I ask Seth but he gives me the no-messing-about look. I relent because I just want to end up going and ring Charlie as I head downstairs with the others. Once we get down to get in the cab though, we have a whole new situation.

"We can't take Evan," Ariana points out and I look at him in Seth's arms. We all look at each other because none of us want to stay behind. We all want to go to Iris.

"Look, most likely Charlie will tell us to hang back because we're civilians," I begin to explain to them all. "So he can stay with us. If there's any issues, one of us keep a hold on him and stay away from the action, alright?" I decide before getting into the front passenger seat of the cab and directing the dude on where he needs to go.

* * *

 **PENNY POV**

"So they know where she is?" I ask Charlie who nods his head after informing me what Dean said when he rang. I don't know how to express my happiness and just end up moving forward and hugging Charlie. "Oh god, we're gonna get her back," I say, willing myself not to cry. I've felt so guilty ever since Iris was taken and now by finding her, that'll go away.

"Yeah," says Charlie and I move back, not having realised what I'd just done. I know there's a hint of red on my cheeks as I look at the floor.

"Sorry," I say and when I look up at him, he just smiles. I try not to get lost in his eyes as he gestures for me to follow him. They're teaming up the with police department here to go and get her. I get into a car with Alan and Charlie, ready to get my friend back.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I have this weird feeling that something big is about to go down. I don't know just that...that things aren't going to go the way I want them to. This is such a weird day. First I had a feeling that Seth was close to me and now, this. Maybe I'm finally losing my mind.

"Or darling, what would you like for dinner?" asks Adam, looking up from the board game we were playing. I insisted we play snakes and ladders. What other way to pass time? Not to mention, it'll keep his hands off of me. He's getting too touchy feely for my liking.

"Anything," I say, not even caring about food anymore. I just want to go home. I stop myself from flinching when Adam 'accidentally' touches my hand again when moving his counter.

"Look, we're tied," says Adam, shuffling closer to me and placing his hand on my waist. His hand doesn't belong there. Only Seth can touch me like this. Not some stranger. I immediately get up to get away from his touch and he stares at me in surprise.

"I'll cook something," I say, up for doing anything that will keep him away from me.

"No, I'll do it," says Adam, getting up and taking my hands in his. Just because I can't stop him, he's taking it as a sign that he can touch me a lot more. I don't know what to do. I don't want it getting to that point where he decides he wants all of me and I'll either have to accept it or try and fight him off. "You just need to tell me what you want," he says, taking my hand and leading me to the kitchen. In the end, we decide that steaks are what he'll make for dinner. I picked anything just to get him off my back.

"I'll take this out," I suggest, noticing the bin full. I tie the bag and then move to open the door, going out to the back garden. The garden is quite big actually, I think there's some sort of a forest behind it too. I could easily run away and get lost in there, he wouldn't be able to find me. I just need a way of getting there. I put down the bag and feel as if I'm not alone. I realise why when he makes his presence known.

"You're taking a long time," comments Adam and I roll my eyes before turning around with a smile on my face.

"You just can't live two seconds without me," I challenge him and he laughs, coming closer and putting his arms around me in a hug. Eugh. I need to do something and fast.

"That is true," says Adam, moving his head back and leaning down, pressing his lips against mine. I stand there helplessly as he forces his way into my mouth. I hold back on not retching and pretend this is some nightmare that'll end quickly. He pulls back thankfully and I put a smile on my face. "Come on," he says, putting his arm around me and leading me inside. I look back at the forest; I just have this feeling that there's something there. With a sad look, I head inside with Adam, wishing for this all to just be over.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"What do you mean we shouldn't be going anywhere near the house?" I ask Charlie. We're parked a few blocks away near a forest so Adam doesn't see us coming. "I am not leaving the care of my girlfriend up to people I don't know," I argue with him, thankful when Ariana takes Evan out of my hands. He's actually starting to fall asleep.

"Seth, this is potentially very dangerous. We don't know what kinds of weapons he has, what the risks are. So, we can't risk any of your lives," explains Charlie at which point I look at Dean. Sometimes Dean goes overboard but this is his chance to shine.

"Charlie, I swear to god if you don't let us come then we're running in there," threatens Dean, all of us giving him determined looks. I don't think he wants to deal with an angry mob today.

"I am so going to get fired for this," states Charlie before nodding his head. We all head off to an opening in the forest. Ariana stays behind with Evan and Penny; someone needs to and she offered thankfully. Well Penny did too. "Look, if we go through here we'll end up in his back garden. It isn't anything big, this is Vegas after all. But it gives us enough cover to be able to take him down. After a few minutes walking, Charlie instructs us all to take some sort of cover.

"That's the house," says Alan as it takes everything in me not to just run down there and go in and grab her. But that isn't sensible. "Ssh," he says when we see the door open. My heart beats fast at the sight of my girlfriend, a smile overcoming my face She's alive. She's alive and safe. I look at Dean and Roman who are smiling too, nodding their heads in my direction. My smile falls when I see Adam, blood boiling at seeing the man that's taken my girlfriend away from me against her will.

"Calm it," I hear Roman say and look to see Dean looking very angry too. My anger increases when I see Adam press his lips against Iris'. I look away and only look up again once Roman pats my back. I see them both head inside, Iris looking towards the forest sadly. I'm here Iris. I'm going to get you away from him. "You ok?" my best friend asks me from where he is.

"Once we have her I will be," I say. I can't imagine what else he's been forcing her to do. Anyone could tell she didn't want that kiss, but I guess she has to do what he says so she can stay alive. I start to feel sick when I wonder how far he might have forced her to go. I somehow manage to push those thoughts to the side and just focus on the task at hand. Getting Iris back.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I pick up one of the books lying around and open it. I know I'm in the living room by myself but, I'm not. The dude has cameras lying around. I'm not even imagining it. I saw it in the corner of the TV. But they weren't there before. He must have done it when I went to the bathroom, to keep an eye on me. Especially after what happened last night when I was at the back door. He doesn't trust me as much.

"Where are you Seth?" I question, going over to one of the windows and leaning against the frame. I can hear Adam move around in the kitchen, getting things ready.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"What's the plan?" I ask Charlie, looking at him since he's in charge of this whole thing and I want to play it by the books. I want to do it in the right way so I can ensure Iris will be released without harm. She'll be safe.

"I'm going in there," says Charlie, hiding his gun away and putting his blazer on which confuses the hell out of me at least.

"What are you talking about?" Dean is the first one to get the question across, before the rest of us can even say anything.

"This guy, from his history, isn't going to let her go without a fight, not if he finds out we're ready for him," Charlie begins to explain which I see the point of. "So, if I go in there and not pose as a threat I can get Iris out of there and then hopefully take him down," he shares with us what his plan is. I have to admit; it isn't a bad idea.

"You think he'll just let you waltz in?" questions Roman, that part sounding a little absurd. He didn't take too kindly to Penny attending I don't think and then he ended up fleeing from there. We can't risk him going off again.

"No. But don't worry, I have an inside man," says Charlie, a hopeful smile on his face. "Well, woman. Iris. She knows me and she'll somehow help keep me there," he explains to us all. I notice them all look at me like as if he needs my permission to carry it out.

"Get her out of there as soon as you can," I instruct him. Charlie pats my shoulder before leaving from there. He makes his way around to the other side of the house without being seen. Let's just hope he can get Iris out of there without anything going wrong.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I hear a knocking on the door that disturbs my thoughts. Who could be coming here to visit? I'm sure Adam wasn't expecting someone. If he was then he would have told me. Or what if this is someone selling something and they could help me get out of here? I quickly make way for the front door.

"I'll get it!" I yell, nearly running just to make sure I have some seconds alone with this person without Adam being there. I open the door and feel myself get emotional when I see Charlie on the other end. How is he here? I don't even understand. He smiles at me and I feel a sense of relief. Relief that at least someone's managed to find me. Even if it is him and not my friends.

"Who is it?" asks Adam, turning up without missing a second. He is really on point which means he's very paranoid. I look at Charlie, wondering what the plan is. There's gotta be some sort of a plan, right? He can't have just turned up here just like that, right?

"Hi, the name's Charlie," Charlie introduces himself, not needing to use an alias since he won't be found out. Adam doesn't know who he is or has ever heard his name before to be suspicious about anything. I realise I need to keep my face neutral, any hint of recognition of Charlie could be picked on by Adam.

"What can we do for you?" asks Adam, keeping an arm around my waist. Why does he always gotta go for the waist? There's no goldmine there is there? Whoa, look at me getting all snappy. But who wouldn't when being forced to be with someone against their will for the sake of their life?

"I was just passing by and noticed your house," starts Charlie as I try to think of where we could go with this. "It looks amazing from the outside by the way. Me and my wife were thinking about moving down here, we live over on the other side of town. I was driving around looking at properties and yours really struck me in the face," he goes on to explain. If this plan is to be successful then I need be in the same mind-set as Adam.

"Sorry, but we don't intend to sell. Me and my boyfriend got this place together and made it up as a team. It's our dream house, we wouldn't dare think about selling it," I say, looking to the side at Adam who looks proud and happy with my answer.

"Oh, you misunderstand me madam," says Charlie, continuing on to play his character. "I was just wondering if I could get a look at the inside as well as get some advice on how to make our place look as great as yours does. You know, names of people that helped you, financial advice," he says, playing his part well in looking nervous.

"We'd love to help," I say, looking at Adam who doesn't seem enthusiastic about the idea. "We can go over everything we did. And helping out another couple, what's more great than being able to do something like that?" I question, Adam relenting when a smile appears on his face.

"Sure, come on in," says Adam, stepping to the side. He lets Charlie through and directs him to the living room. I stay back with Adam and think of how to completely wrap him around my finger.

"You're so helpful to others, I love that about you," I say to Adam, placing a kiss on his cheek. He perks up at that and I can tell this is going to be his show now. He's going to grab about absolutely everything. Which is great because now he's not suspicious.

"How long have you guys been living here?" asks Charlie as I come and place juice on the table in front of him in the living room, Adam surprisingly having left me all alone in the kitchen. Well maybe he has cameras there too.

"Years," answers Adam and I can see the flash of confusion on Charlie's face because he sounds so convincing.

"Me and my wife have been too, it's nice isn't it? The companionship?" says Charlie and Adam nods his head as I hand a glass of juice to Charlie. I then hand one to Adam and sit down next to him on the couch.

"Especially when your wife is the most beautiful woman you've ever laid your eyes on," comments Adam, placing his arm around mine and keeping me close. I glance at Charlie who seems to appear very sorry for me. I don't want sympathy at this stage, all I want is to get out of here.

"I think every husband thinks that about his wife," says Charlie and I hope his plan isn't just to sit here and talk. I have to get out of here. "How long have you guys been married?" he then asks us both.

"A while," Adam lies and how can he even seriously do that when I don't even have a ring on my finger? What kind of fantasy world is he living in?

"What's that smell?" asks Charlie all of a sudden and I sniff to realise it must be the food that Adam was cooking for us both.

"Oh no, dinner might be on fire," says Adam and I let out a laugh as he rushes out of the room to go check on the food. Once he's gone I look at Charlie and feel my eyes moisten with tears.

"Don't," I say once I can tell that he's about to get up and come over to me. "He's got a camera in this room. If you come over here, who knows if he's watching or not. We'll both be in trouble," I explain the situation to him clearly. We can't risk this going badly.

"Are you ok?" asks Charlie instead and I nod my head, trying not to let the emotions overwhelm me.

"You found me," I state, still shocked at how he's managed to do that. There's no possible way they could have tracked me to this house, Adam would have made it impossible for them.

"It wasn't easy," Charlie lets me know which was to be expected. "I don't want to do this where there's a chance you or anyone else could get hurt," he informs me and I realise why he was playing on with that drama before. "Seth's outside," he comments and I feel myself perk up at the mention of my boyfriend's name.

"How...how is he?" I ask Charlie. I've missed him so much in these few days. I kept feeling like I'll never see him again and now he's outside. He's close. But can I get to him?

"Fine as he can be without you," says Charlie and I try to will my heart not to feel sad. We're gonna get out of this and be back where we belong. "Everyone that loves you is outside Iris. You just can't see them," he mentions and I nod my head. They wouldn't be anywhere else, knowing the lot of them.

"So as you can see, we've made sure the whole house has a dark coloured wood thing going on," I quickly say when I hear footsteps after which Adam is in view, entering the room with a smile. "If it was lighter then when you drop things, it's harder to cover them up," I go on to mention, talking about complete nonsense but not wanting to even give Adam a hint that something fishy is going on. This is my chance to get out of here. We have to do this perfectly.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"What's taking so long?" I question, getting antsy just waiting outside. Is Charlie speaking to Iris? And if so, why can't he get her out of there already?! Is something wrong? Is Charlie in trouble now too? Did Adam catch on?

"Just give him time alright? He needs to come up with an exit strategy based on what he's being faced with," Alan explains but it doesn't reassure me whose girlfriend has been with a creep for the last few days.

"We'll get her back Seth, don't worry," says Roman and I look at the house once again. Will I even get her back? What am I thinking, of course I will. It's Iris. She always somehow manages to find her way back to me. Or me her.

* * *

 **CHARLIE POV**

I don't see how I can get Iris out of here without this guy kicking off big time. The safest way I can think of is to run Iris out the front door but he doesn't leave us alone for long enough. He keeps walking in every two seconds as he makes dinner, as if making sure we're still here or something.

"Excuse me, it's the wife," I say, getting up with my phone in my hand. I wonder what Alan could possible want with me right now considering the situation?

"We don't mind," says Adam, basically telling me to answer the phone call here. I stay stood up as Adam goes to the book shelf, looking through some of the things stacked there.

"Hi honey, is everything alright? I'm out visiting properties like you wanted me to?" I say directly into the phone and hear Alan chuckle on the other end.

 _"Seth wants to speak to you, we need to know what the plan is,"_ says Alan which makes it difficult considering I have to now try and talk in code since there's no privacy in this house.

"Hi...Sarah," I say, looking at Iris and making a funny gesture with my eyebrows. I can tell by the emotion on her face that she's realised it's Seth.

 _"Is she ok?"_ asks Seth on the other end of the phone. God, what I wouldn't give for things to be alright between these two? I liked them as soon as I first met them.

"Right as rain, don't worry. I've been eating fine and I'm not too tired," I say, hoping Seth will gather that this means Iris is physically well. Emotionally, I can't answer that question. She's in a shit situation.

 _"How are we going to do this Charlie? How are we getting her out of there?"_ questions Seth and I try to think of how to word this for him and my unexpected audience.

"Don't worry, I bumped into a nice couple who are showing me their place," I say and I know this must be confusing Seth right now. "Don't worry, I'll be out of here soon. Just waiting to get what I need then I'll be running out of here as fast as the wind," I explain, letting out a laugh as I decide that the best thing to do is to run out of here.

 _"Iris in front of you?"_ asks Seth and I confirm this with him through a simple 'yes'. _"Tell her I love her?"_ he asks and it's the least I can do considering the situation.

"I love you," I say, looking directly at Iris and see her eyes well up at my words. I suppose she's imagining Seth saying them right now. With Adam's back turned Iris mouths 'I love him too' to me and I say into the phone, "Love you more," since I can't say the original again. Adam will suspect something is up. I hang up and as soon as I do Adam turns around.

"I need to check on the steaks one last time," announces Adam, happily leaving us alone for another second. Instead of listening to Iris about before I go over to her and place my hands on the side of her arms, completely ignoring any cameras in here.

"We have to run out the front door now," I instruct her and she shakes her head. "What? Don't you want to go back to Seth?" I ask her and she nods her head but lets out a sigh.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Charlie, you don't know this man," I try to explain to him. There's no way we'll make it to the front door in time, whether he's watching us on camera or not. "We won't be able to do it," I comment, not wanting him to get hurt for me.

"Iris, forget about all of that. The door is literally a few steps away, we can be out before he even comes back," he explains to me, but I shake my head. "He's not gonna be back till 1.6 minutes. All we have to do is run," he says and I just nod my head. I can run. And we're wasting time by arguing like this.

"Ok, let's get out of here," I say and he smiles at me. We can do this quickly and efficiently. "Aah!" I scream when Charlie's hit on the back of the head and falls down to the floor. My hands fly to my mouth as I see Adam standing there, a baseball bat in his hands.

"Tut tut," says Adam with a smirk on his face. He bends down and lifts a part of Charlie's blazer, grabbing the gun that's there. I feel the hairs on my neck stand up as the reality of the current situation hits me. Adam has a gun. He now has a gun. "Next time, make sure to hide the gun before waltzing into my house," he advises before standing back up to his full height.

"Charlie," I say, bending down in concern for someone who's acted like a friend during my issues in Iowa. He listened and took them on board, assuring me he'd help solve any problems for me that he could. I try to keep myself together even though he doesn't wake up. I know he's alive though because I can see him breathing.

"Now, what do I do with my _girlfriend_. The one whose betrayed me," I hear Adam's words and look up to see him looking down at me with anger in his eyes. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. He now knows or understands my game plan to a certain degree. I am so dead.

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 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	93. It's Over

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hey everyone! Happy Easter! I hope everyone's having a nice time. This one's a bit longer than usual but I have a feeling you guys won't complain :D**

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha! Thanks! :) Xx**

 **Lourdes1694: Lol. That'd be the best thing to do! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: No other words for it :)**

 **Paisley2: Haha! Maybe not all at the same time? I shall let you see for yourself :)**

 **Jade: Damn girl, you disappear so much I start to wonder if you're running a double life. You're not secretly a superhero are you? Lol.  
I bet it's work keeping you so busy. I actually understand since I've started working so no problem. It is going well thank you. Maybe you need to do something to de-stress. Find a nice spa or something. I don't who they are either but glad you enjoyed it!  
Take your time, no rush here. And PM me if you ever get the chance so we can catch up properly! Thanks for checking in :D**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 93:**

"I honestly thought we were past this Seth business," says Adam with a look of disgust on his face, the gun being the one thing I keep looking at. "Come here," he yells, grabbing a hold of my elbow and forcing me to my feet. My heart beats fast in fear at the thought of what he's planning on doing with me. "Sit down!" he shouts, practically throwing me on the couch.

"L-listen," I start, looking up at Adam but he gives me a look which silences me.

"Don't," says Adam through clenched teeth, appearing very angry. "I trusted you Iris," he says in a heartbroken manner and at the same time I can't believe we're having this conversation. A kidnapper is talking about trust? In what fucking world does that make sense?! "We were happy in this house. Why did you do this?" he goes on to say. We've only been in this house for like a day. What he's saying makes no sense whatsoever.

I glance at Charlie who's still on the floor, knocked out cold. I look down at the blood on my hands. He was hit on the head and I was trying to look at his wound. But there was too much blood for me to see anything and now it's on my hands. This is my fault. It's my fault he got knocked out. If only we went without the argument, then Adam wouldn't have had time to hit him. I look up at Adam and realise I'm wrong. It's not my fault Charlie's got hit. I'm tired of blaming myself for anything going wrong. What's happened right now, it's all Adam's fault. He's done this.

"Seth," I say, deciding to be bold about this. I'm not going to stay quiet in fear. If someone does something wrong, then that person needs to be told so. Whether they're going to be logical about it or not. Or whether they're in the right frame of mind or not. "I love Seth, not you," I clarify for him, his eyes widening at my words.

"You do, do you?" says Adam, grabbing me by the elbow again and making me stand on my feet, pulling me against him. "You've been playing me the whole time," he finally realises the extent to what's actually been going on. "What's he got that I haven't Iris?!" he shouts in my face. "I love you. I've never cheated on you. I take such good care of you," he lists things which don't even make sense. I don't even know him.

"I don't even know you!" I yell right back at him. I think it's because right now I don't have anything to lose. The only thing that can happen is I never get to see Seth or Evan again. Which is what I've been thinking from the beginning anyway. "I met you when we were in Vegas! I was pregnant with Seth's kid and you couldn't stop following me. Then you decide to try and ruin me and Seth and then kidnap me! In what world is that supposed to make me like you let alone love you?!" I notice his eyes flickering quite a bit and his grip on my arm loosens. He honestly doesn't get it, does he?

"Iris, stop making it seem like I'm a stranger," says Adam, actually sounding hurt. I'm so confused. "We've known each other for a long time. But the fact that you're making me be out like some sort of a monster? That hurts," he explains as I realise he really does think I'm this girl, doesn't he? Whoever he shares this house with. It's like he's completely lost his mind. He needs to see that I'm Iris Buckley, not his Iris or whatever her name is.

"You are to me," I say boldly, not removing my gaze from his eyes. He laughs bitterly before bringing the gun up to my face. My eyes widen in fear at seeing it so close to me. I feel so much more scared now than I did when I thought I was going to die in that elevator. There, it was mainly my own terms, I was surrounded by everyone that I love. Right now, I'm not. This is not how I want to go.

"Alright, fine," says Adam, nodding his head and tightening his grip on my elbow. It hurts but I don't let it show on my face. I don't want him seeing any weakness. "I've been very patient with you Iris but now I'm going to show you exactly what a monster is like," he threatens, keeping a hold of me and dragging me upstairs. When I realise where we're headed I start pulling my arm away from him. "Move and boom," he says, the gun pointed straight at my head.

"No, please," I say, my eyes watering at the plans he has in store for me. He drags me into the bedroom and throws me onto the bed. This is it Iris, defend yourself. You're a wrestler, Ariana is your best friend and Dean's a brother. You can't let them down by not even trying. Once I think of Seth I don't even hesitate, grabbing the lamp beside the table I turn around to hit Adam with it but he grabs onto it. We start to struggle and I fall on my back.

"Let go of it! You can't stop this Iris! It's going to happen. Today!" shouts Adam in between the struggle.

"Ow!" I yell when I feel him twist one of my wrists and he manages to get the lamp out of my hands. "Aah!" I yell when I feel his hand hit me across the face. I keep a hand on my face, shocked at how hard he hit me. He grabs at my arms and pulls on the fabric of the top, ripping it completely down my arms.

"Is this what you wanted Iris?!" yells Adam, his hands now around my throat. I move my arms, trying to grab a hold of anything I can and use my legs to try and kick him. But he manages to get into a straddling position, sitting on top of me to stop any movement. I feel myself lose energy as I cannot breathe.

"Stop," I manage to get out but from the look on his face, nothing can stop him now. I'd rather die than have him do what he's about to do. I cringe when he bends down and licks the side of my face. Adam forcefully kisses my lips but I use whatever strength I have to bite down on his lips.

"There's one thing you should know Iris, I love being bit," says Adam which is just perfect for this situation (!) He keeps one hand on my throat and uses the other to undo his belt. No. I can't have this happen. "After this Iris, Seth won't want you back, You'll have no choice but to be mine," I hear him say, my eyes drooping as I start to lose consciousness. I hear a loud sound and feel Adam's weight off of me as well as his hands off around my neck. I cough as I open my eyes and see what's happened.

"Charlie," I say his name, surprised to see him there. He helps me to sit up and I smile at the bat in his hand.

"Karma's a bitch," comments Charlie and I can't stop myself from hugging him. "It's going to be ok Iris," he says and I nod my head. I pull back and feel my eyes water. I can't believe he was actually going to do that. I could see it in his eyes that he would have done.

"You're bleeding," I state, the side of his head covered in dried blood. Charlie places a hand on it and looks at the blood that smears on his hand.

"I'll be fine," says Charlie, shaking his head and standing up. "We need go, now," he orders and I don't argue like last time. He offers me his hands and I use them to stand up on my two feet. He leads me to the door when we hear something. Looking back, we see Adam, still on the floor, but with a gun in his hand, pointing it right towards us.

"Going somewhere?" asks Adam with a smirk on his face, letting out a chuckle. I keep a hand on Charlie's arm, feeling dread overtake me. Charlie pulls me behind him as I stand there shocked at the scene unfolding in front of me.

"Charlie," I say his name but he doesn't appear fazed. He can't possibly be putting himself at risk for me? He's got to think about himself.

"It's my job," Charlie whispers to me as Adam just laughs. He manages to sit himself up against the bed, the gun still pointed at the both of us.

"You think I won't shoot you?" asks Adam, looking at Charlie, both of them having a glaring contest. I knew when I felt something being off before, things would go wrong. "Iris, come out from behind him and come to me otherwise you'll be responsible for his death," he threatens. I look into Adam's eyes and I can tell he's not kidding. I move a little but Charlie grabs a hold of my hand from behind and gestures for me to stay where I am.

"Don't let him blackmail you," warns Charlie. But then what am I supposed to do? Just let Adam shoot Charlie and then do the same to me? At least this way one of us will be spared at least. Or he'll have the chance to get out of here.

"And let you get shot?" I question, looking at Charlie who doesn't remove his gaze from Adam's. I can't believe I am being told what to do in this situation!

"Iris, whilst he shoots me you can get out of here," says Charlie, Adam laughing since that's apparently really funny. "And go to Seth. He's close by," he says, just to anger Adam and it works too because he then stands up.

"No!" shouts Adam and all of a sudden I feel the gun pointed at us both even more. "You are NOT going back to him. You're staying here with me!" he insists as my stress levels continue to rise. The last thing I want is to stay here with him. But I can't just leave Charlie here by himself. Shit. What the fuck do I do?

"Iris, go. Now," says Charlie as I look between the two. He's going to pull that trigger, no matter what. I just know it. What do I do? "Iris, I'll be fine. I'm a cop remember? This isn't the first time someone's pulled a gun on me. Go to Seth Iris. Go to Evan. They need you," he says and as I think of my son I realise I can't do this to him. But I can't be selfish and leave Charlie here either. Instead of doing what he says, I make Charlie let go of my hand and walk in front of him, making myself stand right at the end of that gun.

"Shoot me," I challenge Adam, willing him to do it. I know he won't be able to do it. He doesn't want to kill me because he wants a life with me. "Shoot me," I say again and he looks surprised at what I'm doing. Maybe this will be a distraction for enough of a time for Charlie to think of some other way out. "Because you can never have me. I don't want to stay with you, I don't want a life with you and I sure as hell don't love you," I say to him, anger taking over him again.

"Iris, are you mad?" questions Charlie from where he is. He's about to move forward when Adam sends him a warning look.

"Yes, I am mad. I've been going mad living here with a man I don't even know!" I say, sick of always having to look over my shoulder. Today it's going to be decided. Today he either leaves me in peace and we get rid of him or I die. "I'm away from my friends, the man I love and my son. I can't live like this! Death is better than this," I continue on to say. I then grab a hold of the end of the gun and aim it at my head. "Go on, just do it," I tell him again. Suddenly, Charlie lunges forward and begins fighting with Adam, Charlie trying to get the gun off of Adam.

"Iris! Run out of here!" shouts Charlie and I'd be tempted to but I can't leave him in here. However, soon the decision is made for me when both men fall on the floor and a shot is head. My hands fly to my mouth when I see Charlie's been shot in the arm. Adam grabs the lamp and hits him just as I run out from there. If Adam is focused on me then he won't hurt Charlie any more. I know I don't have time to run out of the house so instead end up in the guest bedroom, hiding in the wardrobe.

"Iris!" I hear Adam shout like a mad man. I hear footsteps on the stairs and realise he must think I've ran out. I stay hiding because if everyone's outside like Charlie said, then they'll grab him and someone will come get me. I quieten my breathing and stay in there, waiting.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"He's taking too long!" I say in frustration. I can't take this anymore. Iris should have been out by now right? Maybe something went wrong.

"I've known Charlie a long time Seth, he'll be doing his best to get her out of there as soon as possible," Dean explains to me. But he doesn't understand. Iris is right there. She's within reach and we're just standing here and watching the show.

"Dean's right. He can't rush it in case something goes wrong," Alan adds on but nothing they say will stop me from feeling the way that I am right now. I'm about to respond when we hear a gunshot from the inside.

"That's it," I say, what we heard just being the last straw. Not caring about anything I run all the way out of that jungle, running towards the house.

"Seth! Seth get back here right now!" I hear Alan shout but I doubt he'd listen if his girl was in there and he was here feeling how I'm feeling. I get to the back garden door and open it gently, going inside. I slowly walk around, trying to stop myself from picturing the worst scenarios in my head.

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 **DEAN POV**

"What's the plan?" I ask Alan. Clearly that gunshot changes everything. As well as Seth running in there like a mad man. Let's hope the fool doesn't get himself killed.

"You do have a plan, don't you?" asks Roman, his arms crossed over his chest. Alan seems to be deep in thought before he clamps his hands together.

"Everyone get ready to head in there; we can't wait out here. We got two civilians and a cop," Alan lists what we already know. "Can I trust you guys to stick out here?" he then asks, looking at me and Roman.

"I can handle a gun," I say, not bragging but offering my services. I look at Roman who shakes his head after which I say, "Fine," begrudgingly. I don't get why people who don't know Iris can go in and save her but her family can't. I should have run after Seth. That would have got me in. Maybe there's another way. I pull Roman to the side. "You really want to wait for them to get their gear ready?" I ask my best friend. He cares too much to wait out here.

"Not really," answers Roman hesitantly. I know he wants to do it the right way, but maybe there isn't one.

"We'll go round the other way, to the front," I inform Roman. After a bit of convincing I manage to get him to go to Alan and lie about us going back to the car. We'll go round and to the front of the house.

"How are we going to help her without any leverage?" asks Roman, as soon as we're out of earshot from the rest of the police. He's right about that. I look around before reaching into my pocket and showing Roman the leverage I have.

"This enough?" I ask, holding the gun in my hand. Roman doesn't say anything but gives me a look which tells me he approves. We continue walking and I make sure we don't go where Ariana is, if she sees me with a gun I'm a dead man.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Iris!" I hear my name being yelled which makes me flinch. He's been looking for me for a good few minutes now, sounding like he's getting more and more annoyed by the minute. But I'm doing a good job of hiding myself at the moment. He's not found me yet. "This is my house you know; I will find you eventually. You might as well just come out!" he yells and I know from how loud his voice is that he's back upstairs.

I was hoping he'd end up going outside to try and find me and then I could sneak off in the opposite direction. There's no way I can run away from him whilst he has a gun in his hand. He'll shoot me. I know he didn't before but that was because the gun was aimed right at my head. He'd shoot me in the leg to stop me, I know that much.

"Seth doesn't deserve you! He doesn't love you like I do!" I hear him yell and it takes something in me not to pop right out and tell him he's full of bullshit. My heart beat quickens when I hear footsteps come into the room I'm in. "Iris, come out before someone else gets hurt. I've already shot one friend, I'll shoot the others," he makes threats but I know better than to react to them. People always think by blackmailing me they can get what they want. But they're wrong. I'm not an idiot to believe every single word they say. I hear footsteps leaving the room and heading down the stairs. With a little bit of courage, I open the wardrobe doors. I can't stay in there forever; I won't be able to breathe.

"You're fine," I say to myself, needing a little bit of reassurance at least. I stand in the middle of the room, contemplating between the door or the window. I suppose it'll have to be the window. I walk towards it but stop when I sense something's amiss. As soon as I feel a hand on my shoulder I turn around ready to fight but instead stand frozen at the sight of my boyfriend. I see mixed emotions on his face. "Seth," I say, not thinking twice before jumping into his arms and hugging the hell out of him. I can't believe he's here.

"Iris," he says my name, his face in the crook of my neck. I can't help but let the tears fall at the reunion of my boyfriend. I never thought I'd see him again and then all of a sudden, he's here.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," I tell him, pulling back and meeting his lips in a sweet kiss. I've missed him so much over the last few days, word cannot describe how much.

"I love you," says Seth in between kisses and I let out a small chuckle. We hug once again and I shake my head in disbelief.

"You shouldn't have come here Seth, what if you were hurt?" I ask him but I feel his chest vibrate as he laughs.

"That's the first thing you're going to say to me after 'I love you'?" he asks and I use my hand to hit his back which only makes him laugh more. "I'd come after you each time Iris, no matter what," he tells me, sounding so sure of himself as well. "Are you ok?" he asks and I nod my head, not being able to get any words out. "Good," he says and then his gaze strays to my arms. He looks angry but takes off his jacket and wraps it around me. "Let's get you out of here before-" he cuts off when we both hear clapping. We pull away from the hug, my heart dropping at seeing Adam there, applauding us apparently.

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 **SETH POV**

There's no one in the living room. I can hear Adam calling for Iris upstairs. It must mean he's trying to find her. Is she hiding somewhere? What about Charlie? I have this eerie feeling he's been shot. Iris must have run and now she's being hunted. But I won't let him hurt her or take her away. I'll take her before he has a chance to get his hands on her. I hide behind a bookcase when I hear him come downstairs.

"Iris!" he calls for her angrily. She's doing a good job though. Just keep hiding Iris and I'll find you and take you away from here. I hear footsteps in the room which then drown out and I think he's gone back to the kitchen. I come out and quietly make my way upstairs, swearing underneath my breath when I have to hide in the bathroom because he's come back upstairs again.

"Seth doesn't deserve you! He doesn't love you like I do!" he yells and if he wants me to beat the shit out of him then he better continue. How would he know what I feel about Iris? Only I and she know. "Iris, come out before someone else gets hurt. I've already shot one friend, I'll shoot the others," the threatens and it turns out I was right, Charlie's been shot. I sure hope he's ok. Then again, Adam didn't use the word dead. It turns out Adam heads back downstairs and I get out of the bathroom. I hear a creak and head in the direction of the noise.

I stop for a second when I see her from behind. She's actually here, in front of me. Perfectly fine. Well I hope so. I see her head to the window and step towards her. She stops and I place a hand on her shoulder. All of a sudden Iris turns around and freezes when she sees me. I smile a little at seeing she's safe but she shouldn't have been brought here in the first place and that pisses me off. I'm going to kill him when I get to him.

"Seth," says Iris, instantly jumping into my arms. I keep my arms around her, not caring if I'm squeezing her too tight because I have missed this woman so much.

"Iris," I say her name, keeping my face in the crook of her neck. I feel her shake a little and can tell she's crying.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Iris tells me, pulling back and meeting my lips in a sweet kiss. I've missed everything about her. Her voice, her smile, the way she tells me she loves me.

"I love you," I say to my girlfriend in between kisses, letting out a chuckle at her display of affections just seconds before. I've missed stuff like that definitely. We hug again and I'm glad I have her back. I don't know what I'd done if I'd never found her.

"You shouldn't have come here Seth, what if you were hurt?" she asks me and I can't help but let out a laugh. She's going to tell me off for coming here now?

"That's the first thing you're going to say to me after 'I love you'?" I ask and she uses her hand to hit my back which only makes me laugh more. "I'd come after you each time Iris, no matter what," I tell her, not doubting myself for even a second. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. "Are you ok?" I ask her. She might look fit and fine but what if she's not? I feel her nod her head and feel a sense of relief at her response. "Good," I say, my eyes straying to her arms. Her clothes are ripped, that son of a...I try and keep calm. I take off my jacket and place it on her. let's get you out of here before-" I cut off when we both hear clapping. We pull away from the hug, Adam standing right there. Not looking too happy at all.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Well, isn't this sweet," comments Adam with a disgusted look on his face. Seth automatically stands in front of me, keeping one of my hands in his. Why does he keep popping up at the wrong times? I suppose it's right for him.

"Back off," says Seth and I keep my other hand on his arm. They're both glaring at each other and I can just feel this having the same result as it did with Charlie. "It's over Adam. Leave us alone," Seth warns him and at this point I would tell him it's futile but he can find that out for himself.

"It isn't over, till I say it's over," says Adam, gun in hand which is now pointed towards us both. Well more like Seth because I'm standing right behind him. "You can't just take her away from me," he says through clenched teeth and I feel my anger rise at this statement.

"How many times do I have to tell you; I don't want to be here with you!" I almost scream because of how frustrating it is. He looks hurt for a second but it doesn't faze me at all. He's stalked and kidnapped me, I don't feel sorry for him at all.

"I don't care!" Adam responds. What the hell do we do to get out of here? "Send her over to me or you're a dead man," he threatens Seth, my mouth opening slightly. Seth's never going to do that. But then that means he'll get shot.

"Never," says Seth, a response that's predictable to me.

"She's not yours Seth, you don't deserve her," says Adam and it makes me angry that he's telling Seth something he's believed in the past. Of course Seth deserves me. And me him. We deserve each other.

"You don't get to judge that," I say and move out from around Seth, standing in front of him.

"Iris," says Seth but one look from me has him go quiet. I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life. Except for when Seth did what he did.

"Seth does deserve me. In every way," I say, not standing for this at all. Anyone can say what they want about me but if they even think about saying anything to Seth then they have me to answer to. "Yeah, he's made mistakes. But he's more than made up for them. He's an amazing Father and a loving boyfriend. You don't get to decide who deserves me, no one does. I decide that. And my heart belongs to Seth," I defend my boyfriend. I like to think if he wasn't deserving, then I wouldn't love him like I do.

"Would it still be if I put a bullet through his brain?" he questions me and I make sure not to let him know he's fazed me a little. Just even thinking about losing Seth like that...it's horrible.

"You're going to have to shoot it through my brain first," I inform him. From the corner of my eye I see Seth looking at me in shock but he wouldn't be if he saw what I did before.

"Maybe I won't shoot him," says Adam and my eyebrows rise in surprise. "Maybe I'll get out of here and go straight to our son," he says and I notice Seth look on confused at what's just been said. Join the club. "I'll make sure you never see him again," he states, looking right into my eyes.

" ** _Our_** son is safe with our friends, you won't even get to touch him," says Seth, keeping his arms around me from behind. I don't know how he thinks that'll protect me but it's a sweet gesture.

"Fine, you guys want to test me?" questions Adam, pulling the safety trigger on the gun. Now if he shoots that, we could really get hurt. "You have five seconds to come to me Iris. We're going to get in the car and leave from here. If you don't, then I'll shoot you first. Then I'll kill your precious Seth right in front of your eyes," he goes on to say. He doesn't even blink as he says all this. He really means it, doesn't he?

"Iris," says Seth, surprised because I remove his hands from around me.

"Trust me," I whisper to him, doing as Adam says and walking over to him. I can tell Seth is antsy because he's shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Here I am," I say, standing right in front of him. I just need to get that gun away from him. Then we're fine.

"Don't worry Seth, she's going to be just fine without you," says Adam, grabbing a hold of my elbow so we're both turned around facing Seth. "Iris has found someone who loves her better and can please her better," he says, double meaning behind his words which appears to piss Seth off to no end.

"Seth, you're my life," I tell him, just because it will piss Adam off and because it's true. Adam keeps the gun pointed at Seth and I get an idea in my head but it might be crazy. I've never really done this before, it's Ariana's specialty. But she is my best friend and I must do her proud. I take a deep breath and feel myself get ready.

"I have her Seth and you can't do anything," boasts Adam. All of a sudden, a box gets thrown at Adam's head, I look to see Charlie standing at the door of the bedroom. I jump to give myself some leverage and kick the gun out of Adam's hand. As soon as I do that Seth spears him to the ground. I stand in shock. Adam's on the floor, writhing in pain with his hands on his back. Seth looks up from his knelt position on the floor. Charlie leaning against the doorframe, holding onto his arm that's bleeding profusely. Is that it? Seth gets up, slowly standing to his feet. Adam not completely unconscious yet.

"Don't even think about it?!" Dean bursts in all of a sudden, a gun in his hand which is pointed towards Adam. Roman movies quickly and grabs Adam's gun, pointing that at him also. Adam looks like he's cornered when Dean moves forward with his gun in his hands. " How about a SHIELD power bomb?" he suggests, looking kind of crazy at this very second. Seth grabs the jacket from the floor that Adam all but yanked off of me and places it around my shoulders once more.

"I like that idea," says Roman, playing along. They're not really going to do that, are they?

"Look guys-" starts Adam, about to get up when Dean turns and punches him straight across the jaw. Adam falls straight to the floor, knocked out immediately.

"Jeez Ambrose, where have you been hiding that?" asks Roman, looking quite impressed. I think I am right now as well. I've never seen him do something like that.

"I've been saving it for a special occasion," says Dean with a laugh just as the police burst through to the room. They quickly control the scene and get us all out of there. Finally, it's been done. It's all over.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	94. Reunions

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! Here with the next chaper! I hope you guys like it. I need some good news after the day I've had. I accidentally hit someone's car and apologized, said I'd pay for damage but instead got yelled at. So, it's fair to say it's been a really shit day. Be nice :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Thanks! :)**

 **Debwood-1999: Yep, good ending for him. The loose ends will definitely be tied up. That girl is another chapter away, right now we're going to see what happens after they back into their routine. I'm a bit confused, never anywhere in the story have I ever mentioned Isabel's Dad. Which pictures? The one where Isabel was trying to seduce Seth? Need that clearing a bit. Sorry about the power bomb but it just didn't work out that way.  
ANT is the best thing I've heard all day. Lol :)**

 **Lourdes1694: Yes it is! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Paisley2: Haha. They do deserve that. Hmm, interesting with the way you wrote wedding ;)**

 **Calwitch: Yeah, I think we all are. Yep, she's got her family to be there for her. Clearly that's what he was doing. :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 94:**

I walk out of the dreaded house with Seth by my side. The guys help Charlie out. A couple of seconds after everything happened, these police just barged in with the guns held out, scaring the crap out of us. But once they saw Adam on the floor, all that high alertness stopped. I met Alan, Adam's partner. He's the one that's taking care of him right now.

"Are you guys ok?" asks Alan, leaving his partner for just a moment in the care of the other officers. I nod my head, having just spoken to another officer about what just happened. They wanted to speak to Seth alone but he refused to leave my side. Dean and Roman went though.

"Can we go now?" I ask, eager to get away from this dreaded house, that dreaded man and this horrible nightmare of a time. Alan nods his head and as soon as we're excused, I'm enveloped in a massive hug by Dean. I chuckle at his behaviour, my eyes watering at finally having my friends around me.

"Iris, you ok?" he asks me and I nod my head, keeping my arms around his torso with a small smile on my face. I send a nod in Alan's direction and he heads off again. I feel someone else hug me too and chuckle when I realise it's Roman.

"Guys, stop squishing my girlfriend," complains Seth and whilst Roman lets loose of me a little, Dean decides he doesn't want to let go.

"It's a good squishing," I say, the boys chuckling before finally letting me go. Seth keeps his arms around me and we walk around. They take me somewhere and I can't help but let the tears fall when I see Ariana standing with Evan in her arms and Penny by her side. I move away from Seth and quickly run up to her.

"Oh thank god," she says as I take Evan out of her hands and hug him close. I can't stop myself from kissing him all over his face, chuckling when he giggles. I didn't even think I would ever get to see him again. I put an arm out and hug Ariana. "I'm so glad you're ok," she says and as I pull back I realise she's crying too. I hug Penny too and she tells me how relieved she is.

"Let's get you far away from here," says Seth and I nod my head eagerly. I've been wanting this for days. With Evan in my arms, Seth by my side and my friends behind me, I get into the police car and sit down. I lean my head on Seth's shoulder, glad to be away from it all.

* * *

 **PENNY POV**

"Oh my gosh," I say when I see Alan coming with Charlie to where all the police cars are parked. Iris just headed off as well as her friends. I'm just relieved she's fine. "Are you alright?" I ask Charlie, noticing him bleeding from his arm. He keeps a hand on the wound, looking like it's been tied with a tourniquet made from some type of material.

"I'll live," says Charlie, Alan opening the doors to one of the cars and helping his friend to sit down.

"Ambulance is on its way," says Alan, weirdly leaving but not before looking at Charlie who seems to be going slightly red.

"What happened?" I ask, standing with my arms crossed over my chest. It's horrible that this has happened to him. He's been absolutely amazing with this whole situation, trying his best to help us get Iris back.

"I got shot," answers Charlie, a gasp escaping from my lips. Shot? "It's fine though. It's not the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last," he says, my concern for him increasing. Is it so weird to care so much about a person you've not known for very long? I lean down and place a kiss on Charlie's cheek, the man looking so surprised at what I've done. I blush a little before standing back up.

"Thank you Charlie, thank you for everything," I tell him how much I appreciate everything that's been done to help find Iris. He nods his head and I realise this is probably my time to leave. The strange thing is, I find it kind of upsetting. "Uh, would you mind if I waited for the ambulance with you?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"I'd really appreciate that," responds Charlie, a smile gracing both our faces. Hmm, maybe Iris was right. I work too much and need to stop occasionally, only then can I find special people to be a part of my life.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Hey," I hear Ariana say as soon as I walk out of the bedroom and take a seat on the couch. After what happened, we decided not to go back to the hotel. We took Iris to the hospital and got her checked out, made sure was she was fine physically. She was quiet the whole time though, something that disturbed me. Maybe she's just dealing with everything.

"Morning," I say, Evan fidgeting. We decided to come back to Ariana and Dean's apartment. They both insisted on Iris taking the bed and would not listen. I could tell Iris appreciated it, she didn't argue with them and just relented. I woke up and saw Evan was awake, taking him away from the bedroom before he started crying and disturbed her sleep. I don't even know if she has been sleeping.

"How's Iris?" asks Ariana, getting up and heading over to the kitchen as I follow her, Evan wanting some milk.

"Sleeping, she must have been really tired," I answer, Ariana filling up Evan's bottle with milk. "Listen, throughout this whole thing I haven't had a chance to thank you," I tell her, a confused look overtaking Ariana's face.

"What for?" asks Ariana, handing the bottle over to me and awaiting my answer.

"For doing this, taking care of Evan," I answer, Ariana letting out a laugh but making sure to keep quiet enough not to wake up the guys. They're currently sleeping on the floor. It reminds me of our last time in Vegas when Iris was pregnant and we all slept on the living room floor.

"You don't need to thank me; I would have done it either way. He's my Godson after all," Ariana explains, Evan happily drinking all his milk. We sit down at the breakfast table as she does.

"So, wedding in a few days then?" I ask and the smile on her face makes me feel happy. We're all getting what we wanted in the end.

"Definitely," says Ariana, letting out a laugh and telling me about Dean's plan of eloping. But it's not hard to believe, that lunatic would have totally done it. I'm glad they don't have to though. We're having a wedding and that should lift everyone's spirits. I just hope Iris can deal with everything that's happened. I don't want to talk about what happened whilst she was with Adam, but I feel like I need to. In any case, to help her feel better and just talk through things.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

I open my eyes and sit up in worry. When I look around the room I realise where I am and everything that happened comes rushing back to me. I'm back where I belong. I panic when I don't see Seth or Evan near me. I rush out of bed and get out of the room, nearly falling at bumping into Dean and Roman who are sleeping on the floor.

"Ow!" I yell, holding my foot since it hit Dean's leg. What is he made of? Steel? Jeez! I hope I don't get a bruise.

"Iris," says Seth, coming from the kitchen area, Evan in his hands. I feel a sense of relief when I see them both, quickly taking Evan out of Seth's hand, ignoring the pain I feel in my foot.

"What happened?" asks Roman, sitting up in alert mode, looking at me with a worried look on his face.

"Oh man, I think your nails dug in a bit," says Dean tiredly, getting up with a grumpy look on his face. I don't know what he's got to be grumpy about, my foot was just got hit. "Where the fuck were you going so quickly anyway?" he asks, holding his leg. He shouldn't have been sleeping in just his boxers then. Maybe it would have hurt less.

"Never mind that, put some clothes on," I order him, walking away and going back into the bedroom. I decide I should concentrate on getting Evan ready. Maybe give him a bath whilst I'm at it.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"What's wrong with her?" asks Ariana, looking on in worry after Iris has closed the bedroom door. I shrug my shoulders and go after my girlfriend. I think it's to be expected she won't be the same after everything she went through.

"Cutie Pie?" I call her name, looking for her in the bedroom and then ending up in the bathroom. "Cutie Pie?" I ask and smile when I see her outside the bathtub, washing Evan who seems to be enjoying the water, splashing it everywhere.

"I've missed you calling me that," comments Iris, turning her head to look at me. I walk forward and bend down on my knees, placing my arm around her and kissing the side of her head.

"Then I'll call you that twenty times a day," I say, eliciting a chuckle out of her. I help her wash Evan, deciding to be a little playful and splashing some water on her.

"You did not just do that," says Iris, looking at me with a surprised expression on her face. Instead of answering I do it again. She uses her free hand to hit some back at me. After our mini water fight we get Evan dried up and changed. I hand Iris some clothes Ariana asked me to pass on to her. She goes into the bathroom to change as I watch over Evan. Once she comes back I decide to be brave and ask the question.

"So...what was that all about out there?" I ask and immediately notice her tense up. She focuses on running a brush through her hair. "You ran out of this room and banged straight into Dean as if you were scared for your life," I comment, making sure to use a soft tone so she doesn't feel forced to tell me what's going on.

"I panicked," answers Iris, looking at me through the reflection of the mirror. I stay seated on the bed and wait for her to explain further. "I mean, I remember what happened yesterday. How you saved me," she says in a soft voice, thick with emotion. "But when I didn't see you or Evan, I got scared. Like as if I've lost your or something. It's silly," she says, putting the comb down. I get up and walk over to my girlfriend, putting my arms around her.

"It's not," I reassure her, kissing the side of her cheek. "You've not seen us for days. If I woke up and you weren't there...I'd lose my mind all over again," I admit to her, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

"You lost your mind over me?" she asks and I let out a chuckle, nodding my head. Is it really that hard to believe?

"You keep me sane Iris, without you...me and Evan, we're not complete," I tell her and she turns around without warning, squeezing me tight in a hug. I can definitely tell she missed me now.

"I love you," says Iris and from this moment, I know things will be ok. I don't need to worry about Iris. Because no matter what, we love each other and we'll always be a family. I just need to concentrate on making sure she's always laughing and smiling, then maybe she'll not think about all the bad that's happened to her.

* * *

 **ARIANA POV**

"Earth to Iris!" I say, waving my hands in front of her face. She quickly snaps out of whatever she was thinking about and looks at me, forcing a smile on her face. "You ok?" I ask and she nods her head, taking a sip of her coffee and keeping her eyes on Evan. I decided to take her out for the day, in an effort to make her feel better. The guys needed to train anyway. The only weird thing is, Iris didn't let the guys take Evan. Maybe she's just missed him too much.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" responds Iris and I guess it will take her a few days to get back to normal.

"Because you spaced out whilst I was talking about the wedding. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?" I ask her, letting out a chuckle and succeeding in getting a smile out of her. "Ok, the wedding is in a few days and everything's sorted. Penny said she's going to bring the wedding dress down herself, a couple of days before since we're going to be here for the bachelorette party," I explain, which is nice of her.

"I was supposed to get it for you," states Iris, a look on her face as if she's thinking about something. I place my hand on hers resting on the table.

"It doesn't matter. The fact you got a dress made that I'll like and be comfortable in, that means the world," I tell her and she nods her head, putting a smile on her face. "I know you probably don't want to remember everything that happened. But, will you be ok? He's not done anything...drastic to you has he?" I question, somehow maintaining the courage to look into her eyes.

"Apart from tying me up and taking me away from my family," says Iris and I'm confused as to whether there's a little humour in there. "I just don't want to even think about it. Let's focus on the wedding," she says, starting to talk about how we're going to have the venue decorated.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Are you ok dude?" I hear Dean ask me, looking up at me from above as I lift weights. I nod my head, getting on with what the exercise. I thought getting Iris back would mean everything would be ok, but it doesn't seem like it is. She's just...so quiet nowadays. I can't get her talking much with anything.

"Fine," I say, finishing up and sitting up once I'm done. Dean gives me a look and I say, "I mean it. I'm fine". I don't know why he can't leave it.

"Ok, tell that to someone who can't smell bullshit," comments Dean and I send him a glare. Roman walks up to us and Dean says, "Seth's worried about something and he won't tell us. Even though it's me that's getting married in two days' time". It's weird Dean's getting married. What's even more weird is he doesn't seem so bothered or nervous about getting married.

"Seth, if you're worried about something then you can always tell us. We might be able to help," explains Roman and I know he's right, but I don't know how to tell them something like this. They are my best friends though, if not them then who?

"Alright, fine," I say with a sigh, picking up my water bottle and taking a sip. "It's Iris," I reveal to them both.

"If it's because she's all quiet, I told you, it'll take a few days," Dean reminds me but I shake my head. I think we've all noticed Iris is quieter than usual but the events are going to have some sort of an effect on her. But slowly, she is talking and joking a little more. Dean helps when he messes around when she's around.

"It's not that," I say, shaking my head. Will these guys even think I'm actually tensed about this? "Ever since she's come back, Iris won't let me anywhere near her," I admit to them both. Roman and Dean look at each other before looking at me once again. "I mean, yeah we hug all the time and things but if I try to kiss her then she makes up an excuse to leave. Or she gives me the cheek. She doesn't even leave the door unlocked when she's taking a shower. It's like she's treating me like a stranger," I explain, the whole thing upsetting and confusing me.

"Have you tried talking to her?" asks Roman but I shake my head.

"The last thing she needs is me grilling her about not letting me touch her like that," I answer him. It's not like I want sex with her right away, but being able to just give her a peck on the lips means a lot. The fact that she avoids it just upsets me.

"Wait, so you're upset because she doesn't want to give you sex?" asks Dean, sitting down next to me and this is exactly why I didn't want to tell him.

"Not specifically that. She doesn't even let me kiss her lips and if we get into a compromising position, she runs out of there like she's on fire," I explain to him that it's more than just that. "I don't know what I've done wrong," I comment, still trying to figure that out. I mean, it must be me, right? Maybe she resents me for not finding her sooner.

"Maybe you should get Ariana to have a word with her," suggests Roman and I knew there was no point telling these guys because they're going to give me solutions I have already thought of.

"I did. Iris wasn't giving her much," I tell them both. I could confront my girlfriend but I don't want to put her on the spot. If she wanted to tell me the problem, she would have done by now.

"Mind if I try?" asks Dean, me and Roman looking at him in surprise. "What? It's not like I could make the situation any worse," he defends himself and I let out a chuckle.

"Fine, give it a whirl," I say just to make him feel better. If Iris won't tell Ariana, then why on earth would she tell Dean? Still, if he wants to try then I won't stop him.

* * *

 **DEAN POV**

"Is this seat taken?" I ask Iris who looks up at me with a smile on her face. She lets out a chuckle and pats the chair, me sitting down next to her. We're currently waiting for a flight to take them back to Vegas. We're currently in Phoenix and need to get back to Vegas in time for the wedding. The girls have got off early but I need to finish up a promo with the boys before having my two weeks off for the honeymoon. We're going to drive down in the bus.

"Excited to be married?" Iris asks me, glancing at everyone else for a second who are a quite a few feet away. Seth and Roman purposely made sure of that so I could have this chat with Iris before they all head off.

"You know me, looking forward to the honeymoon and cake more than anything," I respond, getting a laugh out of her. Hmm, how to do this? "How are you finding everything. That asshole hasn't ruined you in any way?" I ask, kicking myself mentally for wording it like that.

"Well he tried but I'm back here with my family," says Iris, moving her hand to take a hold of mine, squeezing it tightly.

"Where you belong," I comment with a nod of my head. "Iris, you're quieter than usual. Everything ok up there?" I ask directly, I don't feel uncomfortable asking her that because we have an open relationship. Plus, she can tell when I'm beating around the bush.

"I guess I'm trying to deal with everything," answers Iris, looking down for a second. "You guys have all been great. I'm lucky to have you all. I think that's the only thing getting me through," she explains and I wonder if she needs to consider talking to someone. A therapist maybe. Or someone who talks through traumatic experiences. I know, never thought I'd be thinking these things either. But I've been googling ways on how to help her and these are a couple of ideas.

"And Seth's been good too right?" I ask, Iris nodding her head without any hesitancy. "Then why does it look like something's changed in your relationship?" I go on to ask her. She looks at me before avoiding my gaze. So, she's been purposely avoiding getting close to her boyfriend. Interesting.

"What do you mean?" asks Iris, going down this route but that never having worked in the past. I always manage to find out everything. I'm her confidante after all. Well since she got pregnant and all. We just clicked a lot more than before.

"You're not as touchy feely anymore," I point out to her and as I think about it, I realise I'm right. I didn't even think much of it but looking back on times we've spent together, nothing. Seth would always get a few kisses in but now, nothing. He was actually right. I look at Iris who just gives me a blank expression. "I don't see you kiss. Not that I enjoy it but...you don't. That's weird. It'd be like me suddenly stopping hitting Ariana's ass in front of all of you or fully making out with her when you're all there," I explain to her, getting a little chuckle out of her at the last part.

"Can you keep a secret?" Iris asks me, looking up at me with those innocent eyes, biting down on her lip.

"This is Dean Ambrose. You always tell me your secrets, remember Iowa?" I ask her and she nods her head. It was hard keeping all that stuff from Ariana but I did it for my little sister.

"I cheated on Seth," states Iris, looking down at her hands in her lap as I try not to make a big reaction out of what I just heard.

"Whatever it is, no you haven't," is the first thing I say to her. Iris looks up at me, surprised. I've known this girl for a long time now. She wouldn't ever be able to think about anyone else other than Seth. Forget cheating on him.

"How can you say that?" asks Iris, sending me a curious look.

"Because it's you. You'd cry over dreaming about kissing someone else, forget ever actually doing it," I explain to her. But the real question is, why is she saying she's cheated on Seth? "What makes you say you have?" I question, my mind curious now.

"When you kiss someone else but you have a boyfriend, that's cheating right?" asks Iris, water filling her eyes as she stares at me. I just sit there with a blank expression on my face. "Adam. We kissed a few times," she explains further and I start to get a sense of the picture.

"Was it consensual?" is the only thing I ask after she tells me what's happened. I keep my other hand on my knee, tapping it.

"I didn't want to but I let it happen anyway," answers Iris and I swear to god this woman always ends up talking in riddles. "I was pretending to be his girlfriend, pretending that I liked him. He kissed me and I let him. But it wasn't the first and last time," she explains, looking back down at her lap again. I bring her hand into my lap, enclosing it in both of mine.

"You did what you had to do in order to survive, to make it out alive so you could get back to your boyfriend, son and friends. That's not cheating Iris," I explain to her. Yes, she feels guilty but it doesn't mean she is. She had no other choice.

"Then why does it feel like that's what I have done?" she asks and I don't even need to think about the answer to that question. It's easy as eating pie.

"Because you have a good heart Hot Mama," I say, using the nickname I haven't used in a while. It puts a small smile on her face as usual. "Did it go any further than that?" I ask the hard question. I don't really want to know but I think talking to her about this is what she needs.

"Thankfully not," she answers and I mentally do a little dance. If it had, then that asshole would be tied up in a warehouse where I'm removing all the important bodily parts.

"Iris, don't let this get in the way of your relationship with my best friend," I say to her and she gives me a sad look because that's what's already happened. "I know half the time I say you guys make me wanna puke, but come on! We all love you two being together. Till that dodo messed it up. But he got you back so he's in the good books again. Now you need to make sure you don't mess up," I advise her even though I'm the last person anyone comes to for advice.

"But I already have done. What do I do Dean?" she asks me, looking at me as she holds in her tears. I can tell she's trying really hard.

"You want my honest opinion?" I ask and immediately she nods her head. Oh god, I hope I'm doing the right thing. "Tell him the truth," I advise her, her expression looking shocked. "He'll appreciate it, trust me. Ariana didn't tell me about the times Randy tried it on with her so when I found out, I blew a gasket. Mainly because of him but a little bit of it was because she never told me. It made me feel like shit that she didn't feel like she could trust me enough to tell me the truth," I go on to say. I don't want Seth and Iris to go through anything like that. They've been through so much already, they deserve some lasting happiness.

"I don't want to lose him," Iris finally says after a few moments of silence, her voice thick with emotion. "He'll...he'll never see me the same way again," she goes on to say and I decide that I need to cheer my sister up.

"On the bright side, Evan will still have a father figure in me so no worries there." I say, succeeding in making her laugh. "It'll be fine Iris. If me, the angry one out of the lot can take it like this then so can he. I've known Seth longer than anyone, despite the little hiccup with you, he's pretty much dependable. He showed you that when he stuck by you during the pregnancy despite not knowing it's his kid or not being able to be your boyfriend," I remind her. I think she underestimates him at times, I think we all do.

"Everything will be alright, won't it Dean?" Iris asks me and I nod my head, she places her other hand on top of mine and I pull away one of my hands, placing an arm around her. Iris leans in and places her head on my shoulder.

"Do you want me to speak to him?" I offer, in case this is too much for her. I mean, she did just go through a kidnapping for Christ sake.

"No. It has to come from me," says Iris, obviously listening to me about what I said before. They'll be fine, I know they will.

"Ok. Let me know if you want any help," I offer her my services of sort. But I suppose she will refuse it, after all, this is their private matter. "Oh, I almost forgot," I then say, taking it out of my pocket. I figured it's time I gave her this. She'll need it to help deal with everything that's going on.

"What's that? A book?" asks Iris, apparently finding it funny that I have a book on me. But this book probably helped in understanding the mind of that sicko. I didn't realise till I actually started reading it. I still think he's a psycho bastard but he should have just manned up in the end. Instead of going crazy like he did.

"Yes. A book that I read. Completely," I state, making her laugh again. "You ever wonder what happened to Adam? Why he thought you were this other girl?" I ask, something that gets her attention judging by the curious look on her face.

"What do you know?" Iris asks me, turning in her position to face me properly. I hold the book up but she gives me a confused look. I then point at his name on the bottom.

"He wrote and published what happened to him," I inform Iris as she takes the book out of my hands and looks on the front as well as the back. "Maybe he just went crazy thinking too much about it," I comment, not knowing what happened after this girl. "You're not gonna believe this but-" I start but get cut off by Iris out of all people.

"Her name was Iris?" she asks me, my eyebrows rising in surprise at what she knows. "Yeah, I kind of figured. There was a light in his eyes whenever he'd say my name, something I only see in your eyes when Ariana is mentioned or what I see in Roman's when Paige is mentioned," she goes on to explain to me. This chic is very smart. I never doubted her for a second.

"The same light in Seth's eyes whenever you're mentioned," I decide to add someone to the list that she forgot. She sends me a small smile and I say, "If you read it, I think it will help". Iris nods her head and put an arm around her, placing a kiss on her head.

* * *

 **Reviews are appreciated :)**


	95. Disappearance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone. I'm posting this chapter a day early because I'll be on shift tomorrow and I don't want to take the risk of forgetting to update. Right, I only have a couple more chapters to give out and then that'll be it unfortunately :)**

* * *

 **Debwood-1999: No he wasn't related to her. He just used Isabel to try and part Iris and Seth. It doesn't make an ass out of you. It just makes me confused. Haha. Well we'll see what happens to him. I don't think he can really plead mentally ill considering everything he did. It was planned to the point. But then again, he is psycho. Who knows :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thanks! :)**

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Yes it does! And you'll like this next part then! :) Xx**

 **Paisley2: You might have said it once or twice. Ooh, how to get closure. That'll be a difficult one. Well I have one surprise already going on at the end of this chapter. But I think you'll just laugh :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 95:**

 **IRIS POV**

"Ready to go?" asks Ariana, coming over with Seth and Roman, interrupting mine and Dean's sweet moment. I nod my head, ready for this flight that will take just over an hour. At least it's not long. I can't believe I'm about to say this but Dean's right. I need to tell Seth what happened. Keeping it in and holding back is just going to cause damage to our relationship. How can I be so stupid as to not see this?

"We'll give you guys a minute, I need to make out with Ariana and Roman needs to play with Evan a couple minutes more," explains Dean, taking them both away which makes me smile. I stand up myself, my bag next to my legs with the book in my hand. I'm not sure if I want to read it just yet though.

"We'll see you on the other side?" asks Seth, sounding unsure of it himself. I nod my head and he lets out a sigh. "Iris, have I done something wrong?" he then goes on to ask me.

"Why would you think that?" I ask him, looking into his eyes. He's been so amazing ever since he's came back into my life.

"You know why," states Seth, proving just how well he knows me again. "Is there something I'm missing?" he goes on to say as I start to wonder what I should do. If I tell him here, then he just might blow up and the last thing I need is to cause problems this close to Dean and Ariana's wedding. Instead of answering him I step forward and place my lips on his, focusing on Seth and our kiss. His hands end up on my waist and my hands rest on his forearms.

"I'm sorry," I say, pulling back just when I see a picture inside my head of Adam. "I know things have been different since I got back, but it's not you Seth. You've been great and I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend," I explain to him, he shouldn't doubt that. Ever.

"Then what is it?" Seth asks me and therein lies the problem. Maybe I should just tell him and the day apart would help to give him some time to take it in.

"I can't tell you right now, it'll ruin how happy everyone is," I answer his question. I need to tell but not like this. "Or maybe I just don't have the guts to say it to your face," I add on as an afterthought. Who knows what the problem is really.

"It won't, I promise," says Seth but who knows how he'll react to what happened. "And if you can't tell me to my face then message me or ring me. Because either way, it'll affect the wedding. You can let me know and we can try to move on or I can be distracted this whole time," he says after which I move my arms around his neck and hug him.

"I love you," I say to him and feel his arms tighten around me in a hug which makes me smile.

"I love you too," I hear Seth say. He picks up my bag and walks me to the terminal. He says goodbye to Evan, me and Ariana head before we head off with Evan in my hands. We get onto the plane and I keep up appearances for the wedding, my mind being clouded by thoughts of Adam. Is it normal to think about your kidnappers so much? Normal people would want to forget about it but I can't stop thinking about him.

"You know, maybe you need therapy," says Ariana once we're all settled at her and Dean's place in Vegas. I've told her everything since I've come back, everything that happened. I made her promise not to tell her the boys though, especially Seth. She's been my sister for a long time, I feel comfortable sharing it with her.

"I'm actually seriously considering it," I reveal to her and she stops eating for a second. "I just...nothing feels right since I've gotten back. Seth can sense it too. And I just feel scared all the time about being away from all of you. I couldn't even leave Evan behind with Seth because I don't want to be apart from him," I explain, leaning back on the couch and trying to breathe before I start crying.

"Then we'll find someone who can help you. Maybe Stephanie knows some people," Ariana suggests which isn't such a bad idea. "But for now, stop thinking about it because I am going to finally try on my dress!" she exclaims, getting up and picking up the box sitting at the side.

"Since when were you so excited?" I ask in a surprised manner. I know she cared but her being excited is different.

"Remember what happened before I had my first official date with Dean?" asks Ariana and I nod my head, that was a moment.

"How can I forget? You tried on all my dresses and then finally settled on one," I remember. That's right ladies and gentleman, this woman was actually worried about what to wear to a date with Dean Ambrose.

"Because that's how I get when Dean's involved. That girly side to me comes out and I guess in a way it's always been there but I never really tuned into it till now. Know what I mean?" she asks me and I nod my head, knowing exactly what she means. He's the one she feels like dressing up for. He's the one she wants to make an effort for. He's the one she wants to please.

"Then you better get that dress on," I suggest to her with a chuckle. She leaves to go get changed and I realise that this is a good distraction, the wedding. It's normal to need time to get over things but that doesn't mean I can't do things that make me happy. When Ariana came out in her dress, she looked absolutely stunning. She asked me how she looked and I just burst into tears. This caused her to burst into tears and we ended up eating ice cream in the kitchen. It felt nice to actually partake in something new but normal.

* * *

"I can't believe we're having a boring time in this apartment," comments Nikki for the umpteenth time as she sits there drinking wine. We're all spread on the floor in the living room, pillows everywhere and wine everywhere. And this is the bachelorette party.

"Well we are not taking Evan to see male strippers. He'll only end up batting for the other team and Dean will complain that he doesn't know how to teach him how to pick men up," explains Ariana, making the rest of us laugh. Well we have Nikki, Brie, me, Ariana, AJ and Paige. The others couldn't make it due to work commitments. Well I think Nattie can't make it because of TJ but they'll all be there for the wedding.

"I'd never hear the end of it," I comment, putting my two cents in. I look over at Evan who's sleeping in his playpen. I think he got tired of us guys, we're not doing anything particularly interesting.

"It won't be a bad thing. Just think about it, he would be the only guy happy enough to go shopping with us," Brie tries to make us see the positive side of things.

"And help us pick out make up," adds on Nikki, actually looking like it will happen and she's going to ensure it does.

"And shoes," I add on, Ariana rolling her eyes at my comment. But then she gets a look on her face, like as if she had a bright bulb idea.

"And watch guys work out in the gym!" Ariana joins in, the four of us laughing as Paige and AJ look on. Even Ariana's warmed up to the idea. Imagine breaking this to Dean or Seth, they'd be mortified that instead of checking out girls with Evan, they'll have to check out guys.

"I thought we were the weird ones," comments AJ, mainly to Paige as they both continue to stare at us as if we've gone completely mad.

"I think the wine has something that's making them kooky," suggests Paige but I shake my head at the two. This is actually a normal conversation between us.

"If you think this is weird, you should hear the conversations I have with Dean sometimes," I inform them both. We've had some extremely weird ones and the things he comes out with when he argues, oh boy.

"Speaking of, where are you going on your honeymoon?" asks AJ from her position on her front, a pillow underneath her elbows. I look at Ariana and let her answer, even though I already know.

"Would you guys believe me if I said I don't know?" says Ariana, confused looks appearing on all their faces. I totally saw that coming. "Dean was given options and apparently, he's taken care of it. It's a total surprise to me," she goes on to explain. Total surprise to her, not me. In fact, Dean had a little bit of an idea that was not too bad.

"As long as he doesn't take you to a warehouse and tie you up," comments Paige, earning a glare off of Nikki. I can't say I didn't miss their little rivalry of sorts.

"He's not completely crazy like you," comments Nikki, AJ offering Paige more alcohol before she begins to get into it with Nikki.

"I reckon we should take a moment to just be happy for Ariana," I start, deciding we need to turn things around before they all get off topic. "She's getting married in a day and I'm glad she's getting the happiness that she deserves," I finish, Ariana putting an arm around me and kissing the side of my head.

"Let's drink to that," suggests Nikki, all of us holding up our glasses and clinking them. We just talked and made jokes for the most part of the night. I didn't think anything more interesting could happen till I got a phone call from a certain someone.

"Hello?" I say into the phone, the girls busy in teasing AJ about Dolph's tricks in bed. I don't hear anything for a second which worries me because who would call me and not say anything?

 _"What's up boo?!"_ I hear someone yell on the other end and quickly recognise the voice to belong to no one other than Mister Dean Ambrose.

"Oh my god, guys!" I say, quickly getting their attention. I put the phone on loudspeaker and say, "What did you call me?" Everyone looks on intrigued, wondering why I was so desperately grabbing their attention.

 _"Boo, my little boo lady,"_ he answers on the other hand as I place a hand on my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Clearly, he's completely drunk.

"Dean?" says Ariana in a low voice, the others looking excited now since I guess this is some form of entertainment.

"I thought that title belonged to Ariana," I tell my friend. I wonder why out of everyone he called me. Maybe his fingers slipped by accident.

 _"She wouldn't answer her phone!"_ says Dean in a real dramatic way. _"So you're my new number 1,"_ he informs me, the others chuckling at it all. Ariana picks up her phone and there they are, 4 missed calls off of Dean.

"Ok and why have you rang?" I decide to ask him. It sounds like he's having a nice time with the guys.

 _"Because I love you, duh!"_ says Dean, making my day in a way. See? This is normalcy. _"And I want you to know that I am going to make lots and lots of babies with your best friend!"_ he might as well have announced to the whole world. Ariana's face goes completely red, the girls laughing at the whole thing.

"That's great to know," I go on to say, wondering what else he's going to come out with.

"Can we get a number on the babies?!" asks AJ, Ariana throwing a cushion at her which she manages to dodge.

 _"54!"_ announces Dean, Ariana's mouth opening, horrified. _"No more. No less,"_ he says and at this point I wonder where Roman and Seth are. Shouldn't they be watching him and making sure he doesn't do stupid things?

"Fuck you Ambrose!" yells Ariana, clearly not impressed with what she's hearing. I don't think it's possible to push out 54 babies from your vagina.

 _"You do that every night!"_ Dean yells back and at this point I burst out laughing. _"And we'll be doing a lot of that the night after! And so much more on our honeymoon! I'm going to make sure you can't walk,"_ he says before I hear a dial tone and I'm assuming that means he's hung up. Or maybe one of the guys grabbed his phone or something.

"So...exactly how many times a day do you get it on with Dean?" asks Nikki, wiggling her eyebrows, resulting in Ariana throwing as many cushions as she can in her direction, the rest of us laughing our heads off.

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"And done! Iris should definitely be laughing after that," comments Dean, hanging up the phone. Iris has been laughing much since everything happened and I came together with Dean to somehow have that happen. Now she can enjoy Ariana's bachelorette party without being worried about everything.

"Thanks man," I say to Dean, appreciating it all. I would kill to see Iris laughing all day long. But right now, I'm content to know that she is laughing, even though I'm not there for it.

"You better, Ariana will kill me for saying all that," says Dean, pointing at me before taking a swig of his drink. That's true. She definitely won't be impressed about the amount of babies Dean's demanded.

"And I will gladly jump in front when she attacks you," I offer him but he lets out a snort. He's so ungrateful sometimes.

"You know she's going to do it on my honeymoon right?" asks Dean and I shrug my shoulders. How am I supposed to know when Ariana's about to do something? "You're not planning on coming with us are ya?" he asks and at this point Roman hits his head because that's the most absurd thing he can come out with.

"No one wants to see you getting nasty with Ariana," Roman reprimands him and I nod my head in agreement. That's not something we want to do.

"You're just jealous because I get more than either of you guys do," boasts Dean, sitting back in his seat with a big grin on his face.

"That is not true," says Roman, shaking his head. Unless we all start counting how many times we've gotten laid this week. My number would be zero.

"Not true," I say at the same time Roman makes that comment. Dean glances at us both before leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"Ok, enlighten me then," says Dean, gesturing for things to come at him with his hands. "Seth, let's start with you. You're having more sex with me despite the fact that you fell asleep when you and Iris were supposed to be getting it on?" he asks, a smirk playing on his lips. I am going to kill Ariana for ever letting that slip.

"I hate you," I comment, picking up my drink and having the rest. Dean just laughs and turns his attention to Roman. RIP Roman.

"You're having more sex than me even though it took you ages to tell that girl you love her?" asks Dean and this is where he's gonna fall on his ass.

"It didn't take me that long," argues Roman and he is right. It probably took me a lot longer to tell Iris how I felt about her but I'm not bringing that up. "Besides, it took you longer to tell Ariana you love her," he throws back in Dean's face. That is totally true. If anything, Roman told Paige very early on that he loves her.

"But I would still totally do Ariana whether I loved her or not. You took your sweet time with Paige. Also, you get worked to the ground and then spend a lot of time with us. How do you manage to sleep with her?" says Dean, Roman not looking like he appreciates that. That is actually a good question to ask. "Kidding guys. Lighten up," he then says, letting out a laugh. Maybe Roman's death stare worked some magic.

"Never thought you'd ever be getting married before either of us," I comment, changing the topic. It's weird. Dean always said there's no girl out there who could make him want to settle. To commit. I partially think that he truly believed there was no one out there, no after all the women he went through. But he finally did find one in the end.

"I never thought I'd be getting married. Marrying before you guys is just a bonus," says Dean, offering to get the next round of drinks. He gets up and leaves to go to the bar.

"She is going to keep his ass on a tight leash," I comment, Roman letting out a loud laugh.

"For years and years to come my friend," says Roman, both of is clinking our glasses before drinking the remaining contents. This is going to be the start of a great journey for the both of them. I'm happy Dean is getting what he deserves. A lifetime of punishment.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"I love em all but I am so glad their asses have disappeared," says Ariana, coming out of the bathroom after having taken a shower. We made sure to do the stag parties a day before instead of the night before just because who knows what will end up happening. Especially with Dean Ambrose involved.

"Well they'll all be here tomorrow morning, rushing around to get ready," I remind her of what's to come and she lets out a groan which makes me laugh.

"Unfortunately," says Ariana and she may act like she's going to hate it but she's actually loving it. My best friend just doesn't want to admit that. "I just hope nothing goes wrong and we get it done without a hitch," she says and this is where the nerves begin to appear.

"Don't worry, it will be. I'm in charge remember?" I remind her. I'm the Maid of Honour and Ariana enlisted me as the boss for the whole thing.

"That's the only thing that relieves me at the moment," says Ariana as I place some toast in front of her. She sits down and grabs one, eating it as if she's never been fed before.

"Ari, don't worry," I say, grabbing the jug and pouring some juice for her. "You and Dean belong together, therefore, this wedding will go without a climax of someone stopping it or something going wrong," I assure her and she nods her head, apparently believing me.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess it's nerves," says Ariana, nodding her head and grabbing another piece of toast.

"I can't believe you're going to get married," I say, looking at my best friend with a soft look in my eyes. Everything's going to change now. Dean and Ariana, a married couple. I know sometimes it seems like marriage won't change things, the people don't change, but it does. In a different sort of way.

"Me either," says Ariana, smiles on both our faces. I know it's their wedding but I am really excited for tomorrow. "You know what Iris? I always feel a million times better after talking to you," she says to me and I let out a chuckle. She's my best friend, I know exactly what to say or do to make her feel a lot better.

"I have a gift," I state making the both of us laugh. "Why don't you get ready and we'll do something? Evan's due to be up soon," I say to her and she says she likes that idea.

"It's my wedding tomorrow and everything is going to go as planned," states Ariana, being positive as she gets up to go get ready. My phone rings and I answer it; little did I know the information I will be getting on the other end will reverse that statement completely.

 _"Iris!"_ I hear Seth say on the other end, sounding distressed. _"Is Ariana there with you?"_ he quickly asks me which I find odd. Usually he starts by saying hi to me.

"No. Where's my hello?" I ask him, pretending to sound upset. I can't let what happened affect my relationship with Seth. Otherwise Adam wins. And I definitely don't want that. I still haven't managed to read the book that Dean gave me. I guess I just don't want any more horrors. But I think it is something that needs to be done.

 _"Hi,"_ says Seth and I try not to laugh because he sounds like he's in some trouble. _"We have a problem. We can't find Dean,"_ he says and after about two seconds I start to laugh. _"Iris?"_ says my boyfriend on the other end, sounding confused.

"Ok, nice one Seth. You got me (!)" I comment, this can only be assumed as some sort of a prank. There's no way that's actually happened. Not the day before the wedding. The guys would never be this reckless.

 _"I'm serious. We can't find him,"_ says Seth in a serious tone, the smile on my face disappearing as I try not to fully out panic.

"WHAT?!" I scream into the phone because this honestly can't be happening. Not to mention the fact that Dean Ambrose is a grown man. How do you lose a grown man? He can't just hide in a little box, can he?

"Whoa, jeez," says Ariana, a hand on her chest as she stands a few feet away from me. "Where's the fire?" she asks and lets out a nervous laugh. Crap. I can't let her know. Oh crap, think of something Iris. Quick!

"Oh it's just Dean being silly as usual," I say, waving a hand in the air as I hear Seth tell someone that Ariana's popped up. I'm guessing he's talking to Roman.

"Cool. Can I speak to him for a second?" asks Ariana, my eyes widening slightly. How the hell am I supposed to make Seth sound like Dean?

"No! No contact with the groom before the wedding!" I say aloud and then realise that will sound stupid to her considering it's not the day of the wedding.

"That's on the actual wedding day, not the day before," says Ariana and I decide there's only one way to play this. And Seth will find this amusing.

"But we had the stag parties last night, so therefore, no contact today," I go on to say, Ariana giving me some sort of a glare, mixed with confusion. "No one has contact after the stag parties. Besides, I'm the Maid of Honour and this is part of the terms and conditions of my contract," I stand my ground, Seth laughing on the other end and I'm sure I can hear Roman as well.

"Very well then, Maidzilla," Ariana calls me, a gasp leaving my mouth at that. She's about to walk off when I let out a loud cough. She turns around and looks at me. I hold out my hand and after a few seconds she hands over her phone.

"Thank you. And the hair dryer is in the bottom drawer. I used it this morning," I inform her because I know that's what she was looking for. Don't ask how, I just know it.

 _"Terms and conditions? Really Iris?"_ asks Seth on the phone and at this moment in time I could wring his and Roman's neck.

"I'm glad you find this funny since you've somehow managed to lose a grown ass man," I snap at him and immediately the laughing stops. Hey, I just sounded like Ariana. "Roman, I expected more from you," I comment, realising that I'm loud speaker. Out of everyone I thought Dean would lose someone, not the other way around.

 _"It was an accident, we didn't know he'd get out,"_ Roman defends them both, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Get out from where?" I ask, wondering what it is that they'd been doing at their bachelor party. I told them to make sure they don't do anything that would affect the wedding in any way.

 _"Well, the thing is...as a joke for the no-longer-to-be-bachelor...we tied him...to a lamp post_ ," Seth finally comes out with it and at this point I swear to god I am being pranked.

"You tied him?" I question, not happy with what I'm hearing. "To a lamp post?!" I ask and hear sighs on the other end. "I can't believe this. I expect Dean to come out with this kind of a prank. Not you two," I state, my mind trying to think as logically as it can at this point in time. How the hell are we supposed to find Groom Ambrose?

 _"And then when we went back, poof! He'd disappeared_ ," Roman finishes relaying the story but that much was obvious.

"Tell me boys. How do you lose a man that you tied to a lamp post?!" I ask them both, they should both be ashamed of themselves.

 _"We're still trying to figure that one out,"_ says Seth, not helping the current situation. _"We don't know what to do. He's not come back to the hotel or gone to the gym. We're supposed to be flying out in a couple of hours and he's nowhere to be seen,"_ he goes on to say. If Dean got loose, surely he'd want to come to these guys and go 'boo' in their face?

 _"And that idiot didn't even let us know he got loose,"_ comments Roman which gets my attention.

"Who is this idiot and what was his role?" I ask, these guys forgetting that I need some background to most of the things they're talking about.

 _"We paid a dude who lived nearby to keep an eye on Dean,"_ answers Seth, 5 things easily coming to mind about what that was such a shit decision. _"When we came the next morning to see Dean's disappeared we saw him lying on his porch. We woke him up and he looked just as surprised as us that Dean had gone,"_ my boyfriend explains to me as I place a hand on my forehead. This story just gets better and better (!)

 _"We've decided to take a later flight but Dean's not replying to our calls or messages,"_ Roman goes on to say. That's unusual. _"Neither of us know what to do. We thought maybe he contacted you guys,"_ he says and I shake my head.

"That's not happened," I say with a sigh. How the hell are we going to find this lunatic? "Ok, wait for him to turn up and if he doesn't then you're just going to have to grab the flight and come out here. I can explain to Ari why she can't see Dean but not why she can't see you guys. Have some of the guys from work keep an eye out and report back to you," I decide this is what needs to be done. Dean's a big boy, once he gets out of his hangover he should be able to navigate his way here.

 _"Good idea,"_ my boyfriend tells me, sounding relieved now that we have some sort of a plan.

"Just try and find him at his usual places, if he's not there then...well I don't know. Maybe go back to the places you went to last night or look around the area where you tied him up," I advise them both. I can just imagine Seth panicking to pieces and Roman keeping it together on the outside.

 _"Thanks boss,"_ says Roman after which he hangs up the phone. I stare at my phone and then at Ariana's room door. Before I even have a chance to think Evan begins to cry and I go over to his playpen, picking him up and trying to settle him.

"We'll get things back in order, right Evan?" I ask my son and he lets out some babble which makes me chuckle. The wedding is tomorrow and we have no sign of the groom. His butt better show up.

* * *

 **Reviews are loved! :)**


	96. The Big Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi everyone! I did post this chapter on Monday and it has been up. But I don't think anyone has realised because the site has been playing up. So I'm posting it again, I hope you like it. We're near the end now! :)**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Haha. We all hope so :)**

 **Paisley2: I knew you would! Sorry to disappoint but I don't. I did originally but then merged the second part with what I had in mind for the third. This is it! Sorry. But thanks! :)**

 **Wolfgirl2013: Thank you! :)**

 **Adtrfangirl2020: Haha! Who knows? :)**

 **Jade: Oh boo! I think anyone right now would be lost without their phone. Haha, it's fine. Take your time. We're pretty much at the ending anyway :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 96:**

"Iris!" I hear my name being called and look at Ariana who waves her hand in front of my face and then begins to laugh. "Where's your head at?" she asks me, shaking her head and continuing to eat her lunch. I don't think she'll want me sharing my thoughts on what's going through my head at the moment.

"Uh, nowhere," I say, shaking my head and taking a bite of my lunch. Maybe I should tell her. After all, I tell her everything else. And this is Ariana sat right in front of me. After I swallow it I say, "Actually, I was thinking about when I first met Seth after I took that few months' break. You know, when I came back pregnant". Her eyebrows rise in surprise and she places her glass of water back down on the table, intrigued I guess since now she's giving me all her attention.

"What about it Iris?" Ariana asks, a curious look in her eyes.

"I remember the look on Seth's face that day," I comment, thinking back to when I met him in the corridor, me standing behind the crate. I was trying to make sure he didn't see my bump because that's when the questions would start. "He was shocked but as soon as I saw him, I kind of saw how he'd look with our son or daughter in his arms. And now I get to see that, in person. It's a blessing," I explain to her, even more thankful for the little things in life. It wasn't at the forefront of my mind but it definitely was in there somewhere.

"It's like a dream come true, right?" asks Ariana and I nod my head, finding it weird that she understands. "I feel the same now that I'm about to marry Dean," she admits, a little boy of a red gracing her cheeks.

"You'll feel like that when you have his kids as well," I tease her more and she tells me to shut up.

"Speaking of kids, are you and Seth popping out another one anytime soon?" she asks me shamelessly, getting me back for before. I let out a chuckle and shake my head. Why do they always have to joke about me and Seth having more kids? "I'm actually serious," she then says, the amusement gone from her voice.

"In the future, probably," I answer her question. Yes, we've been taking things slower than last time. But I like how everything is right now. It works for us. "I'm not going to give you a timeframe Ari," I then say when she appears to look like she's going to ask me something else.

"Fine," says Ariana, looking like that much is enough for now. "Isn't it weird we're settling down? A couple of years back we were single, working and having fun," she says. I nod my head in agreement because that is true. I was always dragging Ariana for nights out because I just loved meeting new people and having fun. I did try and set her up on a number of occasions but nothing would ever come out with.

"Nights out with the girls, nights in with movies and popcorn, trips back home to see your Mom," I say. It's like we're in a new chapter of our lives and tomorrow, Ariana will start another new chapter.

"I have to say though, it is better to cuddle Dean than a pillow," jokes Ariana, both of us laughing at the comment. "How about we finish up here and then go back? Watch a movie at home like the good old days?" she suggests and I nod my head because that is such a great idea. But first, I need to do something important.

* * *

 _"Hi Iris. We've not found Dean yet,"_ says Seth, that being the first thing that comes out of his mouth as soon as he answers his phone. I try not to laugh because I wasn't going to ask that. It probably should have been though.

"I didn't think so," I say, knowing I would have got a call from him or Roman already to give me the good news. I've been messaging Dean but he's not got back to me either. I really do wonder where that Lunatic is.

 _"Then why'd you call?"_ asks Seth and I take a deep breath, standing at the window in the living room. Ariana went to buy a load of snacks, taking Evan with her. It has worked out well for me because now I can do this alone.

"Things haven't been right with us for a while Seth," I state, this is the time to do it. I know it doesn't look like a great time but it feels like it is. "And I can't help but think that they won't ever be," I go on to say. I might as well address everything. It's not fair on Seth since he's bearing the punishment for something that wasn't his fault.

 _"Are...are you breaking up with me?"_ asks Seth, my mouth letting out a gasp. Why would he even think something like that?

"No. Why would you think that?" I ask him but then realise that it doesn't matter. "Seth, you mean a lot to me. When I say 'I love you', I mean it. So why would I break up with you?" I try and get him to see how important he is to me. Nothing in this world would get me to break up with him. The only situation I would leave him in is if he told me he didn't want me anymore.

 _"Because of how things have been,"_ answers Seth. That's a fair conclusion on his part considering how things have been.

"That's my fault, I'm sorry," I say, despite the fact that it happened to me, Seth's been suffering through it as well. I should have told him what happened as soon as I could instead of keeping it within me. But I was so scared of the consequences and thought I could live with it. But I've not been able to.

 _"Iris, you know you can tell me anything, right?"_ says Seth using a soft tone on the other end.

"I know. And there's something you need to know," I say, not delaying it any longer. I don't let Seth speak again, relaying to him what happened between me and Adam whilst he had me captive. Seth doesn't say anything and just listens to me. "I've been feeling so guilty this whole time that I've not let you anywhere near me. I've been...I've been punishing you for something that wasn't your fault," I say and stop when I feel my eyes getting teary, fearful that I will not be able to speak any longer. I don't hear anything on the other end for a couple of minutes, but I know he's there from the sound of his gentle breathing.

 _"I've gotta say...I'm disappointed,"_ I hear him say which surprises me. Disappointed that I cheated on him? _"Iris, you know me better than anyone. It's why you decided to give me a second chance. Yet you thought I'd consider what happened as you cheating on me?"_ he says and at first I feel confused. He doesn't?

"You don't?" I voice my thoughts, because it is. My lips touched another man's lips. If that's not cheating, then I don't know what is.

 _"You didn't want it Iris, it was forced no matter what,"_ Seth says the same things Dean and Ariana have been saying. _"I would never hold it against you Cutie Pie. You're back where you belong_ ," he says. I swear I couldn't love him more right now.

"T-thanks," I say, finding it weird that he's not blown up. "How are you so calm about everything?" I ask, keeping it together because I couldn't get a better response right now.

 _"Don't let my calm façade cheat you, I am furious at what he did. But, we have to move forward right?"_ says Seth, a smile gracing my face as I hear him say that last line. _"I will always love you Iris, no matter what,"_ he informs me, my heart beating erratically.

"I will always love you too," I say, turning around when I hear the front door open. "I have to go, Ariana's back with some snacks. We're going to watch a movie," I let him know. I did not think this conversation was going to go this good.

 _"Sure. Can I just ask you one thing?"_ asks Seth, making me feel nervous about what it could be. What if it's something I can't answer? _"Will you be my date to this wedding?"_ he asks, completely throwing me off.

"Wait, what?" I ask, the smile on my face widening at the words I heard on the other end. He's asking me to be his date? I thought that was a given.

 _"Well, I am attending the wedding of one of my best friends and I thought bringing a girl would be a good idea,"_ answers Seth, succeeding in making me chuckle. _"We haven't been on a date in a long time. I know we'll still have Evan with us and everything, but I'd really love to take you out tomorrow night,"_ he says, the smile on his face evident from the sound of his voice. I could just kiss him all over if he was right in front of me.

"I'd love to," is all that I simply say before hanging up the phone. I look at it with a grin before moving away from the window and placing it on the coffee table.

"Someone looks happy," comments Ariana, Evan in her hands as he tries to make a move for me. I take my son in my arms and place a kiss on his cheek.

"I talked to Seth," I say, Ariana not looking fazed till she realises a couple of seconds later.

"And?" she asks me, taking her jacket off and throwing it on the couch. "Was he angry? Did he lose his marbles? Actually, he couldn't have because you're grinning," she says all at once, kind of sounding like me for a second when I first questioned her how her first date with Dean went.

"He didn't. He was very understanding and then asked me to be his date to your wedding," I explain, Ariana's eyebrows rising in surprise. She's showing how I felt when I heard him say it on the phone.

"See? I told you he wouldn't hold it against you," says Ariana happily before going over to the kitchen and grabbing the snacks that she bought. "Ok, come on now. Let's get this movie started before Seth and Roman turn up later," she says, another worry overtaking my mind. Where the hell is my son's crazy Godfather?

* * *

 **SETH POV**

"Are you sure you messaged him?" I ask Roman, my head looking around for any sign of my other best friend approaching us to get on this flight with us. We've sent text messages and voice messages, letting him know when the flight is.

"No, I decided not to thinking it'll be fun standing around waiting for someone that's not going to turn up (!)" says Roman, shaking his head before looking behind me. I look too and don't see Dean. "If he doesn't come within the next five minutes, we have to leave without him," he informs me which was obvious.

"Yeah, Dolph said he'd keep an eye out for him," I say, Roman looking at me with a surprised expression on his face. "Don't give me that look," I tell him and he lets out a laugh.

"How else am I supposed to look at you? Considering you've been very jealous of him," says Roman, crossing his arms over his chest. I admit I was before, but that's when I thought he might take Iris away from me. I'm not anymore. Dolph is actually, a cool kind of guy.

"I have not," I deny because I'm too stubborn to admit the truth. "Anyway, he said he'll keep an eye out. John said the same," I say. I was trying to find people we could trust to do a good job of something.

"And the Usos," says Roman, both of us went separately to find guys we could explain the situation to. Although, both my guys started to laugh at me and no doubt Jimmy and Jey did as well. "But let that bastard make an appearance, I'm going to spear him," he says and I laugh but stop when I see the serious look on Roman's face. Damn. I didn't realise he was this annoyed.

"Not if I curb stomp him first," I comment, walking off with Roman to go and catch out flight. I bet Dean's doing this on purpose too, to make us sweat. But he would have popped up by now. "You don't think he's in some serious trouble, do you?" I ask Roman, both of us walking over to where our gate is.

"It's Dean, he's always in some kind of trouble," says Roman with a chuckle. Am I actually worrying for him? "I'm sure if he was he'd give us a call. My bet is he's lying around somewhere with a hangover," he says which makes me laugh. Yeah, that sounds exactly like Dean.

* * *

 **IRIS POV**

"Hey guys!" exclaims Ariana, having gone to answer the door when the bell rang. I stand up when I hear the boys, well only two of them. I see Seth hug Ariana before laying his eyes on me. It's like time stands still for a second as he makes the steps towards me, my heart beating fast with each passing moment.

"Seth," I say his name. I know we were only away from each other for like a day but it felt like a longer time. That phone call was us making our way back to each other. I make the last few steps towards him, my lips hitting his as soon as I'm near him.

"Oh god, ew!" I hear Ariana say which makes us both chuckle but we don't stop, Seth's hands on my waist and mine on his shoulders.

"I love you," we both say at the same time and then laugh. I put my arms around his neck and hug Seth, feeling him squeeze me tightly before we both move away.

"With the way you're acting, it's as if you've been kept away from him for weeks," comments Ariana, her and Roman finding the whole thing amusing. But the distance between us wasn't the miles, it was something else. "Don't worry guys, I'll be way worse when I finally get to see my fiancé tomorrow at the altar. Especially since I'm being refused the right to even get to call him," she complains, me, Seth and Roman sharing a look.

"How about some dinner?" I suggest instead, everybody liking the sound of that. "Seth, Evan's in the bedroom. Roman, come help me?" I say, all of us dispersing, Ariana going back to watching TV. I told her she can't be doing anything work-related since she's getting married tomorrow. She accused me of treating her as if she was pregnant.

"No luck at all?" I ask Roman and he shakes his head. Bad news. "That Lunatic better show up because I am not having anything going wrong in my best friend's wedding," I say in a determined manner. I mean I can't even imagine the look on Ariana's face if he doesn't turn up.

"I don't even know where he could be for this long, he sobers up quicker than the rest of us and it's been hours!" explains Roman and at this point I begin to feel quite worried. Where on earth could he possibly have gone to?

"You don't think anything has happened to him, do you?" I ask Roman with a suspicious look on my face, Roman letting out a sigh.

"That's exactly what Seth said," Roman informs me and I focus my attention on chopping vegetables with Roman handling the meat. We're making a stir fry today. "I think you guys need to tone down on that. Just because something's gone wrong, it doesn't automatically mean something terrible has happened," he explains and he's right. But if it has?

"How can you be so sure?" I question him, making sure to keep my voice down so Ariana doesn't hear us.

"Because bad things don't happen all the time baby girl," says Roman, sending me a sympathetic look. I look away from him and focus on the task at hand. "Plus he's Dean Ambrose remember? Lunatic fringe?" he says, putting a smile on my face. "Iris," he says my name and I get the feeling he wants me to look at him.

"Yeah?" I say, deciding to look up at him. I know him too well I guess and until his eyes meet mine, he won't be satisfied.

"You ok?" he asks and I nod my head. I can't blame everyone for being worried about me, even though it's annoying that we're indirectly talking about everything that happened.

"It's been a tough few days Roman, I'm not gonna lie. But throwing myself into this wedding and spending the time that I did with the girls, it's made things better," I explain to him, the talk I had with Dean made me feel a lot better too.

"I'm glad. It would have been a shame to see you..." Roman trails off, finding it difficult to use the right word.

"Sink?" I use and we both let out a chuckle, Roman shaking his head.

"I was gonna say sad," says Roman and I stop what I'm doing, both hands on my hips with my eyes narrowing at the big Samoan.

"Now you sound like Dean," I point out to him. I put the chopped peppers into a pan and begin cutting the carrots. "You know, he's grown so much since we first met a couple of years ago? I mean he still acts like a five-year-old at times but he's...matured," I go on to say, Roman nodding his head in agreement.

"Matured and stopped fucking around," comments Roman, my mouth opening in shock but Roman just shrugging his shoulders. "It's weird, you know? Both my boys are finally settled and grown up. They don't need me anymore," he says which makes me think, is that a sad thing for him?

"You're sad they don't need you as much anymore?" I question, noticing Seth walking out of the room and saying something to Ariana which makes her laugh.

"Hell no. I've got an actual kid to look after," says Roman, both of us laughing just as Seth turns up.

"Need an extra helping hand?" asks Seth, both me and Roman bursting out into laughter once more. That's another thing that changed, Dean and Seth never used to put themselves forward to help others. "What did I say?" he asks, looking confused. I use a cloth to dry my hands before stepping over to him and pecking his lips.

"We were just talking about your wild days," I joke, sending Roman a wink as Seth places an arm around my shoulders.

"I definitely don't miss those," comments Seth, reaching over and picking up part of a chopped carrot, popping it into his mouth.

"Seth!" I reprimand him, hating it when people pick food up whilst I'm in the middle of making it. When there's nothing left to cook with, then they'll all complain.

"What? I'm hungry! We didn't get a chance to eat because we were too busy looking for you-know-who," says Seth, mentioning the problem at hand once more.

"I'll be right back," says Roman, his phone in his hand and his eyes on his phone. I think we all know what that means.

"And I get called whipped," comments Seth who then screams "Ow!" because Roman walks by and uses a cloth to whack Seth's head with. I chuckle and go over to where the meat is, putting it into a pan. "Where do you think you're going? Far away from me?" my boyfriend asks me, putting his arms around me from behind, bringing back sweet memories from our relationship.

"But do you want food?" I ask him, feeling his lips kiss my neck which automatically makes me close my eyes.

"I'd rather have you," whispers Seth and I let out a laugh. I tilt my head to the side so that I can look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry for not telling you before," I apologise to him and his eyes soften at understanding the meaning behind my words. "I just-" I start but get cut off by Seth's lips on mine.

"I love you," Seth tells me and it's as if he's commanding me to believe it at this moment with the look in his eyes. "No matter what. So, don't you ever blame yourself for what happened," he orders me and I nod my head without thinking.

"Come on guys, my food isn't going to make itself," I hear Ariana say to us, standing in the middle of the living room area with her hands on her hips. I open my mouth to say something when she says, "Patience is a virtue Ariana Waters," as a way of imitating me. I narrow my eyes at her and she laughs, sitting back down.

"Orders?" asks Seth, removing his hands from around me and waiting for me to tell him what needs to be done. I decide to give him the job of chopping the rest of the vegetables since Roman's disappeared and trusting Seth with meat is waiting for an incident to occur. We make dinner and the guys eat before leaving, Ariana insisting they take some leftovers for Dean so he doesn't feel left out. It's a good thing she missed all the looks on our faces when she said that. I ring Dean a few times myself and again, nothing. I'm actually going to kill him when he turns up.

* * *

"Iris!" I hear someone yell and instantly sit up, feeling like a zombie because I definitely needed more sleep. "We've overslept!" Ariana yells, standing next to the bed with a panicked look on her face.

"We can't have, the alarm hasn't gone," I say with a confused look on my face. She's probably just freaking out because today is the big day. I reach over on the nightstand and pick up my phone. My eyes widen when I see the time. "What the hell?!" I screech, standing up on the bed.

"Exactly!" exclaims Ariana, standing there and looking up at me, probably needing me to lead this brigade.

"Ok, get in the shower! I'll sort out everything else," I say and she runs in there. I make sure go to around and get everything out that we'll need. I glance at Evan and shake my head, Alarm Number two decided to betray me as well. I don't get why my phone didn't go off. Still, no time for any of that I need to make sure everything gets done. The girls should be here soon. Just then I hear the doorbell ring. I go over to the door and open it.

"Wedding time!" shout the girls on the other end of the door, well mainly Nikki and Brie. I don't think Paige and AJ would even contemplate doing something like that. They all rush past me, giving me quick hugs.

"Where's Ari?" asks Nikki, dropping a load of stuff onto one of the couches in the living room space. I swear she's brought all the make-up she physically owns. Actually, she probably has lots more. She's brought as much as she could carry.

"Shower," I state, my hands on my hips. Everyone looks at me confused but then realisation sets in. Ari was supposed to be having her hair done by now, ready for me to do her make-up.

"You're actually running late?" asks Brie and I'm forced to nod my head. "You out of all people?" she asks and once again, I'm forced to nod my head. I feel so embarrassed, although I think the girls are getting a kick out of this.

"Not even a word guys," I say, walking past them all quickly and going back over to the bedroom. I suppose we slept through the alarm because we went to bed very late last night. We couldn't help it though because we were just talking and talking. Time got away from us. Now we're definitely regretting it.

"I don't understand how you can't keep him in your arms all day," says Nikki, Evan in her arms as she sways him from side to side, making him giggle every so often. If she keeps doing that he'll get used to it and then if you put him down, he burst into tears.

"Because she's not obsessed with babies like you," comments Paige, eating a snickers bar, sitting comfortably on the couch.

"But she has a point, he's so cute," points out AJ, Paige looking horrified as if AJ's stabbed her in the back. Well anyone that sides with Nikki basically has.

"Iris!" we all hear a yell and I drop all the pins I had in my hand for Brie's hair, sprinting to the bedroom to see what's happened. My mouth opens at the sight in front of me. What in god's name...?

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" I ask Ariana, staring at it all. I don't even know what to call it. A mop? No! It's way worse. It's everywhere, in all different directions. How's that even possible? Ariana's hair is naturally just wavy.

"I don't know. I got out of the shower, blow dried it and the next thing I know is I look like a troll!" my best friend let's out all in one sentence. I try to keep calm and think of what I can do to fix it. "Please tell me you can fix it?" she asks, turning around from looking at herself in the mirror.

"Hair stylist remember?" I remind her, pointing to myself. I've always been good with hair, thank god. "Girls?! I need everything we have for hair in here right now!" I shout to them all, all four of them turning up. Each of their mouths opened agape at the sight of Ariana's hair. "Right, let's wash it again first of all," I say, taking my best friend to the shower. I wash her hair myself and take the responsibility of blow drying it, making sure to use a spray to keep her hair at bay. I then tie it back in a bun as I get started on her make up.

"Are you seriously making Nikki do my make-up?" asks Paige, sitting on the couch in the living room with Nikki standing up, rooting through all the make-up thrown to one side.

"Yes because we are running late, especially since you and AJ decided to make French toast instead of focusing on getting ready," I explain to Paige, rolling my eyes again.

"Don't worry, I'll make you look less like a witch than you already do," comments Nikki, Ariana bursting out into laughter as Paige stands up on her two feet, ready to go at it with her. "Kidding!" Nikki then says quickly and I can tell she was. You can just tell from the look on her face. I stay focused on Ariana though, taking my time in applying everything. I can't have anything go wrong on her face. I did try and get her to book someone but she said she didn't need to as long as she had me. It was a sweet thought but now I hope I can live up to it all.

"Look, the bridesmaids are all dressed in blue, therefore you can't go around with black make up!" Nikki explains to her and this time Paige rolls her eyes. They were arguing about which colour to put on. Paige wanted something dark but Nikki said she needs to wear something light. And I don't have a death wish to get in between all that right now.

"Let's just get this over with," says Paige, sitting down and closing her eyes, actually looking like she's cringing. She can't be complaining that much. Nikki is very good at make-up. I've learnt some things from her over the years.

"AJ, sit still!" says Brie, the other twin handling the other rebel. I'm glad I've not got all their responsibility otherwise I would end up yelling at all of them. Put them on a time out too. I used to think Ariana was bad, but after seeing these guys I'm thanking my lucky stars.

"But my butt itches!" complains AJ, Ariana laughing as I stop doing her eye make up for a second. I can't do it if she's moving and she's not going to stop laughing for a good minute now. Seeing the chance, I grab my camera and take a few shots of everybody, even Ariana with her eyes closed and laughing. I know no one else will take pictures here and we have only hired photographers for the ceremony and reception because Ariana didn't want a random stranger taking pictures as we all get ready.

"Well do you want to end up looking like a Disney cartoon? Because then keep at it," says Brie and this time I let out a laugh. And Brie says she's the calmer twin, right now she's even worse than Nikki. Scarier too.

"Relax Paige, by the time I'm done with you, Roman will not be able to keep his hands off of you for one second," says Nikki, Paige chanting a mantra of 'it'll be over soon'. They all need to relax. Once I've done Ariana's make-up, I get started on her hair. She has long hair so it'll be no problem getting it into a bun and keeping curls at the side using her fringes. Besides, I know she'll take it down the first chance she gets at that reception. Eventually I manage to do my own make up and get ready in my dress. All the bridesmaids' dresses are blue and strapless, tight from the chest area and flowy all the way down. Since I'm the Maid of Honour though my dress has a lot of white diamonds on the top part, compared to the blue diamonds everyone else has.

"Ready to go?" I ask everyone once Nikki exits the bathroom, Ariana holding Evan as I finish putting on his shoes for the day. I think Dean will find Evan cuter today than he does the other days.

"Would you look at that? We're on time," points out Ariana, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "You work wonders Iris," she says but I shake my head. I have to make sure to get Nikki and Brie something, they've been working their butts off this morning making sure everyone is dressed and ready to go.

"Then we better get going," I say, grabbing Evan off of Ariana and pointing towards her dress. We didn't think there was any point in Ariana putting on her dress now. Especially since she has her own room at the venue, she can put it on there. We rush off to the venue and once there we're immediately shown where we're supposed to go. The girls part ways to ensure everything gets set up right as I help Ariana with some finishing touches.

"How do I look?" asks Ariana, finally letting me turn around after she's finished putting the dress on. She wasn't bothered about going into a bathroom to change, I mean, it's just me here after all.

"Absolutely breath-taking," I comment, Ariana looking even more prettier than the first time she tried it on. That's because today is her wedding day and she has a certain glow on her face. My best friend is getting married. Just thinking about it is putting a smile on my face.

"Really?" asks Ariana, a small smile on her face and I swear I can see a certain blush on her cheek.

"Would I lie to you?" I ask her, shaking my head. I walk over to her and take her hands in mine. "How do you feel?" I then go on to ask her. Ariana nods her head and then looks up at me.

"Ready. I feel ready," says Ariana which is unusual since she's supposed to be freaking out. "Like, I'm nervous and I have a million butterflies going around in my stomach but I can't wait. I can't wait to walk down that aisle, see Dean and exchange our vows," she says with clear excitement in her voice.

"I'll grab you something quick to drink or eat," I offer and Ariana nods her head enthusiastically. She picks up Evan from his seat, uncaring if he may accidentally vomit on her or anything, happy as ever. I leave the room with a smile on my face which immediately drops when I think about everything. As soon as she mentioned Dean I started to freak out on the inside. Shit. What do we even do? I head over to the men's room, knowing Roman and Seth must at least be in there. "Guys, has he appeared?" I go on to ask and realise it was pointless to ask since I don't see him anywhere in here. "I guess not. What are we going to do?" I ask, only then realising that Seth is apparently staring at me.

"For now? I'm going to give you guys a quick two minutes to smooch whilst I turn around," says Roman, my mouth opening at the forwardness of his comment. Without hesitation, Seth strides over to me and presses his mouth to mine. I kiss him back, smiling at the feel of his arms around me.

"That is disgusting," we all hear a voice and turn to see none other than Dean Ambrose standing there in all his glory. He shakes his head and goes over to the dresser, using a comb to go through his hair. What the actual fuck?

* * *

 **Reviews are awesome! :)**


	97. Wedding!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! So this was supposed to be the last chapter but I couldn't find a way to explain everything Adam had done in the days before the wedding. Therefore, there will be one more chapter after this which will be the last one. So this may sound a little bit like the story's done but it isn't. Also, warning, I may have gone a little sappy later on in the chapter at the wedding. Sorry. It just happened. Also, I have not had internet this weekend to be able to update and then when I did I was in work, sorry! :D**

* * *

 **AliceLouiseVA123: Not Dean! Everyone would have kicked his ass including Iris :) Xx**

 **Debwood-1999: Yeah, if it did he wouldn't be alive! You're close. Very close I might say. And yes he was an author. But you'll find out in the next chapter. Haha. You could be wrong or right. But I love the guesses you make. Sometimes I find them better than what I actually have planned. Lol. It's fine. I'll give you a pass. Eat some chocolate on me :D**

 **Calwitch: That's a load of questions. Thank you! I think Iris just needs to move past it which is easier said than done :)**

 **Paisley2: Yay! Glad you thought so. Yeah, guys (rolls eyes). I think you'll like his answer :)**

 **Lourdes1694: That's a question on everybody's minds :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 97:**

"Uh, excuse me?" I say, waving my hands in the air but Dean just ignores me and continues combing his hair. He's been on a disappearing act and then comes back in acting all normal.

"Where the hell have you been Ambrose?" asks Roman, wasting no time with exchanging pleasantries. I don't know whether to hug him and thank him for turning up or hit him over the head with one of the chairs in this room. Wow, I'm becoming more and more like Ariana every day.

"Around," answers Dean, standing up off of his seat and taking off his leather jacket. He grabs his suit and drapes it over the back of his chair.

"Around? Dean Ambrose, you disappeared a day before your wedding giving the rest of us heart attacks," I reprimand him because out of all the times to do something like that, this is when he did it.

"In all fairness, I didn't think they would tell you because you would be worried," says Dean, taking off his shirt and grabbing his white shirt to put on. Once he does he puts his tie around his neck. All of a sudden, he takes pants off.

"Oh my god, my eyes!" I exclaim, closing them instantly and smiling a little when I feel Seth's hand cover my eyes.

"Hey, I know it's something else since you've only seen Seth's," comments Dean shamelessly and right this second where my face goes red is when I wish he would disappear again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Seth, clearly angry at Dean's comment, but I realise we don't have time to argue with anyone about any of this.

"Dean, quit fooling around and explain to me why you decided to do a disappearing act before your wedding?" I ask him, my hands on my hips despite the fact my eyes are covered with my boyfriend's hands. "What if you didn't turn up on time? What would I have told my best friend who's sat there waiting to get married to you?" I question him. There's a limit to his carelessness.

"Oh please, like that would ever happen (!)" says Dean, Seth removing his hands from my eyes, Dean's hands working on his belt. "I proposed to her and don't show up? Dick move," he says, beginning to button up his shirt.

"Plus she'd chop off his dick," comments Roman, sitting down himself as Seth begins snickering.

"I have a shoe in my hand you know?" points out Dean, holding up one in his hand. But one glare from me makes him sit down on the couch to tie his shoes on his feet. "Look, these guys left me handcuffed to a pole? Was I really going to stay there the whole night?" he goes on to question at which point I look at Roman.

"We were going to come back a couple of hours later, not my fault you decided to escape," says Roman which I can understand. They were only trying to have a bit of fun.

"We even gave some dude some cash to keep an eye on you and to contact us if anything happened," Seth informs the rest of us, that being something that was smart to do but which bit them in the ass.

"Yes and that said dude fell asleep," says Dean, shaking his head in disapproval. "He came to me, slightly drunk, blabbed what you guys had done and then went up to his porch. It turns out I had one of Ariana's pins in my back pocket so I used it and escaped. Laid low in a hotel and then flew out here just after you guys. Saw you in the airport too and Seth, if you move your head around that fast then it'll eventually fall off," he says all really quickly. Once Seth realises the last part he's about to go for Dean but I grab him, stopping him.

"How could you be so uncaring? I rang you so many times and you never once responded. What if it was an emergency?" I ask, anything could easily have been going wrong.

"Which is why Ariana has the number to my emergency phone," states Dean, my mouth opening up at the kind of things I'm dealing with when it comes to this man. "What? I'm not an idiot," he says once he notices all of us looking at him. "Look, I just wanted to teach these guys a lesson which I'm sure they learned. But right now it's my wedding day so can we please save the yelling for after my honeymoon?" he asks, getting up and walking over to me. He places his hands on my arms and says, "If anything was wrong you would have been able to get to me. And me you". I nod my head at the reassurance and hug him, surprising him and myself. Dean squeezes me tight which makes me chuckle.

"You're glad I didn't lose my shit and tell Ariana," I tell him, pulling away from him. "Now come on, let's do this tie," I state, using my hands and beginning to do it. I know he's useless at doing stuff like this anyway.

"I knew you wouldn't, you're my little sister," says Dean with a smirk on his face. I'm his little sister when he feels like it. Other times he forgets, like when he took his pants off. "I'm glad I fell in love with your best friend Iris," he whispers to me so the other two don't hear.

"I'm glad too," I whisper back with a laugh of my own. A flash goes off and we both turn to see the perpetrator, my boyfriend, with a camera in his hands.

"Finger slipped," he very obviously lies before stepping back and getting on with something else.

"Imagine if Seth never started to date you, would I have even gotten through to Ariana?" questions Dean, saying something sweet but at the same time curious about the outcomes.

"I'd like to think so. You guys are made for each other. You would have found your way," I explain what I think to him. They go together as much as anything else. I can't even think of anything in my mind right now. Ham and cheese? That should do it. "Are you nervous?" I then go on to ask him, nearly done with his tie.

"Nope, I'm ready for this," says Dean and I can't help but let out a chuckle, a questioning look overtaking his face.

"Ari said the same thing," I explain the reason for my laughter. "You better take good care of my best friend Mister Ambrose," I order him and he nods his head just as I finish. Without warning he leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead.

"Scout's honour," promises Dean and I place a kiss on his cheek before stepping back. "All done I guess," he says, grabbing his waistcoat and getting it on. He looks so different than he usually does, it's weird. Dean Ambrose can clean up nice. "You look beautiful by the way," he compliments me before grabbing a watch and putting it on. We're interrupted by a knock on the door. Roman answers it and I hear him let out a laugh.

"Seriously Iris?" asks Roman, closing the door and turning around with Evan in his arms, all dressed up in his mini SHIELD gear which was gifted to him by Dean at my baby shower.

"No fucking way!" exclaims Dean, instantly going over to Evan. "Don't even think about telling me off because you knew this would be my reaction," he says, picking up Evan and kissing him on the cheek.

"I take it you all like the surprise?" I ask them all, Seth putting his arms around me from behind.

"Love it," says Seth, all of them beginning to talk about how cute he looks and how he should be the next person to join the gang.

"Do you know what day it is today Evan? My wedding to your Aunt," Dean talks happily to him, warming my heart as usual. Yeah, I think things are back to normal and they will feel that way after a while too.

"Ok, I'll take Evan and give him to Ariana's Mom since she's walking him down," offers Roman and I thank him. So, Roman's Mom is walking down Evan, Dean will be at the altar, Roman's walking down with me since we're best man and Maid of Honour, then Seth and Paige, Nikki and John and Brie and Dolph. Then Ariana will come. It's a bit weird. I've not spoken to her about it but I have no idea whose walking down Ariana. The Father normally gives the bride away but he's not alive. Ariana can't walk down there by herself but every time I've asked her, she just changes the topic. Maybe she does want to walk down there by herself. I would have thought she'd have at least asked her Mom. Or maybe Seth since Roman's best man. But I can't pressure her, she'll do what she wants and that's fine by me.

* * *

I head back to the girls' room, telling the boys to behave but as soon as I exit the room I hear them both go at it. No doubt one of them has the other in some sort of a headlock. Once I step into the room Ariana's in I see her pacing. So, the nerves are kicking in, are they?

"Nervous?" I ask Ariana and she stops for a second, looking at me. It seems like she's contemplating what to say at this moment in time.

"A million butterflies," states Ariana and I let out a chuckle before walking over and holding her hands.

"Have you been crying?" I then ask her, noticing my best friend's eyes are kind of red.

"No. I mean Mum came in and I got emotional but I didn't cry. Why? Has my make-up ran?" she asks, about to turn around to look in the mirror when I stop her.

"No, I can just tell from your eyes," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I've known her for many years, if she so much as sneezes then I've caught wind of it. "Don't worry about a thing. Everything is ready and on time. All you need to do is wait for the knock on the other end of the door, signalling for us to go out there," I reassure her, making is sound more simple than it is. Or, maybe it is that simple. All of a sudden Ariana throws her arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. "You alright?" I ask, figuring she's just getting emotional from everything that's happening.

"Yeah. Thanks Iris," says Ariana and a smile is plastered on my face that never shows signs of leaving. "You know, you've always been there for me," she says as we stand there in an embrace.

"You've always been there for me too," I state. We've been there for each other. And now, she's getting married. Starting a life she never knew she wanted till she met Dean.

"You know, no matter what has happened you've always stuck by me. And I just want to say, I love you. Sister," says Ariana and I close my eyes for a second, willing the tears to go away.

"Are you trying to make me cry? You know how emotional I get," I say, making the both of us laugh.

"Sorry," says Ariana, pulling away and I can tell she's trying to hold back the tears. "Just...it means so much to me that you're here and getting on with things despite everything that's happened," she says and I wish I could have stopped her from even mentioning it.

"I love you too," I tell her and I wait for her to say something since it looks like she's not done.

"Iris, we've been there for each other through thick and thin and you're someone I've always been able to count on," starts Ariana, having taken a deep breath. I do wonder where she's going with this. "You literally have my back all the time. It meant so much to me when you agreed to be the Maid of Honour," she continues and I nod my head, intently listening to every single word. "When I call you my sister, I really mean it. We're not blood related but in every other single way you are my sister. And I've been thinking about this for such a long time. Who is the person I can rely on the most? Apart from Dean of course. And then I just thought of you. Which is why it would mean so much to me if you walked me down the aisle," she finally finishes, my eyebrows rising in surprise.

"You want me to give you away?" I clarify, Ariana nodding her head enthusiastically. She can't be serious can she?

"Only the person whose having Dean replace their role should be giving me away. And that person is you," says Ariana, sounding so sure of herself. I don't even have a chance to respond when there's a knock on the other side of the door.

"We're ready," I hear Nikki's voice and know we both only have two minutes till we have to get out of the dressing room.

"What about your Mom?" I ask Ariana, reminding her that she might have lost her Father but her Mom is very much alive.

"Don't worry, she understands. Besides, I think she is happier carrying down your little bundle of joy," answers Ariana, holding my hands once more. "So?" she asks. I nod my head, still not being able to believe it. But it is her wedding day and what she wants rules.

"I'd be honoured," I say, hugging her one more time. We then realise we need to hurry out of there and go over to the room the ceremony is taking place in. It turns out Ariana already had it all planned out, in terms of whose now going to be walking with Roman down the aisle since we had one spot left open. It is going to be Roman's Mom since we both know her very well. Everyone gives Ariana last minute hugs, gushing over how beautiful she looks.

The music begins to play and each couple makes their way out slowly. I see Ariana visibly breathe in and out, knowing full well that as soon as her eyes meet Dean's, she's going to be absolutely fine. When it's our turn to go out I link our arms, keeping my other hand on her hand.

"This is it," I say to her, sending her a reassuring look before we begin to walk down the aisle. She keeps her eyes on the floor as we enter the room, everybody standing and all eyes on us. I immediately notice Seth's family, they're all together as a big group. I send them a nod and get a few waves in return. Ariana at this point finally lifts her head and after she sees Dean, her eyes never leave his. I notice Penny and Charlie together and nod at them. After catching up with Penny I found out they decided to start dating each other. I'm not sure if this wedding is the first or second date. I smile at Evan in Ariana's Mom's arms. I then look towards the front and my eyes meet Seth.

For a second, I forget where I am. I forget this is my best friend's wedding and conjure up this image of me walking down the aisle at my wedding. Seth standing there with a big grin on his face. Seth looking at me like I'm the most important person in his life. But just as quickly as I think that I come out of it because we run out of carpet to walk on. We both stop at the top and I take Ariana's hand, placing it in Dean's.

"Don't forget your promise," I whisper to him, Dean nodding his head. I take Ariana's flowers and stand to the side next to the other bridesmaids. A smile overtakes my face when I notice Seth wink at me. He can be such a goof at times. After the ceremony ends I end up walking back down the aisle with Roman as initially planned. Everyone begins to make their way to the wedding venue, close friends and family sticking around to take some pictures. I smile as I watch Ariana and Dean take some couple pictures, both of them bickering already.

"Did you do a good job buddy?" I ask my son, being the ring bearer was something Dean proposed ages back when I first went to visit Seth's parents. Well after Dean wanted him as best man.

"He did an amazing job," comments Dean, both of them walking up to us. I hug them both and we all congratulate them.

"How's it feel to be Mrs Ambrose?" I ask my best friend who just shrugs her shoulders and laughs.

"I think I'll find out after a few days together," answers Ariana, sticking to Dean's side like glue.

"Ok, well I'm going to head off to the reception venue and make sure everything is set up perfectly," I inform all of them. "Seth, can you keep Evan with you?" I ask him and he nods his head, Roman deciding on joining me since all of Seth's family is around and he won't be able to get away with Evan that easily.

* * *

With Roman, I make sure everything gets done and once Ariana and Dean come I know they appreciate it all. I stand with my boyfriend and son, watching the married couple have their first dance, Dean surprising Ariana with some good dance skills. All curtsy of me. Although it wasn't easy to order him to go to dance lessons. I bet he's not regretting it now. All these people watching him not stumble over has got to have been worth it, right?

"They are so cute," I comment, clapping once they've finished and Dean pulls Ariana in for a kiss. But at this point no one's complaining because we all know what they're both like. Soon it's time for the speeches and for the couple to cut the cake. I stay seated next to Ariana with Seth on my other side. I place my hand over his because I know he's nervous about this speech. Despite Roman being best man, Dean wanted to hear something off of Seth as well. And Seth's been so nervous about what to write and everything. I hope he's alright. He is first after all.

"I guess this is me then," says Seth. I give him a quick peck on the lips for good luck. He gains everyone's attention, the mic in his hand. "Hi guys. I just wanted to say a quick few words. I know I'm not the best man but my maniac of a friend has never cared much for the rules," he says, getting a chuckle out of everyone. "So, this is me supposedly saying good things about him, right? Ok, I can't think of any," he comments, making everyone laugh.

"I'll make you think of them alright!" shouts Dean shamelessly, everyone laughing once more. Ariana shakes her head and keeps her hand on Dean's arm, probably making sure he doesn't get up and chase Seth around the room.

"Me and Dean, we go way back. Not a lot of people know this but we first met on the independent circuit," starts Seth, that being something they've not disclosed much to anyone. "We had a couple of great matches and I guess we respected each other for that. We became friends and then headed to developmental where we met Roman. Despite the fact we were fierce rivals for storylines, we were the greatest of friends. We always acted like kids and once Roman got in the picture, he got the part of the parent. Which he still has by the way," he then says, not mentioning me and Ariana who do that too.

"It's not fun," I hear Roman comment to Dean who doesn't look like he appreciates it.

"Anyway, as time went on we became great friends. Best friends. Brothers," continues Seth, nodding his head. I can tell just how much both of them mean to him by the look on his face. "We thought we had it all figured out. Then two lovely ladies entered out world and turned it upside down," he informs everyone, me and Ariana looking at each other with smiles on our faces. "And for Dean, the entrance of Ariana into our lives meant that he'll finally settle down. Which was weird because Dean wasn't the settling down type," he goes on to say.

"Or the marrying type," Ariana whispers to me, sending me a wink. She's done a wonderful job with the boy.

"Ariana," says then says, turning his head so he's looking at her. "Thank you for coming into Dean's life and showing him the true meaning of companionship. You've stuck by him through thick and thin and that's the kind of woman he needs in his life. Dean didn't have the greatest childhood by any means. But as he's gone through life, he's found his own family. And we're all right beside him today. Dean never was the caring type, he never liked to show his emotions but Ariana, you changed that in him. He's learnt that if you find the right people, then you don't need to worry about ever losing them from your life. So, thank you," he says, everyone cheering. I clap my hands together because even sometimes she doesn't realise just how much she's had a hand in making Dean a better man.

"Come here," says Ariana, getting up and enveloping Seth in a hug, over me might I add. She sits back down and Seth takes a few moments before continuing on once again. He's doing amazing.

"Dean is a wonderful best friend, an amazing Godfather and no doubt he'll be an even more incredible husband," Seth finally starts to compliment Dean which he will never let him forget I bet. "You're more loyal to people than anyone I know and you'd move mountains just to keep the people you care about happy. Good qualities that I'm sure any wife would want in a husband. You always say you're lucky to have us in your life, that you don't know how you ended up with us guys as your family. But the truth is, we're lucky to have you with us man. We're lucky that you're in our life, making us laugh, supporting us and just being you. I know you're going to continue on being a better person, especially with your wife by your side. On a personal note, I just want to thank you both. If it wasn't for you both, I wouldn't be here today with my girlfriend and son by my side," he says, another meaning clearly evident in his eyes. "So I'd like everyone to please raise their glasses to join me in congratulating the happy couple," he says, we all raise our glasses and everyone cheers. As soon as he's done, Dean gets up and gives Seth a hug, both of them being open with their emotions for once instead of laughing about them.

"Wow Seth, thanks for stealing my thunder," is the first thing Roman says when it's time for his speech which makes us all laugh. But he says his words and we all listen intently. I think Roman's speech is very meaningful, he talks about the changes in Dean and how important Ariana is to him, to all of us. Even going as far as to say that he's proud of who Dean has become today. I know that means the world to Dean because he doesn't have any other family, Roman's always been like a big brother to him so this moment is truly special.

"Your turn," says Ariana, patting my leg. I let out a chuckle and take the mic off of Roman, taking a deep breath.

"Hi everyone," I say, looking around the room with a smile on my face, family and friends all around. "I guess we can all be relieved because now you won't be hearing a lot more about Dean," I comment, making everyone chuckle. Dean decides to be childish and stick his tongue out at me for that.

"Dean," Ariana reprimands him but he doesn't seem to care. I don't see much changing now that they're a married couple.

"Me and Ariana met many years back when we were just kids, she stuck up for me and since then we have been pretty much attached together," I begin to start my speech, talking about my best friend which is the easiest thing in the world. "Ever since I can remember, it's been the two of us against the world. We'd been living in our own world, dreaming of becoming WWE superstars. Ariana welcomed me into her family and they treated me like their own daughter," I go on to say, locking eyes with Ariana's mom who blows me a kiss, making me smile. "We were sisters for life. Ariana was there for me when my family wasn't and we set off to follow our dreams of becoming WWE Superstars. We were actually very lucky because we ended up being tag team partners.

We both held the Divas championship and we were seriously living our dream. Then one day, the SHIELD entered our lives and as Seth put it before, things got turned upside down. It's no secret Ariana disliked Dean the moment she first met him. I remember the exact words she used were 'arrogant, cocky, insufferable jerk'," I inform everyone, no one holding back in their laughter.

"You forgot moronic ass!" Ariana calls out, everyone laughing harder and Dean shaking his head before pulling on her hair using the arm that's around her shoulders.

"But she tolerated him for me and Seth I guess, but that wasn't the only reason," I go on to say, glancing at Ariana whose now trying to hide a small blush. "She did say on several occasions she thought he was hot so I guess the eye candy part of him saved him in a way," I joke, hearing chuckles.

"Don't even think about saying anything more," says Ariana, this time Dean laughing his head off.

"Anyway, something upsetting happened. Ariana's Father was ill and during that time, Dean tried not being much of an ass," I say, Dean putting his hand up in the air as if soaking in some sort of applause resulting in Ariana hitting him. "They somehow grew close and eventually ended up dating. Dating turned into a relationship and now my best friend is attached to someone else's hip," I partially complain. I feel Ariana take a hold of my hand and squeeze it.

"I like your hip better," says Ariana, warming my heart. Truly.

"Ariana wasn't ever someone who imagined having a wedding, finding someone special to share her life with, that hopeless romantic was me," I say, finding it weird how we've both still found happiness in things we never thought would happen. "But her relationship with Dean, is truly unique. I mean, if you ever lived with them for a day you'd think no two other people could hate each other more. They fight like cats and dogs. And that's before marriage," I say, everyone laughing once again. "But they also love each other. Passionately. That's something that's always been there, no matter what. And I know it will continue on as long as you both live. And like Seth, I also want to thank my best friend. For always being there for me, for giving me a family and for bringing someone like Dean into our lives. I know he was there since I was dating Seth but he became a part of our family once you two decided you'd found something special with each other.

Dean is probably one of the most childish people I've ever met. Honestly. And sometimes you're always having to mother him but **unfortunately** for me, he's proven himself to me, you and everyone else. He's acted responsibly when he's needed to, he's never left your side, he's always trying to make everything as easy as possible for us. And although I completely hate him for taking away my best friend from me, I'm glad it's him. You've been joined at the hip and now you're joined together in a special bond. I wish you both all the best," I finish my speech. I hear clapping as Ariana instantly hugs me. I can't help but let a tear fall down because I am so happy she gets everything she deserves. After Ariana, Dean hugs me as well.

"I won't forget any of your comments," comments Dean, pulling away and placing a kiss on my forehead. I laugh and the newly wedded couple cut their wedding cake. Of course that was the most important thing for them. Dean actually makes a joke out of it by looking like he's going to feed Ariana but eating it himself. He laughs and then feeds her some cake, followed by a sweet kiss. They share cake with the rest of us and the evening goes by very great. Of course I'm rushed off my feet making sure all the food and all the traditions of a reception are all sorted. I think Dean enjoyed the garter tradition too much, constantly being sworn at by Ariana.

* * *

"Dance?" I hear a voice ask when I finally find some time to myself to sit down and relax for two seconds. I look at Seth's hand and then up at his face.

"Sure," I say, placing my hand in his and getting up. He leads us both to the dancefloor, a slow song playing. Seth places his hands on my waist and I put mine on his shoulders.

"You look wonderful," Seth compliments me as we both look into each others eyes.

"So do you," I say, resulting in him letting out a chuckle. He pulls me closer as we both move to the music. "I can't believe we're actually here," I comment, glancing around at the room. I notice Dean has Evan and is trying to get him to say his name. "You know, your speech was very good. I could tell it meant a lot to Dean," I reassure him.

"Oh good, I mean I heard laughing so I assumed it went well," says Seth, appearing too cute to me in this moment. "Iris?" he says my name after a couple of minutes. I look at him and see a serious look in his eyes. "I love you with all my heart," he reveals, my heart jumping for joy as it usually does. No one but Seth can ever make me feel this way.

"I love you too," I tell him. Our love for each other hasn't remained hidden since the day we both admitted how we really felt.

"Which is why I promise you that one day this will be us," says Seth, literally knocking the wind out of me. What does he mean? That we're going to get married? Instead of asking questions I keep staring at him, waiting for him to continue. "We'll be exchanging vows, making each other wear wedding rings, have our first dance," he says, resting the side of his face against mine. I bet he can feel the heat on my cheeks. "You'll look beautiful in white. I'd be staring at you the whole day," he goes on to say. I move my head back and look up at him.

"Am I dreaming?" I ask, feeling my eyes water. This man has stuck by me ever since he's come back into my life. And he continues to amaze me.

"It feels like one, doesn't it?" asks Seth, a small smile dancing on his lips. "I promise you're going to get your dream of a wedding. It's a little different than how you imagined it. You probably thought you'd have kids after your wedding," he says and I let out a chuckle.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I say to him, shaking my head. I've loved how everything has turned out. I wouldn't change a thing. "How come you're saying all this?" I then ask because he never mentioned this before. I wonder what changed.

"When I saw you walk down the aisle with Ari," starts Seth, getting my attention completely. "I saw it all. I've not told you but I've thought about marrying you from the moment I told you I loved you. But we're taking it slow so I'll gladly wait," he says. I can't help it in that moment because I lean forward and connect my lips to his.

"I love you so much," I tell my boyfriend, my eyes closed and our lips hovering over each other.

"Not as much as I love you," says Seth and I let out a chuckle. "What's so funny?" he then asks me and I open my eyes to see him staring at me with a confused look on his face.

"You know, Ariana once pointed out to me that I love you a lot more than you love me," I state, Seth's eyes looking at me in worry. "And maybe at the time that was true," I go on to say, referring to when we first got together. "But I didn't even realise when you started to surpass me in every way," I tell him in a soft voice, every moment I spend with Seth is unbelievable.

"Iris," starts Seth but I shake my head and press a finger to his lips.

"Ssh," I say in a soft voice. "Thank you for fulfilling my dreams," I say and let out a chuckle when he doesn't say anything but kisses my finger. We stay dancing and eventually Evan gets passed back to us. It's a nice moment for us, dancing together as a family. I know a lot of things have gone wrong, but a lot of other things have gone right. I thought I lost the love of my life but now here I am, moving on in life with him right by my side. And we have our son too. Amazing friends and family. I know things have been troubled considering recent events but I know things will be fine. Heck, they already are. It's just a matter of time.

* * *

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	98. An Epilogue Of Sorts

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for my OC** **'** **s.**

 **Hi guys! So, this is the last chapter. I know, it's sad that it's ending. For those of you who might be wondering if I'm doing a third part, I'm not. Instead, I made this story a lot longer. Sorry for taking long to get this out, I've gone through it like 5 times trying to make sure it's perfect and concludes in a way that I'm happy with and I know you guys will be happy with.**

 **Also, the second reason it's taken this long are the occurrences in Manchester. I live there. Everything that's happened has just been so sad and difficult to deal with. But I'm glad everyone's standing strong together.**

 **I hope you like this chapter :)**

 **Massive thanks to everyone that followed, reviewed and put this story as their favourite. It's been massively supportive. I'd also like to take the second to thank everyone that read this story and stuck with it till the end. You're all amazing! Xx**

* * *

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 **AliceLouiseVA123: I know! Me either! Thanks! :) Xx**

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 **Paisley2: He has, hasn't he? He'll marry her one day! Haha, thanks. And I think after this chapter you'll still think the same :)**

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* * *

 **CHAPTER 98:**

"Iris!" says Dean, quickly coming up to me just as soon as I've left the bathroom at the airport. After the wedding reception Dean and Ariana whisked off to a fancy hotel, curtsy of Roman, awaiting their flight the next day which is a gift from me and Seth. Since I booked it all I even added in a few extra things that I know they'll enjoy. Well it's still a surprise to Ariana since she doesn't know where they're going.

"What?" I ask Dean. We were dropping them off and waving farewell. Everyone said goodbye to them last night but they insisted me, Seth, Roman and Evan come with them to the airport today. I needed to quickly relieve myself and left, Dean catching me just as I come out. "You know how creepy it is waiting outside the bathroom?" I ask him but he doesn't seem to care.

"I wanted to speak with you before I left. Privately," says Dean and this can only mean one thing. He wants to know if I read the book.

"I read it," I admit to him, a surprised look on Dean's face. It wouldn't take me a lot to read it. After all, I needed that closure. Plus, I don't want to see Adam ever again.

"And?" asks Dean, asking as if I needed a reaction to what I read. I shrug my shoulders, things feeling kind of different now that I know his whole story.

"He met this girl called Iris, she looked exactly like me. They fell in love. Everything was perfect for them wasn't it?" I ask no one in particular. I have to admit, when I read their love story I actually thought it was cute. All the dates they went on, when he proposed, he sounded like a very sweet man. "But then she left him for another man," I point out the flaw that caused their relationship to tear apart. "She left him and he couldn't handle it. That part of the book was sad. I guess I could really feel it since I've been there before," I explain to Dean who just listens to me, nodding his head.

"I thought the same," says Dean, keeping his hands in his pockets and waiting for me to go on.

"One day, she came back to him. She was pregnant with this man's baby but he wasn't treating her right. With a big heavy hand on his heart, he took her back in," I relay the next part of the story. I know if I was in his shoes then I would have done the same. "He took her back in but that man contacted her, said he'd change himself. He'd apparently been cheating on her," I say, this is where it distorted Adam because the situation was like mine and Seth's. Except I'd never been with Adam before. "So she broke his heart for the second time and left him. The final straw was when she called him and said the other man had beaten her. Adam took her to the hospital but she and the baby both died. But when he'd found her, she'd told him she loved him. That if he'd like, then she'd stay with him for the rest of her life. He'd even accepted the baby," I say, remembering everything very clearly as I read it.

"But she didn't make it," Dean tells the next part of the story and I nod my head. Unsure of how I should feel about this. It still doesn't justify what he did to me.

"And that was the last straw. After that, he just lost it I guess. Maybe he couldn't really believe she was dead," I offer as an explanation. Trauma can do certain things to you. "Then he started to go after all those poor girls, getting more violent as each one refused to be with him. I guess in his mind he thought, he won't let her get away for a second time," I say, offering up explanations that I can't be absolutely certain are correct.

"Then he came to you. Someone who'd never looked more like his wife," comments Dean, my eyes meeting his.

"I get the backstory Dean, I truly do. What he had with her was special, I could tell just by the way he wrote this book about her. I understand why he did what he did. He couldn't get past her death and somehow it turned him psycho. But it still didn't give him the right to do what he did to me," I say, shaking my head and unwilling to ever forgive him for it. "Seth left me. But it didn't turn me into a monster. Yeah, Seth didn't die but...no matter what would have happened I wouldn't have done that. So no, I don't forgive him. But I think I can move on," I state, that's as much as I can get with it.

"I didn't expect anything more. You'd think after what he went through, he wouldn't put others through anything just as horrible," explains Dean and I shrug my shoulders. I guess this is where the 'everyone's different' phrase comes into play. "Have you given any more thought to therapy?" he asks, him having been the one to suggest it in the first place.

"Yeah. I'm going to speak to Stephanie and see who I should go to. I feel if I don't then it'll just chew me up on the inside," I admit, crossing my arms over my chest. "Last night...Seth tried to...you know," I say, Dean nodding his head instantly. Probably not wanting any more detail. "I couldn't. I mean, I don't feel guilty as much any more but I just couldn't. He understood but it didn't feel good. That's when I read the book," I go on to say.

"You just need a little bit of time," says Dean, giving out sensible pieces of advice for once. "Just don't bottle it up like you do everything else. Get it out," he says and I nod my head again. He steps forward and envelopes me in a hug telling me I'm strong enough to deal with it all which I appreciate.

"Thanks for helping Dean," I tell him and he laughs, commenting something along the lines of 'duh, you're family'. Both him and Ariana leave with huge smiles on their faces and we send them off. And yes, we once again had the issue of trying to get Evan from Dean. He said he could show Evan a new place and that it'd be cool. But once he got reminded he wouldn't get to have much sex, he quickly handed him over and rushed out of there.

* * *

"Look at Hot Mama," I hear Seth comment after I bounce off the ropes and stand in the middle of the ring. I'd been practising inside of it with Nikki, Nattie, Brie, Paige and literally anyone that I could get my hands on or who had free time.

"That only works when Dean says it," I tell my boyfriend, my hands going to my hips, a smile on my face. It's only been a couple of days since our friends went on their honeymoon and already it felt too weird not having them around. Or not seeing them in the locker rooms. But from the vague messages Ariana would send, they seem to be having a really good time.

"Are you hearing this Evan? Your Mom can be mean at times," says Seth and I can't help but let out a laugh at his childishness. I go to the ropes and bend down, standing on the apron. I then sit down on it and Seth sits besides me. "How's the training going?" he asks me and I nod my head.

"It's going good. I think some of the girls are getting annoyed because I keep dragging them here," I comment which makes him laugh. "But I know I've made the right decision. I'm going to be on the road doing what I love with the man that I love. Well, until Evan starts to go to school," I explain, that being something that was decided just recently. I realised I want to stay on the road for as long as I can.

"And then wrestling is out of the book?" asks Seth as I nod my head sadly. It was something I'd always wanted to do and I have managed to live my dream. It's a shame it didn't get to last longer.

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to leave with my last match having been an arm wrestling one with Nattie," I comment, smiling as I think back to the memory. "Plus, I need to actually have SHIELD gear and be on the team properly before I can leave it," I say. The day these guys made me an honorary member was one of the best days of my life. But because I was pregnant, I couldn't exactly team up with them or anything.

"I'm glad you made that choice. I want to have the chance to fight with you by my side," says Seth, leaning closer to me and pecking my lips. Ariana and Dean do it all the time. Ariana says it's special and if wrestling with Ariana was amazing for me, wrestling with Seth would be off the chain.

"I'm on a break for the next ten minutes, shall we try him again with the crawling?" I suggest to Seth who nods his head. After dropping off Ariana and Dean at the airport the other day, we came back to the hotel room and Evan started getting on all fours. Jeez, I just made him sound like a dog. He was rocking back and forth but couldn't actually get crawling. So, we've been trying to practice with him as much as we can since.

"Come on buddy, let's see what you got," says Seth, putting Evan down on the floor. I sit a good few feet away, calling my son over to me. I would have thought he'd start to teeth first but that's not happened. I even talked to Darren over the phone, asking for his opinion. But all he said was babies start to crawl and teethe at 6 months. It doesn't matter what comes first because every baby is different.

"Evan, come here!" I say, holding my arms out with a big smile on my face. Seth tries to help him from behind and I burst out laughing when I see him actually crawling as Evan watches him curiously. "Looking good Seth," I joke but he just rolls his eyes and sits back down. Evan gets the same idea because he somehow manages to turn himself so he's sat on his bottom.

"Oh, come on!" says Seth, a little frustrated. He can't help but then laugh because Evan's just looking up at him strangely. "Come on Evan, let's get crawling," he urges, going back onto all fours himself.

"Seth, it's going to take him time. He can't just learn in two seconds," I tell my boyfriend with my hands on my thighs. I watch on as my boyfriend talks to Evan, trying to get him to start crawling. I just spend the whole time laughing. At one point, Evan looks at me because he seems so confused on what his Father's telling him. "Evan, come to mama," I say to my son just as Seth mimics crawling again. My mouth opens in shock and awe as our son finally starts to move.

"Iris! Iris!" Seth says my name in excitement. I keep my hands out and call Evan over. He begins to laugh, showing off all his gums as he gets closer to me.

"That's it! Come on!" I say, waving my arms around for him to come to me. "Come on!" I say, somehow managing to stay seated despite the fact that I'm beyond excited right now. "Oh my god!" I say, feeling immense happiness once I pick my son up. I give him kisses all over his face.

"You did it Evan!" exclaims Seth, taking Evan out of my hands and holding him in the air. He leans and places a kiss on my cheek, telling me that he loves me. We both gush over our son and have him crawl again before we're interrupted by Nikki who's ready to start training with me. Things seem to be going fine with till later on during dinner when me and Seth get an unusual phone call. Someone rings my phone and I put it on loudspeaker, Seth handling Evan as I take out all the food he bought for dinner.

 _"How could you?"_ says the unmistakeable voice of Dean Ambrose on the other end.

"Dean! How are you? How's the honeymoon going?" I ask, neither of them having had the time to call us. Just messages here and there. But I'm not going to berate him for it. I'm just going to be glad he called.

 _"It was going fine till I got betrayed by my own friends!"_ exclaims Dean, both me and Seth looking at each other confused.

"What are you talking about?" asks Seth, sitting down and keeping Evan in his lap. He's playing with one of his toys, biting down on it. I have a feeling he'll start teething soon, he keeps trying to bite things.

 _"Like you don't know (!)"_ comments Dean on the other end. Maybe he's drunk. Or had something dropped in his food. It's the only explanation for this nonsensical nonsense.

"We don't! Where's Ariana?" I ask, hoping she could shed some light on the current situation.

 _"Putting on something sexy to cheer me up,"_ answers Dean, sounding less upset. I don't even know what's going on. _"The point is, you guys should have told me! Or put me there live. But no,"_ he goes on to say and I look at Seth with a sigh.

"Dean, we honestly don't know what you're talking about. Either speak directly, or we're hanging up because we're just about to start dinner," Seth says to him, that being one of the only ways we can stop him from acting so dramatic.

 _"Evan. Crawling,"_ says Dean and I look at Seth with a smile. The lunatic is upset he wasn't here for that. Aw. My face then drops as I think of how Dean found out. We've not told anyone yet. And how would they have even gotten a hold of Dean to know about it?

"How did you find out?" asks Seth, seemingly curious just like me.

 _"Really?"_ asks Dean, acting as if this is something we should know. If he carries on like this, then I really will snap. _"It's all over the internet!"_ he exclaims, my mouth opening in shock at what he's just said.

"How's that possible?" I ask, running a hand through my hair. "It only happened earlier on today. And we didn't even manage to take a video because we were having so much fun," I explain, pinching Evan's cheeks because I'm so proud of him today.

 _"Oh, I could see that (!)"_ comments Dean at which I roll my eyes. No wonder Ariana's constantly doing it. _"You're all laughing together without even including the Godfather,"_ he goes on to complain. Seth at this point lets out a groan, hands Evan to me and picks up his phone.

"What the hell? Iris look, there's a video of us from today with Evan," he says, showing it to me. I hold in my laughter because it's caught Seth trying to show Evan how to crawl but failing miserably. Obviously, whoever has taken this has recorded the whole session and then posted up bits and bats.

"Who posted it?" I ask, looking at where the video had come from. "Nikki?" I say and then shake my head. She must have come to train a few minutes earlier and caught us all. "I am so going to have to ask her to send us that video. Oh my god, now we've got it on camera. Isn't that wonderful?" I ask my boyfriend, looking up at him.

 _"Yeah, it's frickin beautiful (!)"_ Dean's voice cuts in and ruins the moment. _"How could you not tell me?"_ he asks and at this point, my anger gets the best of me.

"Maybe because it happened just this morning?" I reply and before he can answer I decide to rip him a new one. "Not to mention, you're on your honeymoon. You don't call or leave many messages and then tell me off for not informing you about this? I mean, how fricking dare you?" I retort, hearing silence on the other end.

 _"We...we were gonna call,"_ Dean finally says after a few moments of quietness.

"We would have told you," I say, both of us leaving it at that. Dean ends the call, promising to check in more often.

"I am not going to lie, that was hot," says Seth shamelessly, kissing the side of my head before grabbing the food and tucking into dinner. We put Evan on the floor as we eat and I take my own video once he starts crawling. It's so exciting and fun to watch him crawl, I didn't realise it could be. It's amazing.

* * *

"It's not that I don't love her, I mean she's a cool chick," says Dolph, walking around the arena with me as he talks about AJ. She dropped the 'L' bomb and let's just say Mister Ziggler couldn't handle it. "But isn't it too quick to think about something like this?" he then asks at which point I burst out laughing.

"You guys have been dating for 4 months!" I exclaim, that being enough time for anyone to come to a conclusion about whether they love the other person. "Clearly, you're commitment phobic," I reveal to my friend who looks at me with denial written across his face.

"I am not!" denies Dolph as I give him a disbelieving look. That's got denial written all over it. "You can't get to know a person that quickly. Or be able to tell whether you love them or not," he goes on to say as I shake my head.

"I knew I loved Seth quite quick into our relationship. I mean, I was talking about marrying him just a few dates in," I explain to my friend who gives me a weird look.

"That's cause you're plain crazy," says Dolph and I once again shake my head at him. "And now she won't talk to me because I didn't say it back. Who does that? Would you have done that?" he goes on to say and I guess it's time to set him straight.

"Yes," I answer without even needing to think about it. "And not for the reasons you're thinking. Yes, ok if you don't say it back it's nothing to be mad about. But when you don't say it back but your eyes are saying that you love that person, it's basically a slap in the face," I hit him with some reality. Any idiot around can tell he's totally in love with AJ. Just the idiot himself can't tell.

"Wait, what?" asks Dolph, acting completely confused. I suppose he is one of the clueless ones so I have to spell it out for him.

"Dolph, it's written all over your face that you love AJ. She knows you love her. That's why she felt comfortable saying it, hoping you'd tell her the same thing. But you didn't and that's upset her," I explain, Dolph looking like he's actually taking this in. "Look, you're at a crossroads in your relationship now. You either tell her how you feel or call it a day," I hit him with some truth.

"You're telling me to call it a day? You, out of all people?" asks Dolph which I know is hard to believe for him, or anyone else for that matter. "How about I get someone to write it on a piece of paper and send it to her? That way we both get what we want," he says, suggesting a completely moronic idea for which I would beat him up for.

"You know what Dolph, when I was with Seth and he said he loved me, I believed him. He didn't at the time and it caused so much heartbreak, we struggled to be friends again," I decide to use my personal experiences to help him out. "He wasted so much of my time when I could have spent it trying to find someone else," I add on, it being a bit weird since I did end up with Seth again.

"But you guys got back together," points out Dolph as I put my hands in the pocket of my jeans.

"Only because he got his head out of his ass," I comment, making the both of us chuckle. "My point is, a lot of time was wasted. When he 'pretended' to love me. And then when I came back, we again wasted more time. No telling each other how we felt. It took us months to finally tell each other that we love the other person. Whether you're ready for it or not, whether you want to face the consequences or not, just be honest. Yes, it's scary but at least you then have each other to get through it," I advise him. I wish someone had just done something to get me to admit my feelings for Seth, all those misunderstandings wouldn't have ever occurred.

"It's not as simple as just saying it Iris," comments Dolph, giving me a look which informs me he's struggling to accept his own feelings.

"Yes it is," I say, a smile on my face as I think back to mine and Seth's relationship. "It's more easy than anyone thinks. Us humans make it complicated," I say and leave him with that. I walk down to the SHIELD's locker room, only finding Roman inside. "Where are my boys?" I ask, thinking Seth would be here with Evan.

"Out and about, Seth said he was just going to get some fresh air," answers Roman as I nod my head and take a seat next to him on the couch. "What's the matter baby girl?" he asks me, placing his hand mine which is resting on the couch.

"Absolutely nothing. That's the problem," I tell my friend, moving my head so that I can look into his eyes. "Whenever nothing's wrong, something happens," I go on to say, shrugging my shoulders.

"What happened to Iris positivist?" asks Roman which makes me chuckle. "You're just a bit down in the dumps. Trust me, after a while you'll be bouncing off the walls as you usually do," he says. I have my first meeting with the therapist booked next week. Hopefully, after that I'll start to feel more like myself again. I don't want to be living through life looking over my shoulder which is what I feel I'm doing at the moment.

"Thank you for always being kind," I decide to say something nice to him. He's always there for us when we need good advice or can't get out of a funk.

"Thank you for giving me a nephew," says Roman, using a finger to gently hit my nose which makes me laugh. "I'm going to ask Paige to move in with me," he says suddenly, shocking me. However, after a few seconds, my face breaks into a smile.

"That is amazing news," I say, throwing my arms around him and hugging him. "I'm so happy for you," I say. He has had a couple of girlfriends before that I've known of but he's not got to this stage with any of them for a long, long time.

"Thanks. I just hope she says yes," says Roman which I think is a stupid thing to say, only because we all know Paige's answer will be a positive one.

"She will, I just know it," I inform him. Looks like everyone's getting settled. Dean and Ariana are on their honeymoon, Roman and Paige are moving in and me and Seth are stronger than we've ever been. Seth doesn't come back and eventually sends me a message telling him to meet him in our hotel room. I find it weird but say goodbye to Roman and head off anyway.

Once I get to the hotel room, I enter and find myself speechless at the sight before me. The lights are dimly lit, there are a lot of candles everywhere. I look at the floor to see a trail of pink flower petals. I decide to follow them and end up on the balcony. I see a table with a chair on either side, a candle in the middle as well as a single rose in a glass. Soft music playing in the background.

"For you," I hear, a rose being presented in front of my face, my boyfriend standing right behind me. I let out a chuckle and grab a hold of it, putting it up to my nose.

"What's all this?" I ask him, turning around in his arms and smiling even more when I see him all dressed up. I'm not complaining but I feel so plain compared to him, standing in a random top and a pair of jeans.

"I can't show my girlfriend how much I love her?" questions Seth, as if I've somehow offended him in a way. "Look," he starts, keeping his hands on my waist and moving his face closer to mine. "You know, after everything that happened, it got me thinking about how much I do love you. I may say it enough times but I think I need to show it more often," he says but I shake my head.

"Just you saying it is enough. Besides, I don't do much to show you my love," I point out to him. This new crazy schedule where I'm training my ass off and Seth needing to keep in shape for his matches is keeping up both apart a lot more during the day than we thought it would.

"Yeah you do. When you make sure to keep my clothes out before I start my day, when you make sure that I eat something by making it or bringing it to me, taking such precious care of our son. That's you showing how much you love me," he explains to me. It makes me wonder how he manages to come out with such lines.

"Well then," I start, placing my arms around his neck. "You do the same when you make sure I have at least a bar of chocolate in my hand most of the day, when you massage my shoulders after a long day of training and when you take the night duty for Evan," I decide to point out what he does that show me he loves me.

"Call it even then?" says Seth, probably deciding there's no point in arguing with me. I nod my head and he pecks my lips. "Iris, would you please join me for dinner tonight?" he asks me and I nod my head with an excited look. "Go to the bedroom, there's something waiting for you there," he says, kissing my lips before finally letting go of me. I head inside and see a red dress waiting for me on our bed. Wasting no time, I get dressed in it. I then put the flower Seth gifted me into my hair, I know he'll love that. I leave the bedroom and come out to the balcony once more, smiling at my boyfriend who seems to be enjoying the sights. I walk up quietly to him and hug him from behind for once.

"Where's Evan?" I ask him, not seeing our little son anywhere.

"With Nikki and John. I told her I needed her to babysit and she jumped at the chance," answers Seth, turning around and putting his arms around me, leaning back against the railing.

"You seriously gave our son to the woman who's most likely to kidnap him?" I ask, joking of course which makes Seth laugh.

"It's no problem, we'll make another one," Seth jokes back resulting in me hitting his chest a couple of times. Once he stops laughing we just stand there staring into each other's eyes. Seth raises a hand and runs it through my hair. "I like it short," he comments randomly.

"I like it too," I comment, both of us chuckling. "You sure you don't mind it, considering Dean always pretends to confuse us both?" I ask him and he shakes his head at the mention of Dean and his antics.

"You know, just for tonight, let's not talk about the others," suggests Seth, putting both his arms around me once more. "Let's talk about us," he then says. I wonder what he wants to talk about. We have pretty much everything set.

"What about us Mister Rollins?" I ask, looking up at him. "We have a son, a nice house and good friends. What more is there?" I go on to question him.

"A lot of things," says Seth, letting go of me momentarily. He reaches into his back pocket and takes out his phone. He then shows me a picture of a building, making me feel confused. "I've chosen this," he decides to tell me, the confused expression on my face still present. "It's the school I think Evan should go to when he starts," he tells me, a smile gracing my face. I look at Seth and then at the picture of the building. "I researched it and talked to other parents. It sounds amazing," he informs me.

"It does," I say, not even having gotten to the point of looking at the different schools out there for Evan. I take Seth's phone off of him and put it back in his pocket.

"Ooh, getting a little frisky there Iris," comments Seth cheekily. I take a hold of his hand and pull him towards me. I put my arms around his neck, beginning to move. "This is a new way of asking someone to dance," he says but I just shrug my shoulders.

"Remember our first dance?" I ask him, moving my arm so one of my hands is in his. Seth shakes his head and it immediately makes me laugh. "What? You don't remember having two left feet?" I ask, Seth repeating the movement.

"As I recall, I was a heck of a dancer," says Seth and I can't help but let out a scoff.

"Seth, you stood on my feet like 5 times," I remind him of that night. We went dancing with some of the others and Seth just couldn't cut it. I mean, Dean hung back because he wasn't much of a socialiser and just went along with his friends, but Seth kept making up excuses about why he couldn't get moving. From foot ache to stomach ache. I heard it all that night.

"I kept coming up with different excuses," says Seth and I give him a look that says 'I knew you remembered'. "You should have accepted one of them instead of being persistent," he tells me. Of course he would.

"You should have just manned up," I state and then laugh at the look on his face. "I knew why you were putting it off, that's why I was persistent," I let him in on a little secret.

"Wait a second, you knew?" asks Seth, stopping mid-step. I nod my head after which he says, "Why didn't you say?" I think it's obvious why not, considering he was a different person back then.

"Because you would have got mad and walked off," I explain and he doesn't argue with that because he knows it's true. "Besides, I had fun teaching you to dance. Now if you ever leave me, I can brag to others that I made you a better boyfriend for other people," I joke but Seth begins shaking his head.

"No, I'm never leaving you," says Seth, sounding quite determined about it. "When I'm 70 or 80 or whatever, I still want to be right here, dancing with you," he says, looking into my eyes. "Because I love you," he adds on the end. I lean forward and place a kiss on his lips.

"I'll hold you to that promise Mister Rollins. I love you," I say, pulling him closer and kissing him on the lips. He kisses me back and we enjoy our night, filled with love, laughter and sweet memories. I restarted my journey with Seth by my side. It wasn't going to be easy and it hasn't. I don't think in the future it will be either. But as long as Seth's with me and our son, I can move on from anything. We'll move on together. And in 80 years' time, we'll still be together. That's how much I believe in us and our family.

* * *

 **Now, I couldn't keep this story going because the plot had already come to its conclusion. But I know there are many more future experiences that you'd like to read about. Therefore, I will be doing random one shots of different things, you know, Evan growing older and stuff. Fluffy stuff. If you have any requests then do let me and know and I'll see what I can do. I'm not going it right away because I think after doing this story, I deserve a little bit of a break. I'm at a point in my job where I need to keep a lot more focus on what I'm doing and learning. So until next time folks :D**


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